Dusk

She peered out of the dusty window. The sun was still a rusty orange. A couple more hours till he returned. She touched her face lightly where he had struck her, the pain made her wince. It was not the physicality of the pain that hurt her. She had travelled too far for that. Her spirit that once soared as high as the brightly coloured kites on a beautiful afternoon was now soaked with desolation and misery. There seemed to be no end in sight. She made a feeble attempt at pushing out the thoughts that had taken over her mind. Thoughts that had replaced emotion, practicality and reason. She visualized a world where she could smile, a world where she could hold her head up, a world where her tormentor did not exist... Yes, she wanted to die.


At the corner of the room, there suddenly was a movement. Her daughter, all of two years had woken up from her nap. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at her mother. The older woman shook out of her reverie. Life was never a bed of roses. Dawn was never far away from the black night. She realized that the spark still alive in her daughter's eyes must never be extinguished. For her daughter, she must live.