Chapter 2: A Childhood Without a Father

Some silences are louder than words.

Aarohi had grown up in one.

She did not remember her father’s voice.

Not his laughter.

Not the way he called her name.

All she had were fragments—stories stitched together by her mother, like pieces of a memory she was never truly part of.

“He used to hold you for hours,” her mother would say, her eyes soft with remembrance. “Even when you were asleep, he wouldn’t put you down.”

Aarohi would sit quietly beside her, listening as if those words could somehow fill the empty spaces inside her heart. She would imagine a face she had never seen clearly, a warmth she had never truly felt.

“Was he like you?” she once asked, her small voice hesitant.

Her mother smiled faintly. “No… he was better.”

Aarohi didn’t know why, but that answer made her chest feel heavy.

In school, there were days that felt heavier than others.

Father’s Day.

A simple card-making activity for most children. Laughter filled the classroom as little hands colored hearts, wrote messages, and spoke excitedly about their fathers.

“My papa will love this!”

“My dad is my hero!”

The words echoed around Aarohi like a distant world she didn’t belong to.

She sat quietly, staring at the blank paper in front of her.

“Why aren’t you making your card?” her teacher asked gently.

Aarohi lowered her eyes. “I don’t know what to write.”

The teacher paused, understanding more than the child had said.

After a moment, Aarohi picked up her pencil.

Slowly… carefully… she wrote:

“To Papa… wherever you are.”

Her handwriting was uneven, her letters trembling slightly.

She didn’t decorate the card much. Just a small heart in the corner.

Because how do you decorate something meant for someone you’ve never known?

That evening, she handed the card to her mother instead.

Her mother looked at it… and for a brief second, her expression broke.

But she smiled.

A smile that tried to hide the pain behind it.

“He would have loved this,” she said softly, pulling Aarohi into a warm embrace.

Aarohi held onto her tightly.

Maybe… just maybe… that was enough.

Their life was simple.

A small house.

Limited means.

But a home filled with quiet love.

Her mother worked tirelessly—taking stitching orders, managing the house, and raising Aarohi with all the strength she had.

Sometimes late at night, when Aarohi pretended to sleep, she would hear the soft hum of the sewing machine from the other room.

A steady rhythm.

A sound that meant survival.

A sound that meant sacrifice.

A sound that meant love.

One night, unable to sleep, Aarohi walked out quietly.

Her mother sat bent over the sewing machine, her eyes tired, her fingers moving quickly but carefully.

The dim light cast long shadows on the wall.

“Maa…” Aarohi whispered.

Her mother looked up, surprised. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

Aarohi walked closer. “You didn’t eat properly.”

Her mother smiled faintly. “I will, after finishing this.”

Aarohi stood there for a moment, watching her.

Then she said something that made her mother pause.

“I will help you when I grow up.”

Her mother’s eyes softened instantly.

“You don’t have to help me,” she said gently. “You just have to study, dream… and live a life bigger than this.”

Aarohi shook her head, her small face serious beyond her years.

“I want to make things better for you.”

There was a silence.

Not empty this time… but full.

Her mother reached out, pulling her close.

“You already have,” she whispered.

That night, Aarohi lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

She didn’t fully understand the weight of life yet.

But she understood one thing clearly—

Her mother was her entire world.

And somewhere, in the quiet corners of her heart, a dream was beginning to form.

Not just to live.

But to change everything.

She didn’t know then…

that life was about to take her biggest support away too.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***