Craving For A Life

Sonia was jolted up from a deep slumber by some sound. She gasped and sat on her bed. For a moment, she couldn't decipher whether it was a dream or had she really heard something. She turned to look at Puja who was sleeping peacefully on a bed adjacent to hers. Puja was Sonia's best friend and colleague at the office. After her parent's death, Sonia came to stay at her ancestral home. As she felt lonely while staying in the palatial house, she asked Puja to move in with her. Apart from those two ladies, there was an old maid who used to sleep in her dingy room downstairs by the side of the kitchen and a watchman who was dozing in the guard's chamber by the gate.

Sonia sighed and was about to go back to bed when she heard the sound again and that too loud and clear this time. The sound was that of crying of an infant. Sonia found it strange as there were no babies in the house and the kids from the neighborhood were school students. Sonia wondered, if there are no infants around then from where the sound was coming?

"Maybe our neighbors are having guests." Sonia shrugged and was about to lie down when the sound echoed in the air again.

Numerous goosebumps took form on Sonia's delicate skin as she realized that the sound seemed to come from within the house and to be precise from right outside the door of her bedroom. She jumped down the bed and ran to Puja.

"Wake up, Puja," Sonia rocked Puja, "can you listen to the strange sound?"

"No," a sleepy Puja grimaced, "just let me sleep."

Sonia shook her head as she gave up on Puja. Sonia decided to find out for herself. She wrapped a shawl around her and tip toed towards the door. She quietly opened the door and peeped out. There was nobody outside. She listened attentively for a few minutes. There was utter silence in the whole house. As a couple of minutes passed by, she turned back to her room. Just as she took first step, she heard an infant's cry again. Sonia became ghastly pale as the sound was coming from the attic.

"No, that can't be," a shivering Sonia muttered. "Nobody goes there since my parents had died. And moreover, how can a baby crawl into an attic that had been kept locked since years? Anyway, let's check."

Sonia picked the key and ran upstairs. She opened the attic and switched the lights on. There was nobody in there. She closed the room and turned to leave but was bewildered when she collided with someone standing behind her. She screamed and looked at the figure with horror filled eyes till recognition dawned upon her.

"What the hell are you doing here in the dead of the night?" Puja's questioning eyes scrutinized Sonia.

"Pu...Puja," Sonia was almost out of breath, "I heard a baby's cries from here."

"Oh! buddy," Puja put an arm around Sonia and they both walked back to the bedroom, "as you are engaged to Avinash and you guys are going to get married soon. So it's quite natural for you to have dreams of having a baby."

"It wasn't a dream, Puja."

"Whatever!" Puja shrugged, "just go to sleep. We've to leave early for office tomorrow."

* *

The next night, Puja turned on her side on the bed and half-opened her somnolent eyes. Her throat was parched and she felt for the jug that was placed on the bedside table. She switched the lights on and looked at the clock. It was 3.30 a.m. She had some water and was about to fell back on her bed when her gaze fell on Sonia sitting on the bed next to her. A chill ran down Puja's spine as she saw the petrified face of her friend who had drawn her limbs to her chest and was shivering badly.

"What happened, Sonia?" Puja ran to her and hugged Sonia.

"I saw something up in the attic that I know was not for real."

"What did you see?" Puja ran a hand on Sonia's forehead to calm her down.

"I saw a baby crawling in the attic and when I went near to pick her up she vanished all of a sudden!"

Puja kept dumbly staring at her friend battling with herself whether to believe Sonia or not. A voice within her told Puja that Sonia was not quite well and was in need of help.

"I think you are too much stressed out, Sonia. And that's why you are having such experiences." Puja cuddled Sonia close to her, "let's see a doctor tomorrow."

"What are you trying to say, Puja?" Sonia turned her stony eyes to her friend. "Do you think I'm insane?"

"Of course not, dear," Puja's pretty face was wrinkled with concern. "It's only the stress. You should meet Dr. Aranya Kapoor. She is a psychiatrist and an expert in occult sciences. I think she can help you out."

* *

"Relax, Sonia," Dr Aranya waved a hand on Sonia's forehead who lying on a couch in her clinic. "You are about to enter a hypnotic trance. Hypnosis will help me to get to the bottom of your heart and find the cause of your problems."

"Hmm..." Sonia replied in a sleepy tone.

"Do you think that the hallucinations that you are having are any way connected to any real life event?"

"Yes..." Sonia who was in a trance replied in a husky voice.

Both Puja and Dr. Kapoor who were sitting near her were taken aback and exchanged confused glances.

"And how it is so?" Dr. Kapoor asked.

"It was during my college days that I met Aniket. I was a 20 year old, happy-go-lucky collegian who was immature and impulsive. Aniket was the most brilliant student in our class and used to help me with my studies. Before we both could realize, we fell madly in love with each other. But we both were well aware that we can't transform our dreams into reality. Aniket belonged to a poor family while my family was an affluent one. My parents would never allow their only child whom they had bought up as a princess to marry a pauper like him. Moreover, Aniket wasn't ready for marriage either. His priority was to find a well paid job and marry off his younger sister before thinking about his own life. We decided to part ways after the college life was over. During our farewell party, our friends doped our drinks without our knowledge and in an intoxicated state we got too close to each other. A few weeks after returning back to my house, I realized that I was pregnant. My parents furtively made arrangements for the abortion in the attic. I got over the incident in a few months and was back to my usual self."

"Then what made you remember your past again?" Dr. Kapoor asked.

"A fortnight ago, I met Aniket again after all those years. I felt that I shouldn't keep any secrets from him and I told him about the abortion. He scolded me and said that it was a sin to kill an unborn child. He said that he would have married me inspite of everything if I had told him about my pregnancy. I was shattered. I felt that everything I did was wrong. I craved to have him and our baby back." Sonia burst out sobbing.

"So, that's it!" Dr. Kapoor said after she had brought Sonia back from the trance. "You should do what you really want to. You should marry the man whom you still love."

"But it was my father's last wish to get me married to Avinash."

"Your father can understand, Sonia." Dr. Kapoor patted on her shoulder to console her. "If he were alive, he would not object to it."

"What shall I do, doctor?" Sonia turned her tear filled eyes to Dr. Kapoor.

"Explain everything to your fiance and break out of the bondages that are pulling you back from the life you want to live. Believe me, Sonia that's the only way you can get out of the mess."