|
|
|
| Sunday, 20 November 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Magazine |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Short story Staircase to the sky The night was still. And the whole world was sleeping, expect for little Elisha. She did not want to sleep at night because this was the time when she could just be on her own and live her 'dream'.
Now its branches shook with a soft breeze that had just swept by, its leaves dancing to the music of the wind. Climb Elisha used to climb onto this tree every night, when everybody in her house has gone to sleep. She would secretly get out of her bed, and get out of her bedroom through the window just near her bed climb onto the branch which reached her window. Then she would climb up till she got to her favourite branch. Here, she would sit, gazing into the skies above, in a world of her own. It was like a secret hide-out to her. It was her 'staircase to the sky'. When she was so much young, she used to believe it was a 'staircase to the sky', because she believed if she could climb higher, she would reach the skies. So she sat there, every night, on her favourite branch, she imagined being actually there, being in the skies. Real Even when she got older and came of age she was convinced that her 'staircase to the sky' was not real, she still kept on going there, night after night. For it was where, she could be on her own. It was where she was not laughed at or criticised. And where no one told her what she should do or not. Thus she had her freedom and did her life for herself. She would sit there and cry for long hours till the cool night wind carried away her pain. She would talk to the glittering stars above and tell them all her worries of the day. Some days, the moon will also join them and spread beams of silvery light, lightening up Elisha's little heart with joy. Top Many days there were, when she felt so left alone. But here on her 'staircase to the sky' she felt as if she was on top of the world. She loved her innocent happiness though she knew it was not real. Yet, she never had any idea that this harsh real world she lived in would steal away her innocent happiness someday. But sadly it did. Feeling One day, when she was coming home she sensed a weird feeling. A feeling of unhappiness mixed with hopelessness and shattered dreams. She felt a big void that could not be filled. There, as she entered her house, she just saw the inevitable. Just as her parents had decided the previous night, they had cut down her tree. The 'staircase to the sky' was gone forever. It is true that they never saw Elisha for who she was. They could never understand her feelings and dreams and her dear hopes around which her whole life was revolving. They simply did not understand her. Her sheer hope of living depended on those innocent dreams. They were not mere dreams to her but they were to everyone else. She saw the value of simple things that made her laugh or cry, through these dreams. They were the dreams that helped her through reality. Tears But to the rest of the world, her tears were just tears, nothing much to worry their busy minds about, nothing much to melt their ever so cold hearts. Tonight, she sits alone on her window, gazing at the dark but mysterious skies above. Tonight she cannot climb her 'staircase to the sky'. Hope She kept on wondering how her life will end. She kept on gazing skyward till she saw the faint glow of a lonely star, so afar in the milky way. It was smiling with her, she thought. So after countless hours of crying, she felt a slight feeling of hope as she began to hear music that was so familiar to her heart. She found herself singing along... "..Nobody thought that we'd still be together, They all said we'd fall to the floor, No matter the fight we'll survive any weather We'll prove them wrong Keep singing forever..." Thilini R. Liyanage, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayawardenepura |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
She climbed out of her window and then onto the broad branches of the
dark tree which stood up just outside her bedroom window. This tree has
been there for as long as she could remember, spreading its wide branches,
one of which reached towards the window of Elisha's room, as if it were a
bridge for her to climb onto the tree. 
