Banhi's Tales - The Home and the Sea
There were also times when she laughed, as a child would, and there were
times when she would experience pain she didn’t understand or know where it
came from. The moments of pain were strange but familiar, like an enemy who you
knew well but you don’t know either. Even in those moments, the bright red sun
on her mother’s forehead calmed her, but it was the worry on her father’s face
that made her anxious.
Her parents had named her Angel at birth, but a year later, they changed
it to Banhi, an uncommon word for ‘fire’. Her little life had made quite a
journey from Angel to Banhi in five years and someday she will learn about it –
just not tonight. Tonight, she wants to be warm in her mother’s embrace, shutting
out the sound of the roaring sea. In the little one room house, even the sound
of the roaring sea can put a child to sleep and so Banhi slept peacefully.
Outside, the sea and the storm raged against the weak walls of the tiny
homes of the invisible people..
When she woke up, she was still in her mother’s arms but not in the
house. They were outside. The storm had passed, leaving a bright clear sky in
its wake. Banhi could see the sky as big as it really was, which was not a
possibility before, as the roofs of the houses hid it from view. As she woke
up, she heard strange noises – people talking fast and aloud, women weeping and
her mother’s heartbeat racing. Banhi felt a drop of water fall on her cheek and
looked up at the sky. It wasn’t rain but tears from her mother’s eyes.
Her mother looked down at her with eyes red and wet and said, “the
house is gone child, and along with it your father”.
Comments