'Oops!' He figured out that his Apple Iphone 6 plus has kissed the ground a few seconds back. Finally he had to come out of his hibernating mode & wake up. He looked down. His precious asset is on the floor being intimate with the floor. Almost glued to the floor. If his mobile could talk, it would surely say how often it gets a chance to kiss the floor. Almost everyday because its owner is too careless. It had replaced its face many times after being purchased.
He almost prayed that nothing might have happened to his mobile as he replaced the cracked screen of it just a 3 days back for the 16th time after purchasing it. He turned back & checked the screen.
'Phew' He was relieved to see it in a good condition. He rubbed his fragile asset gently, thanking god. It was 7:30 in the morning. He was supposed to get off from the bed by 6:30 am, according to his schedule. He was almost an hour late.
He freshened himself & tiptoed to another room to wake up the love of his life. She was sleeping peacefully hugging a teddy bear. It was none other than his 6 year old daughter Pari. She was indeed a little fairy as her name. She was truly a little angel born on earth. Pari is the sole reason why he is simply breathing. Pari is his life, the reason why he survived after a severe heartache.
A smile crept on his face after seeing his little angel sleeping. Pari resembled her mom from the outer appearance with a milky white face & hazel brown eyes who is no longer a part of their lives. But she carried the qualities of her father. She was one smart kid, a little more intelligent than the ordinary kids of her age.
He was Maan Singh Khurana, a talented Architect by profession. He was 30 years old & a young dashing father. He had an amazing personality rich with a good physique which could make any girl fall for him. But nobody could steal his heart other than his little angel, Pari's mom.
Every love story doesn't end with a happy note. Some stories end with a tragedy. The same happened with Maan's life. The person he used to love more than his life is no longer a part of his life. But a part of her is still with him. It is none other than their symbol of love, Pari. Pari's appearance & particular actions always brings back her memories. Maan drowned in misery with the fact that she was no more. But their daughter brought him back to life.
Maan placed a soft kiss on Pari's tiny forehead. 'Good morning princess' He whispered to her. But there wasn't any response. She was sleeping peacefully. To be frank, Maan didn't want to disturb his little princess, but he has to wake her up soon as it was the first day of the new term after the summer holidays. Pari enjoyed her summer holidays thoroughly, for good 2 months. It was time to resume her work at school.
He started caressing her curly hair gently. The little girl felt it & moved a bit, yet closing her eyes. She was good at acting. She pretended to be asleep as she used to hate waking up early.
'Baby please wake up!' Maan placed another kiss on her forehead.
No response. But Maan noticed the facial changes on his mischievous little munchkin's face. As a father & an experienced single parent, he knew how to handle his little daughter specially in difficult times like this. Waking her up & making her to eat her breakfast was the most difficult thing he had to undergo in a daily basis. Maan nailed in playing the roles of both mother & father to his child.
'Darling! aren't you going to school today, hmm?'
'No!' Finally she responded.
'Why not? today is the new term & you will be meeting your friends.'
'No daddy! I don't wanna go!' She covered her face with a pillow.
'Baby why?'
'Daddy! Mrs. Smith won't be coming back again.' Pari was almost in tears.
Pari attended the Hampton Primary school in Melbourne, Victoria. Pari was born in Mumbai, India but Maan migrated to Australia soon after she was born. He settled down in Brisbane, Queensland where he completed his studies at University of Queensland. He qualified as a chartered architect. His paternal aunt & uncle accommodated him & Pari & funded to completed his studies.
Pari was so much attached to her former class teacher Mrs. Smith who became a second mom to her. Mrs. Smith was aware of the fact that Pari's mom was no more & she never let little Pari feel the absence of her mother. Unfortunately she had to move to Perth which is so far from Melbourne, with her family & Pari was saddened with the fact that her favorite teacher Mrs. Smith won't be teaching her again. She was fearful about getting a new class teacher.
Maan was aware about it & he was trying to convince his little daughter. He knew how much Pari loved Mrs. Smith & the bond between them was so deep. Mrs. Smith even invited Maan & Pari for dinner at her place before moving to Perth. He knew his daughter's nature. Pari usually adjusts with new people soon with her talkative qualities but in this case, it was quite different. He knew that it is not easy for her to replace a new person with her favorite teacher. It would psychologically affect this little innocent soul. Maan was thinking how to cheer his little daughter.
'Baby, I will surely take you to visit Mrs. Smith in the next vacation.' He tried to cheer her up.
'But daddy, I can't wait for that long! a whole term is there to finish off' She made a face.
'And daddy, Mrs. Smith won't be coming back! I will have to spend the rest of the year with a new teacher.'
'Baby trust me. Your new teacher will be good, just like Mrs. Smith.' He took his daughter on his lap.
'Nope!' She moved her head with disagreement.
'Are you sure?'
'Yes!'
'Baby! if you are upset like this, Mrs. Smith will be sad. Even daddy can't see you unhappy.'
Pari looked up. The little girl didn't want her to make his father sad. She gained courage to face anything in the new term.
Pari jumped out of her bed & went near the window. The sheer curtains were dancing to the tune of the wind, which was backed by the wind chime hanging around. The cool breeze soothed her mind.
'Good morning mommy!' 'You know what? today I'm gonna start another new term at school. This time, Mrs. Smith won't be coming to our class. I'm gonna miss her so much.'
Maan looked at her baby girl who was talking to the wind chime alone. That wind chime holds a special place in Maan's life. It was the last gift his soulmate gifted him. He too gifted her a wind chime for their 1st anniversary of being lovers. Both of them were unaware about the gifts but at the end they were quite surprised to see both of them have gifted each other the same. It might be a co-incidence but there was something far more than that, a feeling that is unexplained. They were truly connected by souls.
'Mommy! please make my new class teacher good! Please! I know you can. Daddy says you are in heaven. I know only gods and angels are there. They can fulfill our wishes.'Pari continued.
A tear formed in Maan's eyes after listening to his daughter. He concealed his sorrows within & walked up to her.
'Baby hurry up! you are getting late.'
'See! daddy is disturbing us!'
'No baby! Look at the time it's almost 8. You have to be at school by 9.'
'But we have another whole hour!'
'Darling! an hour is certainly not enough to finish off the chores & drop you off to school.' Maan chuckled.
'And yeah! Mommy will be upset if you get late to school in the very first day of your new term.' He patted her back.
'Okay! Bye mommy! will tell how my day went off once I return back from school' She was smiling at the wind chime. It was making a melodious tone which Pari believed that it was her mom in another form.
'Love you so much!' She sent a flying kiss towards it.
'Hurry up baby!' Maan took his daughter in his arms & accompanied her to the bathroom.
Maan's aunt Gauri was there to look after Pari. His uncle passed away 3 years back & Gauri moved to Melbourne along with Maan & Pari. The widowed Gauri didn't have any children of her own so she treated his nephew Maan as her own son & Pari as her own granddaughter.
'Okay my princess just one more spoonful of fruit loops.' Gauri was trying to feed her granddaughter her favorite breakfast meal fruit loops dipped in milk. Pari used to love it but today she was too fussy.
'Dida please! My tummy is full.' She groaned.
'Why sweetheart? you can eat a bowl full of these! why? aren't you in a mood to eat today?' Gauri questioned. Pari used to call her 'Dida' instead of 'Dadi' to her grandmother. Maan tried to correct it since her early childhood but Pari refused to call her 'Dadi' instead of it, she used her own terminology. Gauri too loved to be called by that name which she believed it to be unique. She was one proud grandmother though Pari wasn't related to her biologically.
'Dida, you know what Mrs. Smith...' Pari started her usual jabber at the breakfast table.
'Oh baby! sorry to hear about that, but don't worry. You will get a good class teacher.'Gauri pacified her.
'Yeah! I asked mommy to send a good one' She smiled.
'Sweetie, we are getting late. All ready?' Maan came up.
'Yes daddy!'
'Wait wait! don't forget your juice.' Gauri reminded. She made Pari drink her morning orange juice. They bade good bye to Gauri & drove off.
Pari was silent today. Maan missed his daughter's chatterbox. She used to blabber till he drops her at the school gate. Maan tried to make her talk but she just answered his questions with a simple 'yes' or 'no.' Maan though how a person could affect a child. Pari was so much attached to Mrs. Smith, she used to talk a lot about her that sometimes made him irritated. He silently prayed god to cheer up his little girl & make her happy.
'Pari, baby?'
'Hmm?' She replied in a dull tone. She was like a little doll working on a battery, today she was running out of energy.
'I know you are still upset. But please don't be sad. Mommy & me both don't like to see you sad. Trust me, mommy won't let anything bad happen to you baby.' Maan consoled his baby girl.
They reached her school & Pari wasn't much excited to get off like before. Maan put her school bag around her & leaned down near her. He cupped her cute little face.
'Everything is going to be fine okay?' He placed a soft kiss on her tiny forehead.
'All the best baby!'
'Thank you daddy!' Pari hugged him.
Then she waved her hand bidding good bye to her father. Maan was watching at her from a distant till she disappeared from his view. The next sight made him shocked. He saw a lady figure which looked exactly like his soulmate.
He rubbed his eyes. The person had disappeared. He closed his eyes. He believed that it was yet another illusion of her. He knew that she wouldn't have been witnessed here. It was not her. She was too far away from him. He knew that his soulmate was no more.
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