King

"Mama. I did it." The words were still hanging in midair and the triumph was already emerging down her cheeks. Tears of happiness. There stood her daughter: eyes twinkling, chortling like anything. All the trepidation had evaporated. She feverishly stepped forward and embraced her daughter hard. Both of them were crying with happiness. Both of them were proud of each other. Both the mother and the daughter were the kings of the world.

He had always wanted a daughter. A daughter he would raise like a queen, not just as a princess. Only he knew how difficult those hours were. White walls surrounding him, her wife screaming with pain, the time was just crawling. Last time he saw the time he could have severed he had counted infinity. Then the door finally opened. She looked like a doll. A feeble creature. Her dark pink lips were carefully craved into perfection. The closed eyelids were tinted with a faint pink color, the color sometimes the sky turned into the evenings. Those rosy cheeks and the cute little nose; she was nothing but a dream. This novelty was a blessing.

But you see, even they got played by fate.

One night, the three of them laid in the bed. She kept on shaking him. He just wouldn't move. The little one thought his Baba was playing the little game. Pretending to be asleep, so that when he would open his eyes all of a sudden, her giggles would resonate his ears. "Baba?" He never replied. Leaving his wife and 13 months old daughter, he just departed from the world. Just like that.

"I want her to become a doctor." He would tell his wife frequently. "She is a little too small for that, sweetheart. Maybe she has other plans. Let her grow up?" She replied. "I know. And I would like to see what does she come up with. Just don't ever make her stop. Let her fly high." "Why would I stop her? Besides you are there to guide her." "We can never rely on fate, love." The conversation still made her heart cry.

16 years ago, when her daughter came up to her one night, she could see his reflection in her eyes. She laid her head in her mother's lap. Gently stroking her hair, silent tears were cascading down her cheeks. "Mama, I will work hard. I will study night and day and I will fulfill Baba's wish. I will become a doctor." A sudden realization dawned upon her. "Sara, I never told you that. How do you know your father's wish?" "Mama, I have had more doctor sets than teddy bears all my childhood. How wouldn't I not know?" She laughed a little, staring at her beautiful face, she couldn't help but think, their daughter was truly a priceless gift.

She had sold all her gold. She wanted nothing but her husband's wish to be fulfilled. For their love for their daughter was eternal. If he had been here, he too would have encouraged her to do all she could to help their queen shine bright. She was their happiness. Their strength. They made her out of love, their responsibility.

She stared and that degree. Wondering how happy her husband would have been. She could not even imagine. Beaming and staring up high, with her daughter wrapped in her arms, she whispered, "We did it love."