she watched the sand slip
through the gap in her fingers
few grains,
mixed with the sweat of her palm,
remained
like the painful memories
that clung to her mind.
a scream echoed
through the tunnel -
that connected her present to her past
honking of a car
jolted her back to the present
she rubbed her palms together
getting rid of the leftover sand
the sand fell off -
unlike the memories -
that were inseparable part of her life.
she thought she had gotten rid of them
but all she had managed to do
was to put them in a place;
she avoided visiting.
she heard laughter -
and she turned to see the source
she saw a girl playing with a man,
perhaps her father
she heard her own laughter
echoing from the past
the past when she was happy.
the laughter synchronised for a moment
and then there was darkness -
darkness of haunting memories.
she felt warm breath
at the nape of her neck
a hand reached out to touch her
the way she did not like
the touch scarred her forever
it made her cringe,
the touch prevented her
from getting intimate with anyone, ever.
her mobile beeped-
notification from a news app
5-year-old girl raped by her uncle
her innocence ripped off
leaving her scarred forever
she would now cringe at every touch
and it would be difficult for her,
to be intimate with anyone, ever.
a shadow would follow the girl everywhere,
the way it followed her.
her mobile beeped again -
a forwarded message on WhatsApp
"Happy Children's Day!"
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