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Stranger in the Mirror


She lay still, as he finished his business on top of her. She closed her eyes to let out a lone tear as she heard the door slam shut. Slowly, she woke up and gathered her clothes strewn around. Haphazardly dressed she walked to the bathroom. She gathered some water in her palms and splashed it over her face and then looked into the mirror. It was not a familiar face, it was that of a stranger. Her lips bled from his bite, there were bruises on her cheeks and her left eye was swollen. Her body ached to the bone. She felt a bout of dizziness and spat into the basin. The blood caused random shaped dots all over the white background. She looked back at the mirror and adjusted her saree, feeling naked.

He had come home drunk the last night and had picked up a fight as usual. She had tried her best in comforting him, but he was not ready to listen. He had beat her up mercilessly, before stripping and pouncing on her. And like all the other million nights, she lay helpless giving in to his desires.

The stranger in the mirror had now become familiar. She saw the face every day. She could leave, but she loved him. In spite of all the chaos, he somehow sorted her life. Slowly, she had begun to find comfort in the pain.

She heard the door click open, he was back. She looked at him with all the love she had, thinking all the while that how she hated herself for loving him.


This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

~ Soumya

Comments

  1. Sad reality in many homes :(
    It infuriates me to see how perfectly normal it is considered for men to vent their frustration on women and how disapproving the society is to women who raise their voice..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seriously. Will it ever change is the question?

      Delete
  2. Unfortunately this is how some women choose to live their life..:(

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey soumya, this is very similar to love bytes post u wrote on DOV. Is this pure fiction or partly inspired??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Similar yes. None inspired. I wouldn't stand abuse for any reason. Not even love.

      Pure fiction. Both.

      Delete
    2. Glad to know that :-). Btw happie birthday. Have a great time in munnar Soumya

      Delete
  4. Willingly tolerating abuse is more criminal than the abuse itself

    Well written

    Cheers
    CRD

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heart, we will forget him!
    You an I, tonight!
    You may forget the warmth he gave,
    I will forget the light.

    When you have done, pray tell me
    That I my thoughts may dim;
    Haste! lest while you're lagging.
    I may remember him!


    ~Emily Dickinson

    :)
    There's probably nothing more to say.

    Blasphemous Aesthete.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, that was such a powerful story about marital rape, the one kind of rape that nobody likes to talk about in India today.

    This post truly deserved to be picked as part of the WoW theme of the week.

    BTW, do check out my post http://mahabore.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/the-loser/ which was also picked for this week's WoW theme.

    ReplyDelete
  7. There are women I know who hate their husbands to the very core and waste each day of their lives. Women, who can afford to leave and live on their own. I cannot explain that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That nor can I. I know of successful women in top positions who refuse to do it.

      Its a very sad situation to be in.

      Delete

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