Seeker

"What? ", said Shapish.

"There is a reason why you are called these names? ", he added.

"Obviously! We are seekers.", said The Priest.

Before he could continue, someone entered the room and the duo shut up and withdrew.

As Shapish looked at the person entering the room, he quickly withdrew his gaze and acted like an innocent baby enjoying a cozy nap. He shut his lips tightly and rolled over to the side.

A woman came close to him and gently placed him back in the cradle. She looked at him affectionately for a long time.

She looked somewhat detached as if searching for something. As she touched the boy's little fingers, she looked at him her eyes full of motherly love. She kept overlapping his little fingers with hers. After some time, her expression froze as if she had finally realized something.

She raised the baby in her arms as she held him closely. She could hear the calm breaths of the child as she hugged him tightly. For a few minutes, she kept herself very close to the child before she started playing with his nose and hands. She tried making various sounds to wake the child up. 

The boy soon woke up as he looked at the woman with a bewildered look. She was surprised to see the baby acting weird but soon, she started laughing. She kept laughing for some time before tears fell out of her eyes. She immediately tried looking the other way, but one could see her failing to control her tears. She kept rubbing her eyes vigorously.

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Shapish saw the woman properly for the first time. She wore a plain red cardigan with big sleeves. Her face and eyes was flushed red while her nose had some snot still dripping. Her face looked like she was having difficulty stopping herself from crying. Her breathing was a bit rugged. 

Soon, she rubbed her eyes and tried to clean her face with the sleeves. She smiled as she looked at the child as she kissed him on his forehead and cheeks. She tickled the kid on his belly and arms. The kid didn't react much.The boy wasn't ticklish at all! But,she didn't give up until she found a spot and the kid started laughing.

Suddenly, she removed her cardigan as she moved the kid close to her breast trying to feed him but sadly, the kid wasn't hungry yet. She kissed him all over again and whispered in his ears- "उद्दीप्त".

Soon, she tried to get up. But, the boy just wouldn't leave her hand! She tried to softly remove his little finger but the stubborn boy just wouldn't let go! Finally, she freed her finger and got ready to leave. She stood at the door for a long timetime looking in the boy's direction. 

The boy started crying when he saw her leave. She looked at him crying and gestured him to look at her hands. The sun was setting illuminating her face. She looked plain but somehow gorgeous at the same time. She clapped her hands and interlocked all her fingers as she nodded her head with a smile.

Shapish kept crying louder and louder as the woman's figure became blurry before she vanished completely from his sight . He just knew it that he might never see this woman again.

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Shapish had a different person bringing him food and washing him. He still wasn't taken outside. He looked like he was waiting for someone , but she never came. Day after day passed as no one else came. But, Shapish didn't want to give up waiting. Even if he somewhat knew something might have happened, but he just couldn't accept it!

A few days later, he overheard a couple of servants gossipping, "I haven't seen Maria for so long... You reckon how many days she gonna be at her mom's? "

The other girl looked around as she spoke in a low voice, "She... Uhh.. and her mom hung themselves on the third past moon ".