A Horrendous Sin

"It's a girl," the doctor said after going through the sonography report.

He then raised his head from the report and looked at the man sitting opposite to him. The man was lost in thoughts and his face was terribly flushed.

"Are you okay, Mr Chopra?" The doctor asked.

"I want to abort this child." Chopra said with a grave look on his face.

The doctor was taken aback for a while and his jaw fell as his stared at the human form sitting opposite to him with astonished eyes. But then composed himself soon and gulped down with his eyes glued to the sonography report.

"Fine, then you have to sign a few papers." The doctor didn't bother to ask for an explanation for the abortion as it was quite evident in the report - 'it was a GIRL!'

Chopra picked up a pen and signed the papers as fast as he could. He felt as if some huge burden was crushing his chest under its weight and restraining his breathing. He waited outside the operation theatre while the doctors relieved him of the burden that was choking him.

"The abortion was successful, Mr Chopra," the doctor said as he walked out of the theater, "you can take your wife home by tomorrow."

"Oh! Thank you so much, doctor," Chopra said as he extended his hand towards the doctor for a handshake.

But then immediately pulled his hand back as he saw some dark dirt sticking to his hands. He looked around trying to make out how his hands became dirty. The doctor gave him a weird look and moved on. Chopra shrugged and went to the washroom to wash the dirt off. He walked down to the parking lot and got into his car.

'Ma would be relieved too.' He thought as he sped his car towards his home.

He parked his car in the garage and stepped out. As he raised his hand to press the doorbell, he noticed that his hands were dirty again.

"What happened, son?" His mother asked as she opened the door for him, "please tell me its a boy!"

"No Ma," he said as rushed to the basin and washed his hands, "it was a girl but you don't have to worry I have got the foetus aborted."

"Thank God," his mother heaved a long sigh, "you need a son - an heir to keep the family name alive. But all we have here is a battalion of girls. Please keep in mind my son, we can't afford to have any more girls in this house. Only a boy has the right to take birth in this family."

He nodded and sat down on the dining table to enjoy a sumptous lunch to celebrate his achievement. After having lunch, he took a short nap. When he woke up, it was time for him to go back to the hospital where his wife was. He decided to take a bath before going out. After having a leisurely bath, as he was unlocking the door of his bathroom, he realized that dirt was still sticking to his hands. He groaned and cleaned them again.

As he reached the hospital, a nurse handed him the bill and a prescrption form. He went to the cash counter and handed the money to the cashier. The cashier counted it and handed over the receipt to Chopra. As he held out his hand to take the receipt, he noticed that his hands were dark and dirty. He somehow, stuffed the receipt into his pocket and rushed to the washroom. He rubbed the soap generously on his hands and cleaned them diligently. He sighed as he finally got rid of the dirt and turned to walk away.

"Dad!"

Chopra became numb as he heard a little girl's voice in the desolate washroom. He turned slowly to face the mirror. His eyes widened with horror as he saw the image of a little fairy in the mirror. Her face was beautiful but her stomach was stabbed with a surgical knife and blood was gushing out of it.

"You have done a horrendous sin," the girl in the mirror said, "you have murdered me!"

"NO!" Chopra let out a horrible scream.

The girl vanished behind a cloud of smoke. Chopra slowly raised his shivering hands to his eyes. His hands were dark and dirty again.