Lost and FoundB Y I S H I T A P H I L I P

And then one cold, wintry

night I was there again.

Standing helplessly on the

streets of the place I had

always longed to forget. The

place that never gave me

happiness but only a feeling of

sigh. The place I had never

wanted to come back to. But

still I was here just in case the

odds weren’t against me this

time. Hoping maybe, this time,

I find what I had lost here, “My

Happiness”.

I had been living inLondon since I was achild. But a time camewhen there wasnothing else left therethat could hold meback. My dad who wasa businessman andworked in amultinationalcompany died when Iwas 13. After his death,

our economiccondition deterioratedmiserably. But theworst was yet to come.

My mother was completely broken and she didn’t know what todo next. We had no money, not even enough food to keep in ourbellies. My mother had started falling apart. And what followednext gave me no reason to stay back. My mother... she left metoo...alone... forever. At the age of 14, I saw what a normal girl ofthat age would never have imagined seeing. Neither did I, butthen I had to face it.

Since then I struggled to

make a living. I was

determined not to stay

back here at all.

Somehow after working

as a part-time worker in a

bakery I had money

enough for me to move to

New York. And I was

finally out of the cage. I

knew not what I was to do

next but I did know that

nothing else can be more

bitter coming up than

what I have already faced.

Time flew away with its mighty wings and the bad memoriesseemed to have faded away. 10 years had passed and finally I waslearning to be happy. Until the day came that threw me back tothe same old memories I was just learning to forget.

I had started working as assistant manager in a sales companyand as a part of one of our projects I had to go to London. I neverwanted to go back, I had never ever imagined myself standing onthose streets stained with my parents’ blood again, I didn’t wantto breathe that air again that had once become a poison for me.

But then again weare just meek

puppets tied to thethreads controlled byour destiny. And so Ihad made myselfbold enough to face

my fate.

The night wasbitterly cold, Ichecked in at myhotel where I hadto stay. I had ameeting the verynext morning and Iwasn’t a type of girlwho would like toget delayed andgive a wrongimpression to newpeople, and so I justlied on my bed anddozed off.

The next morning, I gotup early and was ready toleave for my meetingwhen I saw a bouquetkept at the table. I readthe message attached to

it.

For Miss Lia, thank youfor accepting the proposal

of our meeting andtravelling so far. - Adam

(Manager, SymphonySales & Co., London)

I was imp r e s s ed . And t h e name , i t l o o ked s t r ange l yf am i l i a r . Anyway s i t was a good s t a r t f o r t h e da y and Ih oped t h a t my mee t i ng w i l l go a l r i gh t . I l e f t f o r t h ev enue a t 8 : 30 A .M . s ha rp and r e a ched t h e r e a t 9 :00A .M . a f t e r wande r i ng and ge t t i ng l o s t a t a l l t h e s im i l a rs t r e e t s .

I was just about to enter the building when I dashed on someonewalking out of the door.

“Sorry!” I said.

“Oh, it’s alright. By the way are you Miss Lia? Umm...Adam here.” said theman with a bold voice wearing a professional black suit and ahandsome personality.

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry if I was late actually I got lost finding the streets!”

“Oh, absolutely no problem. You have actually reached on time. I mustsay you are quite punctual!”

“Yes! Thank you!” I giggled.

The meeting was just perfect. It was the best presentation I had given inmy entire life! And fortunately enough we had won the contract.

As I was about to leave, Adam stopped me and requested me to have a cupof coffee. I readily agreed.

But just then he opened his wallet and I noticed something, something thatmade me go back through the years. It was a photograph and I could easilyfigure out my parents, me and my best friend Adam out there.

WAIT! WHAT? Adam?

I was completely shaken. A lot of things were floating like clouds in mymind. What if he was the same Adam that I had spent my entire childhoodwith? The same Adam who was the only one I knew after my parents died?The same Adam who wept when I left? This can’t be. It was so hard tobelieve after so many years.

“Yes, it’s the truth, Lia. You aren’t dreaming.” Adam

said. I didn’t know what to say. I could feel the tears

running down my cheeks. I had never ever thought

that the place that broke all of my connections would

bring me back to those connections too. At the place

where my happiness was lost, I could see a ray of

hope and happiness shining through the horizon. I

could see my happy days coming back. I exclaimed

with happiness and hugged Adam tightly. I was

crying like crazy and he was laughing like a moron.

We both were so happy.

We went to the coffee

shop and enjoyed the day

to the fullest. I was finally

happy. Finally, after 10 long

years, I had found the

reason for my smile again!

And now deep in my heart,

I had finally accepted that

every tragic end is not the

end but just a new path of

Revival.