Today was the last day of the search. She had searched
everywhere. Everywhere that she could think of. She had looked at the streets
and houses on palm tree road last week. And the week before that, she had
searched every single house behind the huge village well. This week she had
spent searching the houses near the school and the old kali temple. She hadn’t
found it anywhere yet. Today she had tried looking in the houses and streets
near the banyan tree and post office.
But like every day she had drawn a blank today too. She let
out a sigh and sat down on the cemented patio outside her house. Perhaps she
wasn’t destined to find it anyway. She wondered if she should just give up. No,
she couldn’t give up so easily. There might be some other place she might have
missed looking. She would think about it tomorrow.
Now where was the key to her cupboard? She needed to store
her torch for use some other day. At least till she found ‘it’.
Ah! There was the key, saddled to a thin string of wire hanging
by a rope on the wall. She hadn’t opened the cupboard in a very long time now.
There were cobwebs and dust on the cupboard, a sign of utter neglect. She dusted
the cobwebs off the door and opened the creaky little cupboard to keep the
little torch away until she needed it later.
It was then that she saw it.
So here it was! Lying just behind the jar of happiness was the little rusty lamp of love!! What a fool she had been! She had been
searching for that lamp of love everywhere. It had never occurred to her that
it might be right under her nose. Only if she had tried opening the doors a
little earlier!
