Mary was fifty-seven years old and had been living in Misipur village all her life. Yes, she had gone outside Belamundis on several occasions, but she preferred her own village to any other place. She had a very old cozy hut which she really loved. Her first husband was husband and she loved him very much; he even lent her a helping hand. Unfortunately, he died early because of some unknown incurable disease. Together, they had a girl called Terry who was living in the middle of the village with her husband and family, even though she did pay regular visits to her mother. 'A good girl' were the words that instinctively came to Mary's lips whenever she remembered Terry. Just like her father.
Mary's second husband was not quite handsome or meek, but was argumentative. When their marriage was dissolved at her instance, she was glad that this particular union did not produce any child. Then she married another fragile figure who was not as handsome as her beloved first husband, but she was able to cope and was later elected as the village head, as her third husband seemed to have become a lucky charm to her. It was an honor to be elected as a village head at such a young age.
She had two boys and a girl with her third husband, all of who were married and living happily with their respective families in the same village. Meanwhile, Mary did not really like her second daughter, mainly because of her sophistication and choice of college attended, contrary to her mother's will. In this college, she fell in love with a college mate who hailed from another tribe but Mary forced her to marry a man from their village.
On the other hand, her second daughter, Cherry did not listen to her as she gave her husband much liberty to be roaming about in the village and beyond. She used to help him in household chores and Mary was not in support of this.
Today she was taking a midday nap after her usual early meal when someone knocked on the door. As usual, she ordered her husband to open the door and he immediately complied.
"Who is there?" Mary enquired in her native language.
Her husband responded: "Two strange kids."
"Ask about their mission."
"They are displaying the picture of a man and asking whether we know him."
Mary disliked the idea of getting disturbed in her nap, but curiosity has no limit. She went to the door and saw a young handsome boy and a beautiful girl standing in front of her. The girl was showing the photo of a man while the boy in broken Orag language asked her, "Madam, do you know this man?"
At first she could not recognize the man in the photo because of her weak sight, but when she took the photo from Veronica's hand and took a close look at it, she suddenly recognized the man but could not remember his name.
In her native language she said, "Yes, I know this man but I cannot remember his name. What is his name? What is his name?"
The handsome boy said, "Andrew." As he said something to the tired-looking girl in another tongue, she suddenly regained her strength. Her eyes brightened up and she looked revitalized. She came forward and asked something gibberish which the boy translated for her. "She was asking if he could say anything about Andrew."
"Sure," Mary said. "Come into our hut first."
As Mary and her husband made way for the teenagers, the girl appeared to be in a dilemma as to whether to come inside or not.
However, when the boy entered the hut without asking any question, she joined him. Mary spread a mat on the ground and asked the teenagers to sit on it, after which her husband returned with a plateful of fried 'momos' and two glasses of lemon juice, at her command. The boy took a glass as the girl watched Mary with her big round eyes.
While eyeing the boy, Veronica reluctantly finished her glass at Mary's request. Mary hated girls who are unnecessarily influenced whenever they see boys. Mary thought: Could it be disbelief? If they would not believe in me, then why do they want to believe my story? But she liked the handsome boy. He finished the drink, he smacked his lips and then took a momo from the plate and said, "Delicious!" looking at Mary. She observed: This boy has good manners. Then the boy asked in Orag: "How do you know the man in this photo?"
Mary replied, "When I was a young woman and while my first husband was still alive a couple of decades ago, this man came to this village. He was writing a book on our community and stayed here in this hut for two days and one night with us as our guest. He asked us a lot of absurd questions to which we provided helpful answers. He was a good man and even became a friend to some other men of this village. I am sure they will easily recognize him. What do you want to know about him? This much I know of him. He did tell me about his place of abode, but I don't remember it anymore, because it's a strange name. Is he dead?"
The boy said, "No, this girl is his daughter and this man has dumped her. So she is looking for him. Can you guess where he might have escaped to?"
Mary said, "Oh I am sorry. About the poor girl. I can understand what it means to lose one of your parents. Console the girl from my side. But sorry, how can I guess where he might be. Please promise to notify me whenever this man is found. Ok!"
The boy nodded and uttered something to Veronica in the same strange language they had been using to communicate with each other.