“I am leaving!”, Chara announced solemnly.

“For real this time!”

The 4-year-old waited at the door for someone to respond. When no one budged, she continued, “And I am not coming back!”

No acknowledgement. Nobody seemed to care.

She waited patiently with her ears wide open, but could only hear the kitchen clanking. Her mother, too busy to care. Her father probably grumbled something from the bedroom.

That was it – the limit!

Chara somehow managed to open the door with the help of a nearby stool. Benji looked up from his cushion when the door opened but did not follow her. The dog had gotten really old. He was still tired from his morning walk to have taken the trouble of finding out what was going on. Like the elders in the house, he too didn’t believe that Chara was leaving for good.

She trotted down the street and onto an alley of shops. It was a small town. Everybody knew everybody. People along the way greeted her but Chara fumed past in anger. Her little brain was mulling over things a youngster shouldn’t be thinking at such a tender age.

“No one loves me,” she whispered to herself.

“Nobody cares, nobody would even know if I die today,” she stomped past the ice cream store that she was so fond of. The shopkeeper greeted her but was left aghast when she didn’t respond. Chara had never rejected him so bluntly before.

But she was in no mood for pleasantries. Chara had gone half a mile when she turned around to check if someone had bothered to go after her.

Nothing. The street looked deserted.

“So mean!”

She huffed and puffed toward a passage before hitting the thoroughfare.

While walking beside the stream that passed her town, she realized that was as far as she had ever been by herself. She shook that thought off. Desperate times, desperate measures.

Today was different. Today was judgment day.

What would she do when she would reach the bus stop? Probably catch the 10 AM bus, leave town and become an actress. That was the plan so far. She had it all figured out.

Chara jingled the change she had in her pockets to count them furtively. She had pillaged through her piggy bank and had grabbed everything she had collected over the course of three weeks. Enough for a bus ride.

When Chara had almost covered three miles on that road, her legs began to hurt. A small rock by the road offered a respite that she was hurting for. She spent there some time secretly waiting for someone to show up. When no one did, she started again.

To her delight, she saw Kanha Chacha returning from the town’s post office.

“Kanha Chacha!” she screamed in animation.

“Arre! Chara! Where did you come from?”

He picked her up as she hugged him tightly.

“Where is your father?” Chacha said as he began walking toward the town once again.

“No! no! Not that way!” she pointed uncomfortably, asking him to stop.

“Why? What happened?” the bewildered postman replied.

“I have left home. I am never going back again.” Chara sulked.

Kanha Chacha burst into laughter. His pot belly complied and shook Chara to her core.

“Left home?” Chacha asked amusingly.

“Yes! Why are you laughing? I am serious, Chacha.” she was exasperated.

Kanha’s laughter was suppressed to a smile now, “May I ask why?”

“Nobody listens to me in that house anymore. I am not treated well. It isn’t good for my mental health. I had to get out of there,” her nostrils dilated as she explained.

Kanha kept walking as he spoke, “Let us get to the bottom of it. Tell me what happened?”

Chara began, “All I did was ask my father if we would go to Nani‘s today. He shouted at me – Can’t you see I am busy right now?”

“He must be busy at that time, his work starts early, right?” Kanha Chacha inquired.

“Ok, so he was busy at that time, agreed. Then I waited for him and made sure he wasn’t busy. He was watching TV when I asked him again, and he got so pissed at me that he yelled – ‘Why do you keep asking the same question?'”.

“I see.” Kanha replied gravely as he took a left turn toward the street.

“So, what do I do next? I go to my mother, right? What does she do? She doesn’t even listen. I kept asking her the same question. She behaved as if I wasn’t there.”

“No!” Kanha Chacha retorted in disbelief.

“It was as if I didn’t exist.” she shrugged.

Kanha knew Chara loved ice cream. He stopped at the ice cream shop and bought two mango popsicles. The shopkeeper listened to Chara as he handed over the ice cream.

“How is Benji?” the shopkeeper asked.

“He is okay. He just sits by the fireplace all day. He is no fun these days.” replied Chara grimly.

“Yeah, winters are rough on him. You take care Chara. Enjoy your ice cream.” replied the shopkeeper before resuming his chores.

As Chara dug into her mango dolly, she realized what Kanha Chacha had done for her.

“Did you just get me an ice cream?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I can pay for myself, you know!” she jingled her pockets reassuringly.

“It is alright, this one is on me. You can get me one next time.” Chacha replied.

She continued telling the story as they headed towards home.

“They don’t listen. Nobody listens to me. It is as if I am not important to them.”

“I know how that feels.” Kanha Chacha said.

On realizing they were almost at the gate, Chara’s reverie was broken. She had been oblivious to the fact that they had been moving towards her house.

“You tricked me!” Chara threw her hands in the air. She started throwing tantrums to get out of his grip.

“No! No! not here. I am not going back. No, please!”

“Good morning, Babuji!” Kanha greeted Chara’s father who was almost at the gate. He looked restless for it had been an hour since his child was gone. When he saw her in safe hands, he loosened up.

“She is here!” he seemed to yell at the house.

Chara was still adamant. “No! No! I don’t want to go back. Take me to the bus stop.” she was still throwing a fit, when her father roared, “Chara! Come here!”

He didn’t have to repeat, for Chara had already debarked and was making her way towards the open door. Benji came out to see what the fuss was all about, and was delighted to see the popsicle.

She sat at the threshold quietly letting Benji lick the ice cream. She was too depressed to eat anyway.

Breaking the silence Kanha said, “Go easy on her, babuji. She is just a kid.”

“Yeah! Yeah! How far did she make it this time?” her father asked.

Their voices died down as Chara tried to stop herself from choking up. Her mother showed up once with a ladle in her hand to check on her.

“Where did you run away, huh?”

Chara didn’t respond for a tear had already rolled down her cheek. When her mother went inside, Chara began rubbing Benji’s head trying to remember how good it felt once.

Watching the adults talk through the blur, Chara realized how all of it was for nothing. That Kanha Chacha was a traitor who cajoled her with his sweet talks and ice cream.

Meanwhile Benji was nearly finished and was now licking the remains off her fingers.

“Get inside and wash your hands!” her mother ordered as she peeped out from the kitchen to see what Chara was doing.

Her father was still talking to Kanha Chacha when she went inside.

Chara’s mother brought out a sandwich for her, the way she liked it. Atop was a poorly drawn smiley face done with some ketchup. It managed to reciprocate a smile on Chara’s face.

“We were discussing this when you went out to get some air. We are going to Nani’s this weekend”, her mother replied.

Chara was all smiles now. She took a big bite of the sandwich. The ketchup was all over her face.

“Take small bites!” her father said as he entered the room. He picked a napkin and began wiping her face as he sat next to her.

Chara showed her sandwich to her father. He replied with a smile, “Go on, finish it.”

She had forgotten about the whole incident. Maybe it was all for nothing. Maybe she just needed someone to listen to her.