Is That Blood On Her Hands

Sheela saw the red fluid dripping from her hands in horror. ‘Was it really blood?’

She could not even think back to those few moments earlier, when she had come across that man leaning towards the scared little child trying to molest her. She had succeeded in pulling away the child in time.

“Run,” she screamed. The child had thrown her a grateful glance and had run for her life.

But the man’s eyes had turned on Sheela. He was glaring at her in fury.

She too tried to run away as fast as she could but he caught up with her and grabbed her from behind. She did not know what made her remember that she had a tailoring scissor in her hand. She had picked it up to loosen the stitches of her wedding gown which had been uncomfortably tight round the waist. And whether it was by pure instinct or self defense that she turned and pierced it through his stomach. His incredulous look as he fell showed that he had been taken completely by surprise.

Sheela looked at her hands in horror. Blood was splashed all over the henna decorated palms that had just started to color. She started to weep.

Just then a soft touch on her shoulder made her turn around. It was Ritwik, her fiance. She fell into his arms as he drew her into a comforting embrace.

“Don’t cry, my dear,” he said gently. “You are a true brave-heart. The child you saved from this brute is my cousin brother’s daughter. ”

The sound of the police siren made her withdraw from his arms.

“What happened?” asked the Inspector brusquely. “This child was so frightened that she could not speak coherently but she kept on insisting that we come along. Seeing her unnaturally scared expression, we decided to follow her.”

Sheela gathered herself together and narrated the whole incident. The Inspector and the other policemen looked at her with a new found admiration. By then, one of them had examined the fallen man.

 “This man is not dead. He is only unconscious,” he exclaimed. They carried him away in the van.

Ritwik took Sheela’s blood stained hands in his and together with the child, they walked back to the wedding hall.