An 11-year old girl named Runa lived with her mother and father in a small village in Bangladesh. One day, she was coming home from school. It was a long walk through the countryside and when she got home, Runa was very thirsty. She went into the kitchen to get a drink of water and grabbed a glass from the cupboard Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. In a corner of the kitchen, lay the dead body of her mother. Runa dropped the glass and screamed in horror. At that moment, her father walked out of the next room. “Runa, please listen carefully and calmly,” he said. “Your mother was planning to run off and abandon us. She was having an affair with another man. I tried to talk her out of it… I told her you would be devastated if she left, but she wouldn’t listen… We got into a fight… It all happened so quickly… She fell and hit her head… I’m so sorry…” He sat down at the kitchen table, put his head in his hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. It was such a shocking situation. Runa struggled to take it all in. She wanted to cry but she forced herself to be strong. She had to remain calm. She had to think. What would happen if her father was sent to prison? She had no other relatives. She was only 11 years old. The authorities would send her to an orphanage. It was clear what she had to do. She had no other choice. Biting her lip, she decided not to turn her father in to the police. After all, it was an accident. She realized that they would just have to find a way to deal with the situation. She looked at her father and nodded. “We will have to bury her ourselves,” she said quietly. “If the neighbors ask any questions, we can tell them she ran away with another man.” Her father hung his head, still weeping. Runa went upstairs to her bedroom and began to change out of her school uniform. As she was taking off her clothes, she noticed her suitcase was lying on the bed. When she opened it, she found all of her clothes lying inside, neatly folded. A small piece of paper lay on top. She recognized the handwriting. It was a note from her mother. It read: “Runa, I packed your things. We have to leave quickly. Your father has gone insane.” (ash)
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 09:30:13 +0000
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