Veiled Benediction:

Passing through the familiar foyer, she tapped at the door that read "Here lives a Princess". She chuckled. The dweller of the room was 26 with a heart of 13.

"Come in", the dulcet tones of the person inside ordered.

"Keep the coffee at my study table, thank you", she further exclaimed without taking her eyes away from the mirror.
She was busy fixing her bangles and frantically trying to look calm at the same time. She was euphoric. After all it was her most awaited day.

The new entrant looked in the mirror and saw the reflection of her beautiful daughter dressed in a bridal attire.

She couldn't take her gaze off her kohl lined almond shaped eyes that screamed for attention. The bells attached to the red veil covering her head tinkled as she moved. She was dumbfounded by her little daughter's beauty.
She appeared no less than a queen with an invisible tiara placed on her head.

For countless number of years, she had envisaged of this day, when she would see her baby girl as a bride. Today was that day.
A tear of joy escaped her eyes.

Wiping away the tears with a smile, she turned her back to the mirror, ready to leave without making any noise.
The mirror saw nothing.
Not even her reflection.

She tiptoed out of the room.


In the strange stillness that prevailed, the bride stood transfixed in front of a framed photograph kept over the mantelpiece and murmured, "I miss you Maa, wish you were here with me, on this important day of mine."


--Apurba Mandal.