Chapter 1: Aazadi
Mink’s P.O.V
I wasn't dead. Not yet. But it sure felt like it.
When is a person supposed to die? I don't know. I'm not literate. Women aren't supposed to be.
At least that's what he says.
Is it when your heart stops beating? I don't know. Because mine stopped the moment I saw my partners set on fire in front of my eyes.
My mother had been different. She'd cared for me. Fed me. Brushed my head. Told me I was special. That the Goddess of Wolves had created me to destroy all those who torment us.
"Jala dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!" (Burn them all. Don't leave anyone alive!). She'd screamed at me as the fire turned her fair skin black, made it bubble out blood. "In rakshaso main se koi bhi jeene layak na hain!" (None of these demons deserve to live).
I hadn't answered. I couldn't. But he'd laughed. Laughed so hard. While my mother...my father....were burnt to death. Their screams kept on echoing through my mind even now, days later.
A sound of bells.
It was coming closer slowly. Something was being dragged through the sand, something heavy and familiar.
I peeked from behind the tent where I was hiding till now. A khanjaar (a knife) was held tightly in my hand, a man's white kurta (a top for men) hung from my thin body, my white hair hung loose over my face. My entire body was covered in white sand and dirt; even the white kurta I wore was covered in dirt. I'd prepared myself such so that no one can distinguish between the sand and me. No one can see what's coming.
The noise came closer. Stopped in front of his door.
"Malik!" (Leader) One of them called.
I peeked further, but remained in the shadows so no one could see me. No one knows I escaped. All were sleeping. Deep sleep.
I take it with me and pour some on the tent I’ve been hiding behind. It was big bottle, so I pour on more tents. When bottle water is no more, I keep it on the ground carefully and take out more that I stole from my prison. This water is blue and they use it to burn fire. So I pour over tents and then take two rocks in my hand. Just like mother taught me to I hit them together and throw them on the water and it catches fire. Suddenly, a wind blows through the desert, strong wind. A storm is coming! Good.
I turn around and walk towards the fence of our village. The fire spreads behind me. And then screams. Just like my mother and father…they scream.
But then I hear the women scream and they keep chanting aazadi (freedom)! The men scream like women. Scared. This time, I laugh. I laugh so hard that I cry.
And then I run. I run as fast as I can. Run long and late, until all I can see is sand. White as my hair, all around me. And there are no more screams.
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N.B: The language and sentence structure in this chapter may seem absurd but that is because at the time, Mink is uneducated like all other women in Mouri who had been denied even the basic of education. This is why even her thoughts are in the uneducated language that is the only thing she currently knows. The language and sentences will change after a couple chapters when she has finally educated herself.
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