For a week, the house next door had been cleaned. Then a lorry arrived, carrying all their belongings. The couple had two children, a boy and a girl. No sooner had they arrived than one of their energetic children jumped over the wall and ran. The child’s parents panicked.
Sugandhi too hurried towards the child and found him standing near the well. She held his hand and brought him back. The parents were relieved to see her.
“Grandmother, we are planning to make this wall between our houses a little higher. You don’t mind, do you?” The husband, who had jumped over the wall after seeing his wife’s panic, comforted her by holding her close as he spoke to Sugandhi. Sugandhi happily nodded.
“And if possible, please cover that well properly too, Grandma. I heard that someone from your house…”
“My son. It was my son who fell into it.”
“I’m very sorry, ma’am.”
“The well will not remain open anymore. I’ll have it covered.” Sugandhi nodded happily.
The questions asked by the newcomers opened and closed the deepest chambers of Sugandhi’s heart for a moment.
She remembered her son, drunk, staggering near the well, and falling into it right before her eyes.
On the other side of the wall, someone passing by spoke about Sugandhi.
“Do you know how much trouble that man caused before he became paralysed and bedridden? Even after all the cruelty he had inflicted, when he lay in bed for ten or twenty years, that woman still cared for him without ever letting her face show resentment. She has so much patience.”
Sugandhi listened quietly and came to stand beside the wall.
From the other side came the children’s playful mischief and the loving conversations between the husband and wife. As she watched, Sugandhi felt relieved. The old days had passed. New days had arrived. In those days, there would be no more fear, crying or sorrow.
THE END
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