Shades Of Rain---Curse

There was no letting up today...it had been three hours of incessant rain, it was pouring in buckets from the sky and being collected in buckets in Mira's shanty...but her buckets were too trivial compared to the omnipotence of the clouds, fresh holes were appearing by the minute on the tarpaulin covering which served as the ceiling...the periodic gusts of wind threatened to blow them away and end the ordeal at once but they had been just threats thus far.



And thus sat Mira in the corner beside the wall of the municipal school praying for the rains to end, every gust of wind heightening her sense of dread and every appearing hole bringing forth more tears from her eyes. Surprisingly, the toddler in her lap lay quiet, perhaps absorbed in the rhythmic sound of the rains. It was new experience for him and it seemed that he was enjoying nature's spectacle albeit ignorant of how close he was on the verge of facing her wrath too.

Every year this time Mira would be praying for this season to pass without them getting displaced, willing her Gods to bide away the terror for one last time, next year they would have a pukka ceiling above their heads...always backing herself to save enough from her meager earnings and always failing.....after all, there's only so much hard work and conviction can pay you. And thus it was that every time the clouds wanted to shed their load she was faced with this terrifying vigil of prayers and fear...the rains, a curse for her.