The thirteen-year-old.

This story is of the 20th century.

There was a normal middle-class family, a naval father, a rebellious mother, a cry-baby brother, and a notorious yet confident and independent thirteen-year-old sister. They were living in Sri Lanka. During that time, modes of transportation were pathetic. Only the prestigious class could use the boats or any transport for that matter. This family was in a resort that had many other people from the same place and they all were middle-class. They had no other option than swimming to the other side of the shore! They were like other people- refugees i.e., they had to leave their countries due to adverse situations, and a state in India, specifically Goa, allowed people like this to stay. The day had come when they had to swim through the majestic ocean, face innumerable problems just to reach somewhere where they can peacefully sleep. The Father was pretty good at swimming, mother and brother were manageable, and the sister, her father taught her how to swim, so yeah, she was pretty good too.

On that day, everything was chaotic, people were running here and there just in search of tubes. The thirteen-year-old was nervous, not in a scared way but in an exciting way, she was always ready to face new adventures. There were almost a thousand families like this one. Everyone was ready. They packed their stuff and tied it together and kept it on a raft which the leader of the group would take responsibility for. They wore their swimsuits and jumped into the Indian ocean. The water was as cold as Hitler’s heart but they knew, just by spending some time in it, people will eventually get adapted to it without any uneasiness. They held each other very tightly with their arms around each other, elders like this mother, had to carry the young child who could not swim. The thirteen-year-old wanted to lead her group just like her father. Everything was perfectly fine, days went by, these people were still swimming and holding each other as if they were one big family. While paddling, a weed caught the leg of the thirteen-year-old and it poked her. She didn’t realize it though, because it was like a pin-prick, just a drop of blood. Finally, everyone reached their desired destination after tremendous efforts by everybody.

Everyone was delighted to look at their new home. This girl wanted to explore more and more but she felt really tired. Everyone thought that it was because of swimming for such a long time so they just let it go. Eventually, people bought houses, started designing their houses as per their will without any inconvenience. Almost a week passed, but this thirteen-year-old’s health deteriorated like anything. Now people were worried and they asked the residents who lived there to check her. The residents were new, so they didn’t know much about all this so they suggested they consult a full-fledged doctor. The father got an appointment but it was almost two to three weeks later than now. Father was not worried much because he knew that his daughter was like him, strong and courageous, and she was.

One day, suddenly the thirteen-year-old started shivering tremendously. She couldn’t even stand in that situation. Her mother saw her and she panicked. She left everything and ran to her. Her brother got scared and asked her mother what happened. Just not to scare him, she said that it's just a type of dance which people across the globe were doing these days. She immediately called the ambulance, contacted her neighbors and her husband. Her husband was busy doing some project work so he could not attend her call. The matter worsened. The mother had to catch the girl in her arms and suddenly, the girl just shut her eyes and fell into her arms. Everything was silent. Neighbors rushed into her house to help her but it was too late. She died. Her father felt something unusual so he called his wife. She didn’t pick up as she was stunned. She didn’t have any other option than to look at her and let out all her feelings by weeping. The neighbors had to inform her father about the tremendous loss. When her father heard the news, he rushed back home and saw her daughter lying dead in her mother’s arms. Even he was aghast. His brave soldier was dead. The brother could not stop crying. None could. After spending a few hours with the body, trying to digest the fact that she was dead, they sent it for postmortem reports. Later it was diagnosed that she was tremendously poisoned by the plant which poked her.