The Song of Emilys soul

It was a cold December evening in the year 1984 .
It was the night Emily died .
In the General hospital in Shimla lay a eleven year old Emily .
She knew she was going to die .
She was happy about it ,finally she could see her father again .
She could finally leave this cruel earth brimming with selfish greedy people .
But when she saw her mother ,sitting on the hospital bed beside her ,eyes closed ,praying ,her little heart squirmed .
What would her mother do without her ?
Emily was all she had ….the only ray of hope in her life .
That cold December evening as Emily lay waiting for death to wrap its cold arms around her she remembered the past eleven years of her life .
When Emily was born ,her huge bungalow was filled with dozens of aunts and uncles who squeezed her cheeks and showered gifts upon the gooing gurgling baby ,but five years later when Emily’s fathers business broke and they were plunged into bitter poverty not one of them were anywhere to be found .
One by one they began to lose everything they had ,and were left to beg in the streets .
Emily,s father not able to bear the disgrace ,committed suicide ,never thinking of the two lonely people he was leaving behind ,his wife Daisy and daughter Emily .
They survived as Daisy began to work as a housemaid and with money earned sent Emily to school .
Emily with her bright eyes and innocent smile became everyones angel .
She taught her mother how to live through their hardship with a smile .
She used to find something to be glad about everything that happened .

But in her tenth year when doctors diagnosed her with blood cancer poor Emily couldn’t find anything to be glad about .
What followed were days filled with tears ,excruciating pain,and dying hope .
Day by day she grew weaker and weaker .
Her mother borrowed huge sums of money to pay for her treatment ,not thinking of how she was going to repay them ever.
All she cared about was her daughter .
If Emily died Daisy knew she did not want to live for a moment more .
Emily knew that too .
So on that cold December evening Emily called her mother to her and gasping for air said “ mama …promise me that if I die you wont commit suicide like dada did ,don’t worry …you wont be alone I will be
there ..there..” and using all her energy she slowly raised her hand and pointed to her mothers heart .
“I promise I wont dear “ said Daisy and watched as Emily took a long breath ,sighed and then breathed no more .
Daisy did not cry ,she slowly placed her hand over her chest and listened carefully .

In the rhythm of her hearts beat Daisy could hear
the song of her daughters soul …

Sruthi menon
Class 10