The Lightning

In October 2019, all the citizens in India were celebrating the festival of lights – Diwali with great joy. Aisha and Ayush, who were staying in Surat with their nine months old baby boy Kabir, were very happy to celebrate the first Diwali with him. They bought new clothes and a few firecrackers for Kabir. Kabir was a happy kid and loved to go out for rides with his parents.

Aisha and Ayush took Kabir for a ride on their bike in the evening. There were decorations on every building in the city, the sweet shops were loaded with a variety of sweets and snacks, the restaurants were full of people that came to celebrate the evening with their families or friends, and the roads decorated with lighting veils. Everything was new for Kabir as it was his first Diwali celebration. However, the evening did not seem to support Kabir’s ride, as it was still rainy even at the end of October.

The rain had stopped pouring a few hours before Aisha and Ayush took Kabir for the ride but there were lightning strikes going on in the sky. The thunderous lightning was a new experience for Kabir. Ayush was driving the bike and Aisha held Kabir to her side. Kabir stood up on the bike by hearing the thunders and started waving towards the sky. He saw the bright purple lightning bolts and out of nowhere, he started enjoying them. He waved to the sky calling Aisha by tapping her hands that held him.

Aisha and Ayush were very happy to see their child enjoying the evening of Diwali even in such bad weather, which was unexpected. They took Kabir to a garden restaurant where Kabir could still enjoy the lightning. Everyone was happy and went back home. The next morning, when Ayush was reading the daily newspaper, he read something terrifying. The news under the city news section stated that “Two killed, one injured in lightning strike in Surat!”

Happy stories sometimes end in a tragedy, and all the good things take place in the epilogue.