Many Promises To Keep

The Promise
Courtesy Buried With Children

She came back home and marched straight to her room. The parents exchanged confused looks. She would always run to her dad and it took considerable effort to persuade her to abandon his lap. Also, she came back quite early today. On usual days, Fatima would have to call her in and she would run in with a pace that not many 5 year olds could match.

"What's wrong Minsa?", asked Atif. He was now sitting on his daughter's bed and gently patting her.
"Nothing", came the usual reply. He loved her dearly and she knew this, no way she would give in so early, but after much pleading she decided to talk.
"I will never go out to play again daddy. All the big girls have these cool roller skates and they
run away so fast! They always leave me behind". He could see tears coming down any second.
"Darling, you're quite young. Roller skates are dangerous! If you skate that fast, you won't be able to stop in time and will get yourself hurt. Daddy won't let his little princess get hurt. I'll teach you how to ride a bicycle, they come with all the breaks and everything". He was desperately trying to convince her.
"No Daddy, I want roller skates! They're so cool! The girls do all type of tricks! Ayesha can even hop over stairs!"
Great. This is exactly what he had feared. Now she was deeply impressed, and it was always difficult to shake her off when this happened.
"I want them daddy! When will you take me to buy them? I want the pink ones!"
"You can't buy them around here, darling. I will have to go far away to buy them, but you needn't worry, I promise I'll buy you a bicycle real soon and you can ride it in the evenings."
Fatima interrupted. A call had came, he was required on the phone. Minsa strongly disapproved of his departure, but he somehow didn't fall for her cute face.

Fatima packed his things and he left quietly. He left early in the morning and didn't wake up Minsa. He knew she wouldn't let him go. Fatima herself was reluctant to let him go, he hadn't told the reason for his abrupt departure. "I'll be back in a few days. Some work has come up that requires my presence" was all he had to say when she pressed for details.

Minsa woke up after a while and asked for her daddy.
"He has gone to another city to buy you roller skates, my dear. The journey is long and he won't be home for a few days", this lie certainly pleased her and she was visibly excited.

Fatima was worried. It had been three days now and not a word had been heard from her husband. The military operation "Zarb-e-Azb" had started and she was worried about her husband's safety. Her husband and his comrades were fighting the terrorists. She would sit in front of the television and catch all the hourly news updates. Her ears were longing for the telephone bell to ring, she needed to talk
to her husband.

He returned home after another 5 days. She heard the door bell ring. The milkman didn't come this early, she thought. She washed her face, tied her hair and went to the door.

"Mommy, why are you crying?", Minsa was confused. She had woken up to see her mother weeping.
"Hello Minsa", came the voice that she'd recognize anywhere.
"Daddy!", she leaped out of bed and grabbed her dad. "Where were you daddy? I missed you so much!".
"I went to buy roller skates for my little princess", he managed to say with a smile.
"Daddy, want happened to your face?", she had noticed the burns and was now touching the scars. "What is this daddy?"
"Oh this.. This is nothing my dear. I was just trying out the new roller skates that I wanted to buy for you and fell hard on my face. I don't want my little princess to get hurt, so I bought you a new bicycle instead!", he pointed down the stairs with much excitement.

By the time he got downstairs, she was already in love with her new bicycle."Daddy, this is so awesome! This won't get me hurt right? I'll never ask for roller skates again! When will these scars heal, Daddy?"
"Soon, sweetheart. Very soon", he was gently stroking her cheeks.
He had kept his promise. He hoped his comrades could keep theirs too. So many promises to keep.

The story including all the characters are a creation of my imagination. No real life resemblance intended. I don't usually write short stories, so any comments would be welcome :)

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