She could hear the soft, droning sound that seemed to fill the air all around her.

“Someone is playing the piano,” she said to herself in a low cracking voice.

She opened the window of her room and looked outside. There was no one and the street cloaked into the darkness. She sat beside the window and looked dubiously at the dark shadow hung against the dim street light. It was the shadow of her father smiling and waving.

At the same time, a strange voice echoed in her ear, “Anaya, why are you sad? Look at your wrinkles dear.” It was her father’s voice mingled in the soft rhythm of the music.

Anaya closed the window and started to cry like a baby. She glanced at her father’s picture hung on the wall. The eyes of her father were sorrowful but the lips curled into a pleasant smile like that of the shadow in the street light.

As Anaya touched the picture of her father, her eyes started dropping tears as she recalled the tough times she had spent after her father’s sudden demise. The night when she was beaten and locked in the darkroom by her uncle keeps popping in her mind. Her heart swelled with tears and ghastly expression set on her face.

“A life without a father isn’t colourful,” she said to herself in a voice fading away to a murmur. Was it true? Of course, she was her father’s little princess but for her aunt and uncle, she was no more than a slave and a little creepy thing, washing their clothes and cleaning their house.

The wind blew gently and lifted the blanket of the stormy clouds and revealed the moon that gleamed like a pearl among the shimmering stars.

“How many times would you act like a buffoon? Why aren’t you doing anything?” her inner voice screamed at her.

She was fed up with the looks given to her by her cousins, who used to guffaw and shrieked when they look at her dishevelled appearance.

“How many times you would ignore such attitude? Do I need to punch you so that you can move forward?” her voice again rang in her ears strangely.

She couldn’t answer these questions bursting inside her. She stood up, closed the window, and reassured herself, “I am Anaya, my father’s little princess.”

These words struck in her small room. As she listened to these thundering words her mouth curled into a pleasant smile and her eyes started to beam with happiness. Outside her chamber, the gust of the wind blew and her room glimmered with her dreams.

Dear readers,

Are you following your dreams? Are you working hard? Remember, all our dreams can come true if we dare to pursue them. Never give up on your dreams or hopes.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 10th, 2020