"Why has he abruptly changed? "I have his child in my womb,” Miya mumbled to herself painfully as she tried to get herself up.

  A three-year-old girl wearing a uniform and carrying a bag saw her lying on the ground. She ran quickly from the gate. Her shoes were heavy, but she tried hard to reach her.

  “Mom, are you hurt? Who did this? Are there robbers in our house?” the little girl asked. Miya shook her head to show she was alright. The little girl felt she lied to her. Of course, she was her daughter. Why should he make her worry so much?

  She had fallen quite a distance from the veranda near the door. It was serious that the man who she called husband wanted her dead, but why? Did she ever do something wrong? If women were expecting boys, everyone in the community loved them. Why did they turn out to hate her? Did he not like boys?

  “Mother, I'll help you stand,” the little girl said. Miya had hesitated to stand up. She thought it was just an accident and her husband would eventually come for her, but she had been lying there for minutes and there was no rescue. She could not reject her daughter's proposal and stood up.

  Her daughter held her hand as she limbed towards the house. Her knees had been hurt. Her white dress was covered with dust. It was a dry season and most of the grass in the fields had dried up.

  Her daughter noticed blood stains on her dress. She had hurt her knees. In fact, she fell to her knees, slid and then lay down. She was determined to protect the boy in her womb. Technology doesn't lie about children. Even a day after conception, with advanced artificial intelligence, it would accurately tell the sex of the child.

  “Mother, I'll help you clean the wounds and then put in some medicine. "In twenty-four hours, the scar will be gone,” her daughter said.

  “Michelle, this is not child's play. "Wounds take a lot of time to heal,” Miya answered jokingly. She knew that never on earth could wounds heal completely in less than twenty-four hours, even with the advanced technology that earth had at the time.

  “Trust me mother,” she said as she took a bowl of water, a small towel and an antiseptic from a cupboard that was behind the worn sofa her mother had sat on. Their living room was small and filled up. It had only two sofa sets. There was a small TV and some speakers on a table placed at the farthest corner from the doorway. All the sofas were placed near the middle of the house and faced the television.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  She lifted her dress and began cleaning up the wound. Then she applied the antiseptic. Her mother was a kindergarten teacher, so she had antiseptics which she used to treat children when they got hurt during play. Michelle was really a genius. She did it just like a doctor.

  “I'm going for my elixir,” Michelle said and walked out of the room. Then she heard a quarrel. She had locked the door to her room. She could not hear anything. When she got out of the room, the words that hit her ears were unbelievable. Though she was still a kid, she had a superb brain. She quickly connected what they said.

  “Not all children in the womb are meant to be born alive, and being a mother to a dead child is not a sin at all,” Rajel spat those harsh words into Miya's face. Miya's eyes widened in disbelief. How could he say such words?

  “Today we got no food in the house. "I bought this medicine with all my salary,” Rajel added. Was he out of his mind? He handed him an envelope with the tablets in it.

  “It might be painful, but it's for the sake of our happiness,” Rajel finished his statement. It was certain he meant what he said. But why?

  Miya stared at him. Her face filled with awe. Then the awe dug up the grief that was in her heart. The pain of losing her elder sister. She had tried the same thing. None of them survived. To her, she valued life more than anything else. She had to keep it sacred by all means. But she also feared what happened to her sister would happen. She also wanted the love they had before to come back. She didn't have anything to say.

  “Mother, I brought it now,” Michelle said. Miya realized that her husband had walked out long ago. Perhaps when she handed her the envelope. She felt as if it was just a daydream. It appeared so. When she looked at the table, the envelope wasn't there. She exhaled as she felt tiny hands smearing her wounds.

  “What's that?” she asked. She felt as if the drug was burning her wounds. Then her eyes suddenly became heavy. She fell on the sofa.

  Michelle then sat with her drawing book. The TV show she was watching was about dragons. After the show was over, she took a pencil and drew each character in the show. She was really talented. Was she a genius reborn with memories from past life?

  Miya was woken up by a loud bang at the door. The door flung open, and five men took it. Their shadowy figures in the faint moonlight displayed how well-built they were. All of them were six feet tall. Michelle stood in front of them to stop them, but she was kicked. The kick was so powerful that she flew all the way to the wall, hit it and fell on the chair. It was certain that she had broken her spine.

  “Take the drugs now!” one of them roared.

  Was it a bad dream again? She touched her eyes to see if they were open. Yes they were. It was never a dream. One of them brought a glass of water. They had a faint torch, and they were also masked.

  “If you don't take it, then we'll force you to take it,” one of them said.

  Then Miya felt rough powerful hands touching and gripping her mouth. They compressed it, but she endured the pain and kept the teeth intact. She hadn't made a decision to take the drugs or not to take them. Why were they forcing her?

  Then gunshots were hard. A bright light flashed through the door. Someone lay on the ground.

  Should we go on or pause a bit