The Faraway Land

“It was Christmas eve, and Angie could barely contain her excitement. Since the time little Angie had learnt about Santa, she secretly wished for Santa to fulfill her dream of meeting Torriene The Angel. Angie had once read in a book that Torriene The Angel was an angel who came into children’s dreams and fulfilled their desires; but, to get their wishes granted, the children had to give a promise to the angel, who was described to be the kindest angel in the whole land. When Torriene The Angel finally made her way into Angie’s dreams, Angie started shivering. The realization of this dream was a culmination of years of diligence and hankering. When the angel asked Angie what she desired, Angie carefully replied saying that she wanted to spread peace and kindness in the world. Torriene The Angel was surprised to hear this from a child. What Angie had said was very profound, which had a lasting impact on her. When Torriene The Angel asked for a promise in return, Angie said that she would always help the less privileged people around her and treat everybody with love,” the old woman read aloud to her orphaned grandchildren, Keenan and Rhea, a few days before Christmas. 

“I wish to know what y'all would ask for if Torriene The Angel visited you in your dreams. Don't hurry. Think before you come up with an answer,” said the grandmother, before retreating to her bed. Keenan kept tossing and turning in his bed throughout the night trying to find the right answer, whereas Rhea instantly got transported into the dreamland with a teddy clutched to her chest.

It had been a year since Keenan and Rhea had lost their parents in a car accident. A happy family at once, Keenan would often stare out at the gate from his window with the hope that his parents would return home one day. The two siblings, who stayed with their grandmother and widowed aunt, enjoyed listening to the stories that their grandmother would narrate to them. Rhea was just 3 years old when she was told that her parents had left to stay in the heaven with fairies and angels.

The next morning, when Rhea woke up, she ran straight towards her grandmother’s room. “I have found the answer to the question you asked us last night,” Rhea stated excitedly, while tugging at her grandmother’s saree. “If I ever meet Torriene The Angel, then I shall ask her to tell me when mama and papa would be back. You had promised me saying that they have gone to live in the skies just for a few days, but they still haven't come back. I shall promise her that I will not give any one of you a chance to complain and that I will not cry before going to school,” she added.

Keenan and Rhea barely spoke with other children in school. They preferred to stay aloof and rarely ever showed any interest in interacting with their classmates. Their widowed aunt, who was a pianist, would sit by the window and practise different tunes on her keyboard through most of the afternoon. Daily, after returning from school, Keenan and Rhea would rush to their aunt’s room and revel in the enchanting sound of the tunes that were passionately churned out. The afternoon  piano sessions had presented an opportunity for them to plunge into a world that took away from them their despair and helplessness, albeit just for a short span. 

The morning after his grandmother asked him what he wished to demand from Torriene The Angel, Keenan woke up totally confused and distracted. Throughout the night, his mind kept drifting to how his parents left him and his younger sister very early on in life in the care of their aunt and grandmother. Not only was Keenan angry about his and Rhea’s helplessness but also for becoming an added liability in the eyes of their aunt and grandmother. The old grandmother doted on her grandchildren and tried hard to not let them feel the void that their parents’ absence had left, while the widowed aunt worked as a piano teacher in a local school to make ends meet.

Every night, before kissing good night, the grandmother narrated tales and stories to Keenan and Rhea from popular children’s books. If the children’s Ramayana had stimulated Rhea’s imagination like no other book, Mowgli’s adventures in The Jungle Book had left no stone unturned to mesmerize Keenan. The old grandmother indulged her two grandchildren with stories as a way to bond with them. It was these moments of bonding and intimacy that added spark to their modest living. “Please promise us that you will never leave us and go. Mama and papa selfishly went away without taking us along,” Rhea stated to her grandmother, once, before hugging her tight and going to sleep. 

Keenan, who never told Rhea that their parents were never going to come back, often worried that his sister wouldn't be able to cope up with the harsh truth about their life. He thought that Rhea would suffer the same fate as him in school, if she told her friends that she didn't have her parents. Keenan had become a loner in school after he was regularly singled out by his classmates for being an “orphan". He would mostly end up consoling his little sister by saying that they would arrive soon, every time she sat at the door waiting for her parents to return. He never failed to tell her how their aunt and grandmother would be hurt if they saw her crying. 

“I have been trying very hard since the last couple of days to come up with the right answer, but I think I need some more time,” Keenan answered, when his grandmother asked for one. “You seem to have taken my advice quite literally,” laughed the grandmother. The house had warmed up with the anticipation for Christmas. Keenan and Rhea were looking forward to the Christmas break in school. Aunt Shelly, like every year, had prepared apple pie and lemon tart. It seemed like the dark shadows of sorrow that usually hovered over the house had taken a break for once.

Torriene The Angel was quite popular among the children who had encountered her. If Tic-tac-toe and Connecting The Dots were some of the popular games that kept many a school child entertained through lectures, a majority of Keenan’s classmates would excitedly discuss about ghosts, devils and angels at any given opportunity. A boy, who studied with Kenan, had a brother suffering from severe dyslexia. His family had consulted many specialists to help improve his condition without any success. “We were completely heartbroken after realizing that nothing was working for my brother. Just when we had made peace with my brother’s condition, I met Torriene The Angel. She was a tall, petite and pleasant-looking angel with mermaid-like looks. She expressed concern over my brother’s condition and asked me how I wanted her to us out. Not knowing what to ask, I just told her that I wanted to see my parents happy and smiling. She smiled at me and assured me that she would make things alright,” he said. “It’s been a year since I encountered Torriene The Angel, and my brother’s condition has miraculously improved. Although he does have occasional moments of despair and helplessness, my parents are at peace with his improvement,” his friend gushed to his group of boys.

Just when it was Christmas eve, Keenan and Rhea’s grandmother, on her way back home, stumbled over a big rock and fell on her face. The sight of blood flowing from the forehead and nose was enough to send the bystanders in a state of panic. The right leg was twisted and the stomach had deep wounds and cuts. The bags that held grocery, boxes of fairy lights and floating candles had scattered all over the place. In a bid to reach home in time to surprise the Keenan and Rhea with Christmas goodies, the grandmother paced faster and hurried with her remaining purchases before landing in a pool of blood. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital.

Keenan and Rhea had already grabbed their seats beside aunt Shelly and were ready to listen to the Christmas carols that they had been demanding. Aunt Shelly had an ingrained penchant for music. She could play different genres of music for hours every afternoon without getting bored. As the music session proceeded, aunt Shelly’s passion began intensifying. The children could hardly take their eyes off her enchanting facial gestures, while she softly moved her fingers on the keyboard. It wasn't until the neighbours' intimation about the situation that it became known to the children and their aunt that the oldest member of the family had been missing in action for a prolonged period of time.

Aunt Shelly and Rhea rushed to the hospital as soon as they received the news of the incident, whereas Keenan decided to stay home to fear the worst. Ever since he had lost his parents, he had begun despising the concept of death and the thought of not being able to see a loved one for long. He had come to think that everybody around him was meant to leave him and go away. Over a period of time, and much to his reluctance, he had forced upon himself the challenge of detachment from all those that were close to him. Tears started rolling down his pink-tint cheeks as he lay on the sofa anticipating the outcome. His swollen, red eyes, from profound grief, spoke a story of their own.

The morning of Christmas saw Keenan wake up after an almost 10-hour slumber. It was after very long that he had a very peaceful and invigorating sleep. His eyes glistened in the sunlight that spread all across his bed through a thin sheet of curtains. Christmas had indeed presented him with one of the most pleasant and brightest mornings. He suddenly remembered his grandma’s condition before rushing out of his room to get a grip on the situation. Keenan was clueless about all that had transpired the previous evening. He had refused to speak or discuss anything with anyone before going to his room He was completely taken aback when he saw his grandmother flashing a broad grin from across the corner of her room in the morning. He took a moment to grapple with the reality. He had seen his grandmother smiling at him from her bed. Yes; he had just seen her!

“I went to bed very angry and disturbed, last night. I feared asking about your condition. I quietly retreated to my room and lay in my bed. Whenever I tried to close my eyes, I felt a strong instinct that I was going to fall off the bed, and I ended waking up with a sudden jerk. After repeated attempts of trying to sleep, I was finally able to relax. A while later, I saw a long and pretty woman with dark, long hair and light brown eyes in my dreams. She introduced herself as Torriene The Angel. She had a very calming and delightful appearance. It seemed like she knew that I was sad and upset and asked me what was bothering me. With a frown on my face, I told her that you had had a very bad accident. I expressed to her how my parents left me and my sister very young and never came back. While tears were rolling down my cheeks, I also told her that I did not go to the hospital to see you as I was fearing the worst outcome. I just couldn't see another loved one being taken away from me. I told her that I did not wish for anything in this world but for you to return back home. God has already been unfair to me and taken away my parents. I did not want him to take you away. I was worried and scared that I may have to tell Rhea that another loved one of hers had made her way to the skies to happily live with God. In return, I promised the angel that I would never complain for not having mama and papa,” Kenan explained before giving his grandmother a bear hug. “I hope I’m not very late in giving you an answer,” he asked, before wiping the tears in her eyes. Rhea and aunt Shelly, who stood in a corner, stepped forward and surrounded the two of them before they all embraced each other in a hug.