The Little Lost Shoe
The ominous black clouds refused to budge from over the city, and the rain fell steadily. The water logged roads looked sinister, hiding many mysteries within the churning, flowing, grey water that flowed where the roads travelled every day. Munni was worried about a lot of things, but she was most worried about the thought of the dirty swirling grey-black water seeping through her pretty pink Ghaghara and leaving it dirty and grey-black and without the beautiful, sweeping swirl that she was so proud of. Munni was especially close to that pink Ghaghara, and the thought of anything happening to it was too much for it. She closed her eyes, lest the tear drops that threatened to overflow poured out and ruined the mask of makeup, the one that Sushila put so much effort into.
Munni knew it would rain heavily during the day, and all through the night, she had begged and pleaded with Sushila, not to send her out in the rain, but Sushila wasn’t the type to listen to the pleadings of a tender heart that belonged to a fifteen year old. There was work to be done, and money to be brought in, and for that, come rain or heat, Munni had to get ready and get moving. Now, with the clock ticking, Munni sat silently with her chin on the cold damp windowsill, waiting for the click of the door announcing Sushila’s arrival, meaning that there would be no choice for Munni but to leave the comfort of the house. Even so, while half of her heart never wanted that click to come, half of it kept hoping that it would happen soon, that one way or another, she would get over it.
In the midst of all her thoughts, the lock clicked softly; a sound that reverberated through the cramped bedroom. The door swung open, and Sushila stood behind her. The red spittle from the betel leaves bordered her maroon lips; the gaudy golden bangles clanged as she raised her heavy hand upwards, gesturing to Munni. In spite of everything, such was her aura and power over the little girl, that a single “Come” in her husky, tobacco layered voice was enough for Munni to lose all her feelings to stand up against her and tell her that she wasn’t going to step out in the rain. Like a meek, shy deer, eyes lowered, she followed the swinging sari out of the room. A quick stop nears the door to put on her favourite shoes, and she was into the rain. The rain had paused, for a little while, but even so, the water was all around.
Having no other choice, with the door closing behind her with a brutal snap, she was left standing in the ankle deep water. With the first touch of the flowing water, the shoes and her Ghaghara were seeped in the dark water. Just a few steps into the water, the flowing water brought with it a tattered and dirty plastic bag, which seemed alive in the water as it wound itself round and round her fragile ankle. Munni was scared, and wet, and miserable standing in the rain. She tried to budge and free her foot from the plastic bag that had wrapped itself around her ankle, but to no avail. She tried to outrun it, but the current was against her, and the more she ran, the tighter the plastic bag wound itself around the shoe. The torn plastic got between her toes, almost tripping her twice, as the little drenched girl ran to free herself from the death grip of the dirty black plastic bag.
Her tiny feet pattered in the fast paced water, as she desperately tried to get away from the life that she had. She couldn’t take it anymore, and she started running away. Her legs flailing about, the plastic bag started to loosen, and it finally began to slide off; in her hasty joy, she failed to notice that along with the plastic bag, her right shoe was coming off as well. The plastic bag fell off finally, but it swallowed her pretty brown shoes with it before sliding off Munni’s foot. Munni didn’t notice, and shook off her shoe. The flow of the water carried it away and deposited it somewhere Munni would never find it again.
Not until she was right in front of her client’s dingy little apartment that she noticed one of her shoes missing. She looked around for them in the vicinity, but her heart told her that she would never be able to find it. Sadly, she took off the other shoe as well and left it outside before walking into the dirty apartment. For the first time in her life, Munni did her dance, her business, knowing that she would never see her beloved pair of brown shoes again.
P.S. 10 points to whoever guesses where the story comes from.