The Litchi Garden (By Hy Nitro)

Streaks of light split open a grey sky as the morning sun emerged from its hinterland hibernation. The monsoons were finally receding. The atmosphere was heavy and moisture hung in the air beclouding as much was possible of the garden. A young girl, with a little straw basket held slackly under her arms, was standing alone in the fog and was waiting patiently and eagerly for it to clear. The sight that she had been waiting for the past couple of weeks was about to unveil itself in front of her.
More clouds dispersed as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. When its rays finally reached the garden, the girl was found gaping in awe. Translucent, lissome, dew drops fell from a bright red and pink fusion of ripe litchis, that were hanging in enormous bunches crowned by dark green leaves. These lined both sides of the muddy lane that stretched out before her. It was a magnificent sight and the smell of the soil added the subtle spice to complete the experience.
This wasn’t new for Chutki. It was just the same as it had been for the past eight years, yet her initial enthusiasm remained ever as high.
Chutki lived next to a litchi garden. Her mother worked for the landlord of the area and she hadn’t seen her father in quite sometime. It was her morning job that made the eye of envy for the other children in the village; Chutki picked litchis.
Every single morning during the harvest season, Chutki woke up early and rushed to the garden and at stood at the very same spot to watch the mist clear. She ran along picking the ripe fruits from the trees. She happily went about through the hard, tiring routine. Most of the time she sang, and the other times she relished the ecstasy from a stolen litchi. She loved the garden. She’d spend entire afternoons, and even evenings at the garden, intoxicated by the fruits.
She would just sit there and smile and she would dream. She would dream of land beyond and life away from the garden. Many of her friends at school had moved to the city. She heard so many stories one day wished that she could go there. She wanted to learn about science and economics and about the rest of the world and she sang about that all day long.

(to be continued)