A Peek Into The Past

The light rays from the brilliant sun crept into the room, as the scream of a woman filled with pain resounded in a small little hut.

"Push, Push! You've got to push harder."

A rough but discernably feminine voice encouraged in a loud voice.

"Ahhh!"

The woman's scream reached a cresento, and then slowly withered down, bringing along with it a new cry from a different source.

"Wahhh!"

That sound was like music from heaven for the ragged man waiting anxiously outside the hut.

*Bang*

He rushed into the house, nearly breaking the door off it's hinges.

Inside the house, the midwife was cradling an infant. Upon the man's intrusion, the woman handed the baby ever so gently to the man, who was anxiously looking at his wife.

"She will be alright, won't she?"

The man asked the midwife, as he received the infant.

"Of Course, she will be fine. Who do you think you're talking to? I helped in giving birth to twenty babies, ok? TWENTY! Btw it's a boy."

The midwife proudly exclaimed as she wiped the sweat off the face of the women heaving for breath on the bed.

That seemed to have released the tension from the man as he finally found the peace of mind to look at the baby boy in his arms.

The baby with a beautiful pair of hazel eyes looked at his father for a moment and then cried with all his might.

"Wahhh!"

The new father looked at his son and smiled.

"My precious little boy."

...

A four year old boy was playing in a dinky little hut with a worn teddy bear with stuffing coming out through the patches.

A young woman with brown hair and hazel eyes entered from the adjacent room. Her dress was in such a poor condition that, if one threw it onto the streets, no one would deign it another look.

"Oh, our Dewey is such a good boy. Sorry, Momma couldn't play with you in the day. But, I'll play with you till you sleep, my little angel."

She had a beautiful and kind smile that only mother's could have. She widened her arms and hugged her precious little darling.

*Crack*

It was at this moment that a small crack appeared on one corner of the hut. Within moments it spread like spider webs.

*Rumble*

The entire hut was crashing down.

"Dewey!"

The young woman, frightened as she may be, her parental instincts helped her move her body and shielded the baby.

*Crash*

Then silence filled the air, only to be broken by the scream of the neighbour.

...

A young boy was on life support in the hospital.

The doctors hurried about, doing all in their power to preserve the boy's life, while a man stood outside, looking at the wall in a daze.

No matter who came by, no matter how they consoled, the man remained unmoved.

A while later, a doctor came out.

"The boy's life is saved."

The doctor said while adjusting his glasses.

"W-what ab-bout my wife, sir? p-please tell me she's alright!'

The started as a whisper which gradually increased to a shout near the end.

The doctor looked at the man in the eye and said,

"I've already told you, she's dead. She died in an instant. Not feeling any pain or misery. But, she managed to protect the ba-"

The man rushed up to the doctor and held him up by the collar. He roared in the doctor's face,

"YOU, You didn't save HER!! You ****ing

b*stard!! It's all because of you she died!!!"

Before the man could get physical, he was quickly restrained by the people nearby.

After a while it was proven that the man couldn't take the grief of his wife's death and had gone mad.

He believed his wife was with him. He started talking with air and smiling like an idiot.

The boy was sent to an orphanage, as no relative wished to adopt him. All of them were equally poor and couldn't afford to bring up the baby.

...

The boy never smiled.

No matter how friendly the orphanage workers acted or how many days passed, he never smiled.

The unsmiling boy was brilliant. He was aced all subject at school, but, he didn't have even a single friend.

His unsmiling countenance and unfriendly vibe made every prospective friend steer clear of him.

The boy got one scholarship after another. He was always the best in the class. Going from Primary school to Senior school, he never missed getting the first place in all exams.

After many years, when he was getting his master's in business, he came across a fellow classmate.

She was waiting for him at the entrance.

"Hey, why are you always putting that scary face? If you keep that up, you'll have no friend even till graduation. You've got a nice face now if only you could sm-"

The young man glanced at the chattering woman and ignored her.

But, the woman didn't. She followed him all the way to his home and kept on chattering about meaningless things.

Days passed on, but after a month the young man couldn't take it any longer. He asked,

"What's wrong with you!? Could you just leave me alone! Why are you bothering me like this?"

The women just tilted her head at him and smiled,

"Hi! I'm Elise, wanna be friends with me?"

The young man was stunned. He couldn't process how that was a reply to his question.

The woman smiled brightly and said,

"You looked so lonely that I couldn't bear it. So, say what? Will you be my friend. I'll bother you till you won't feel lonely anymore."

This was how the fated couple met each other.

The woman was a completely different species from the young man. She was so bubbly and cheerful that even he felt his grey life being filled with colours.

The years passed on, the young man was slowly, but surely, opening up to others.

Yet he couldn't smile. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't smile. It was almost like his face forgot how to make such an expression.

But, on one fateful day,

He married the woman who saved him. It was when they exchanged the kiss of vow that he smiled for the first time in 22 years.

He finally broke his curse.