The rays of the sun entered to brighten up that room dimly. They seeped through the gashes between the parallel wooden grills of the window and cast a shadow of the glass panels on the girl’s face. Sophia’s eyes unveiled slowly.
She lifted her upper body, yawned and stretched herself, and noticed it was morning. Hardly had she woken up when she heard the sound of someone inserting the key and turning the knob of the door to her room before she was to get off the bed.
“So, you have woken up. It’s better to turn to your duties before I announce them to you. After that, you have to go to college with your cousins too. So be quick and shake off your slumber.” ordered her aunt in a single fast tone to the girl and left the room. Slowly Sophia stood on her feet and followed herself to the bathroom beside.
After bathing herself, she turned to her routine. Her first task was to bring the newspaper that was always placed in the red box attached to the wall near the house gate. She opened the box and picked up the folded newspaper when a piece of paper fell out. Sophia picked it up to discover a pamphlet with an invitation to a fete.
The pamphlet was nicely designed, with eye-pleasing graphics and the scene of the entire fete printed in the middle and above it something written. The words were: free entry for the first 100 people, only for today! After scanning the whole pamphlet, the girl’s heart was touched with sudden excitement.
But in an instant, her enthusiasm faded away with the thought that her aunt and sisters would never allow it. They never permitted her to go anywhere, even with them. They would simply shout at her and lock her away if she went on to show them this pamphlet. This made her feel a bit gloomy. Her face hung down. She crumpled that paper and threw it away.
But suddenly she grabbed it and hid it inside her pocket and walked towards the house. After doing all the household tasks, she put on her bag and left the house with her cousins. While strolling on the path, Sophia could think of nothing but ways to attend the fete without letting anyone know. This made her brows furrow with her chin cupped between her index finger and thumb.
It was suddenly that one of her cousins shoved her. Sophia looked up to find out that they had reached the college. “She is lost forever, it seems to me.” mocked one of her cousins. Sophia entered the institute. As she was in a different stream from her cousins, she hid in a vacant room on the first floor, peeking outside to check if the path was clear. After finding no one near the entrance, she immediately paced her legs to get out of the place.
After that, she kept striding toward the bus stop. In this scorching heat, she could hardly walk further. Her eyes narrowed to form a slit, with her arm shielding the sun’s rays.
There was still more distance to walk to the bus stop. But if she wanted to enjoy her new freedom, she had to continue her actions. Her promotions guaranteed her a comfortable living. Knowing with great certainty that her aunt and cousins had no interest in celebrating her achievement, she moulded a path on her own.
While she continued overthinking the matter, her glance shifted to a nearby peddler selling plastic water bottles, snacks, and other eatables. She stopped for a while to purchase some of them to endure the sun’s rays. Then, she moved again and wrapped her head with a handkerchief as the sun was harsh.
Slowly, she paced with light footsteps, making sure it didn’t produce any tip tap sound. She shrank her pupils to the corners of her eyes, her goosebumps raised.
She kept pacing in the left direction. “Yes, I have fled from the situation, but what will I do next? where will I go next till the fete starts?” Sophia began scratching her head, in turmoil.
She walked into a park nearby. Cold breezes were blowing around the park. In the shade of a big tree, there was a yellow-painted bench, inhabited by an old man. As Sophia drew nearer to the tree, she noticed that the old man was concentrating on a philosophical book, in his hand.
Sophia cleared her throat, making the old man, in broad spectacles lift his eyes at the girl. ” Uncle, can you tell me how much is the time?” Sophia asked in a polite tone.
” It’s half past 12,” said the old man, glueing his attention to the book again. As Sophia was about to leave, the old man again raised his eyes to peek at her. He called him, pleading,” Little girl! please can you come here for a moment?”
When Sophia turned to the old man, The old man stood on his feet. ” What’s your name?” he asked curiously.
” My name is Sophia. What’s your name, sir?” Sophia asked the old man.
” My name is Albertson. So Sophia, can you tell me who are your parents?”
” I don’t have any parents. I live with my aunt.”
” Oh, you are an orphan. I feel pitiful for you. I wish you good luck in your future. Even though I had lost my family too, I can’t recall the year and the exact place of death, due to my low retention power. But it was a very heart-shattering event in my life, and I lost my granddaughter, in that accident too. I had only seen her since her 2nd birthday. I live far away from this city, doing my work as an accountant.”
” Oh!” Sophia listened meticulously to his life story.
“One day my son and her wife were travelling in a car, to meet me and show my grown-up baby girl, my granddaughter. But a careless driver bumped into their car and …” the old man sobbed harder, wrinkled his eyes and slouched his head to his chest. ” When I saw you, Ms Sophia, I thought my baby girl had returned. You look somewhat like her.”
Sophia patted the old man’s back, lifting him, she said,” I hope the situation will change one day. But those who left this earth will never return.” Sophia’s eyes filled with tears.” I have to go now, have some urgent work.” Slowly, she slipped away from the old man’s sight.
As she reached the bus stop, she boarded a bus and walked to the middle seat. All the way, what she could think about was the fete and fete only. On the bus, she could glimpse people of all ages and genders busy with themselves. She could see a young couple chatting.
The man clasped the hand of his lover and lifted one of her fingers to insert a ring of emerald with a golden base. Both the lovers stared at each other with love. It was as if someone glued their eyes together. This whole scene made Sophia feel love, peeking at a newly blessed love.
The bus reached Paradise Park. Many passengers, including Sophia, got off the bus. After entering the park, Sophia showed her pamphlet to an officer, sitting in front of the gate. The officer checked it and said,” Madam, you are lucky to have reached earlier because you are the last person to get avail of this free ticket. After this pamphlet was circulated, we saw a rush of people, but we only allowed free entry to those who were with the pamphlet. Since you are the last, the rest of the people standing behind you will have to pay for the ticket. You are quite lucky!”
Sophia smiled and stepped straight into the park. On entering the park, her jaw opened wide. There were stalls on the left and right sides. On the left side, one could stand and inhale the smell of numerous dishes and sweets in big steel utensils prepared by several ladies in traditional dresses and men lending a helping hand.
On the right, one could see works of art, paintings, books, clothes and handmade bangles. There was a wide distance between the two stalls and on the other section of the fete, several rides were installed. Sophia could not help looking at the top of the roller coaster, Ferris wheel and other such rides.
It was a dream come true for Sophia. She could recall the times when she used to flip through the magazines and glimpse at the eye-pleasing pictures from the fete. It had people enjoying rides, stalls, stories, and other works of art. Her mother answered her insistence at that time with the promise that they would visit the fete on her (Sophia’s) birthday with her grandfather. Little did Sophia know it was just a dream.
Sophia winked her tear-stained eyes. Immediately, she went towards the roller coaster and occupied the first seat. The other people too began to occupy the remaining seats. The ride started slowly. Then, suddenly on a wavy track, all the passengers shouted.
The Souls of Black Folk
Completed