The Voice

Her little feet trod along the rugged streets. While those feet carried themselves forward her heart

beat with one hope. A single dear wish to reach the fruit stall before the shining juicy things find their

way into the safety boxes, for the night to come.

Clutching those hard earned, twenty five rupees notes, she hurried along the gravel streets and reached

for the main street. Carefully looking for the screaming vehicles on either sides to be invisible, she

hopped and ran across to the other side.

Just few meters more...

“I want an apple uncle...”

The shop vendor gazed at those loosely hanging clothes hugging the bonny structure. She took those

twenty five rupees and stretched them into the hands of the vendor. He collected them and placed in

those scrawny fingers one shiny, big and bright apple.

When those tiny fingers clasped around against the shiny red treasure, they had the strength of a

warrior claiming his reward, yet also the tenderness of a mother accepting her new born babe into her

warmth. Her eyes sparkled in glee and it was a moment when the day's weariness did flee. Her spirit

and her whole self bounced up and down in ecstasy. She turned on her heels to find her way back to her

little abode.

She was once again trying to cross the road, this time her shining eyes unable to keep them away

from the bright thing lying securely on her palms.

Suddenly she was on the middle of the road...

A screech, a hone...

A scream, a fall...

Adrenaline rushing through her legs, had done their job, carried her towards the safety ground, off the

road...

But the tiny fingers losing their grasp at the suddenness of the events, had let the apple slip away.

When she turned, it was to see her day's earning being crushed down by the tires of the vehicle, that

could have crushed her own life moments before.

Hot tears swelled up in those eyes. Yet they never saw the fat little worm creeping through the partly

crushed apple.

ALLAH give us things. Takes it away. We thank HIM for giving us. Yet find fault with HIM for

taking it away. Sometimes we fail to realize that those seemingly bright things, that ALLAH takes

away from us, takes it away for something good, something better. HE is the Lord of the world

and heavens and HE knows much much better.