The Changeling: A Quest For Time

Chapter 10: A Maiden’s Struggles (Part 1)

“Diana, just sit beside his cradle. Call me if he wakes up.” Anita whispered towards Diana, closed the door to the room and went to the living room.

Diana had been maintaining a poker face until Anita had closed the door to the room.

“Getting paid to slack off is such a good feeling!” A radiant smile appeared on her face as she mischievously gazed towards the cute chubby little Akash.

“Guhehehe” Diana laughed carefreely as she teased the chubby cheeks of Akash who gave faint cries of resistance.

“Oh, no…!” While she was too engrossed in her teasing, Diana immediately became alert as Akash had suddenly opened his eyes and looked as if he would start to cry.

Diana picked up Akash and held him in her arms as she consoled him. There was a stark sense of immaturity in her voice and it looked as if she had springs in her legs. In a smooth action that implied her experience in doing the same numerous times, Diana quickly pacified Akash and made him sleep once again.

He was sleeping so comfortably in her arms as if they were Anita’s. If Prakash were to ever witness this scene, he would be stupefied and his jealousy might shoot through the roof.

Akash wouldn’t stay in his own arms without making a fuss and would eventually end up crying within a few seconds. He could never imagine such a scene where Akash would comfortably sleep in the hands of a person other than his mother Anita.

Diana pranced around the room for a few seconds as she sang a few lullabies, picked up a book from a corner of the bookshelf and sat on the bed adjacent to the cradle. She then gently placed Akash on her lap as she began to read the book. The book was titled, “Physics, Part-1. A textbook for Class XI,”

She obviously went to school since she was only 16 years of age. Diana used a few safety pins to tightly tie the sleeves of her dress as she didn't want it to disturb Akash’s sleep as she became engrossed in her studies.

Diana was properly brought up by her parents; a good education, a set of talent in arts and humble but graceful manners. Her dad was a school teacher while her mother was a cook for the parents of Anita. They lived in another 2nd tier district.

Diana’s family weren’t well off but they managed to live with basic comfort and moreover, Anita’s parents helped them take care of their problems if any arised. The old couple had some influence in the city to take care of small matters easily.

They were also the ones who helped Diana get admission into a well-reputed school (There is heavy competition to get admissions in a good school in any part of India. Many parents would rush in with political-level recommendations to get their children a seat in a prestigious school. Too many candidates, but too few vacancies is the cause of this,) since her mother had served as their cook for more than a decade.

But, her comfortable life came to an end when her parents died in an accident, it was the day she became an orphan.

Her thieving relatives quickly snatched away her family’s accumulated assets through forgeries. By the time the old couple came to know of this, it was already too late.

They filed a complaint in the court and fought for her. Diana could no longer study as she couldn't afford the tuition fees. Eventually, she had to discontinue her studies.

It was when the old couple were frustrated of their inability to properly help the poor child that they sought help from their daughter Anita.

Anita was always busy with her business and her engagement with Prakash was just around the corner, so she had much to prepare. Of the few times she saw Diana, she had a good impression of the energetic brat.

Anita intervened in her case with a lawyer that she had good ties with and got back Diana's assets after various struggles and political drama.

In the meantime, she took Diana with her to the metropolitan city she had lived in and joined her in a school there. She made Diana into a maid (just for namesake) in her house so that she could have a steady source of income and also wouldn't hinder her studies.

In Anita’s eyes, supporting Diana’s education wouldn’t even put a dent in her finances and she also wanted a trustable assistant in her work in the future. Anita silently educated Diana about the ABCDs of the business world and nurtured her so that when she was old enough, she would become one of Anita’s trustable secretaries.

Diana’s gratitude to Anita was insurmountable. She was ready to sacrifice even her life for Anita without the slightest hesitation as Anita was someone who gave her a helping hand in the lowest point of her life and also gave her a path to tread onto.

Anita left Akash in the care of Diana so that she wouldn’t have to waste her time with mundane chores and study (she had proper maids to do that). She also did a fine job by taking care of Akash when Anita was too busy. Though Prakash wasn’t privy about such stuff and always complained about the highly paid slacker, Anita never batted an eye to his baseless complaints.

She knew Diana’s capabilities and was proud of her competency.

“Laa la laa la” Diana hummed her favourite tune as she sometimes poked the chubby irresistible cheeks of Akash as she busied herself with her studies.

Suddenly, Akash started to cry, but before she could pacify him, her eyes turned dark and she fainted on the bed. Her hands were still in a protective embrace around Akash.

…

It was dim; the sunlight barely seeped in through the windows.

Diana woke up due to the loud, grating noise that was so loud that her ears felt as if they would go deaf.

“Uwaa…uwaa..” As Diana heard the cries of Akash, she tried to get up only to find some thick sheet had covered over her.

“W-What the hell!” Diana cursed under her breath as she flailed her hands in the dark and tried to make her way towards the source of the sound.

There seemed to be a path ahead as Diana hurried along while her hands tried to lift the heavy blanket that was overhead and seemed to be pressing on her.

She neared the sound but, still couldn't get out of the sheet. She tries to tear it with her hands and even bit with her teeth in frustration but couldn't damage the sheet in the slightest.

As fear began to grip her heart, Diana saw a thin source of light enter through the crevice at one corner. Diana ran in the direction, lifted the sheet with her hand and after a few seconds of struggling, managed to finally breathe in some fresh air.

As she gained her vision in the dim sunlight, her mind became hazy as her heart thumped vigorously.

Confusion! Fear! Despair!

The familiar surroundings, the book that she had been reading till now, and the very same dress that she wore today, they all looked huge.

“Uwaa…Uwaa…” Her head turned around in the direction of the wails as her heart skipped a beat at the scene she had just witnessed.

A tiny cute baby was crying in fear as its two hands held the antennae of an ant and prevented it from coming close to him. The edges of the ant's mandibles occasionally grazed at the knees of Akash who was in a sitting position drawing out some fine traces of red blood.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Diana charges towards Akash and kicked at the abdomen of the ant. The ant flew through the air forming an arc as it fell on the mattress, dead.

“Huff…..puff” Diana took in deep breaths as she inspected the injuries of Akash; just a small scratch on his knees, nothing severe.

“An infection may occur if I don't treat it soon.” Diana grit her teeth as she gazed toward a water bottle near the door. It was kept there because there was a chance that Akash would hurt himself with it if was kept near him.

Diana looked at her surroundings and found her shawl (It is a lengthy piece of thin cloth that women wear over churidhars, a type of dress) atop her dress.

Carrying Akash with one hand, Diana dragged the shawl towards the edge of the mattress and pushed a part of it down. One end of the shawl slid down to the tiled floor while more than half of it was still on the mattress.

Diana carefully clutched at the hems of the shawl and slowly descended. It was even more taxing since she had to carry Akash with one hand.

As she safely reached the tiled floor, Diana heaved a sigh of relief and proceeded towards the water bottle that was on the floor near the door.

'Click'

A sound reverberated from the doorknob that jolted her awareness. As she warily gazed in the direction of the door, she heard various other sounds coming from the other side of the door that scared the daylights out of her.

“I can't take the risk with Akash here.” Diana thought as she silently observed the door under the cover of the shawl.

After noticing that nothing unexpected happened even after some time had elapsed, Diana left Akash under the cover of the shawl as she once again climbed upon it. Her heart hurt in pain as she heard the sorrowful cries of Akash but bit her lips until it bled and hurried.

Diana reached the top of the mattress and dashed towards her pile of clothes. Diana searched at a few spots until she came across the end of her sleeves where she had tightened them with a few safety pins.

“Yes!” Diana removed the two pins that were each half as long as her current body height and ran towards her book.

She tore a few pieces of a page from the book and folded it in many directions. Within a few seconds, she had made herself fitting paper clothes and wore them on her body. She then pinned the two safety pins on the sides of her skirt and hurried towards the shawl.

As she was half-way in descending along the shawl, she once again heard the cries of Akash. This time, his cries were completely full of fear.