The War Inside

                              “Every person we meet is fighting a war,
                                            with their ownself”

She sat on the cold floor of her room, with a cold heart but a fire of questions was burning inside her that were playing games amongst themselves. She tried to figure out her mistakes. But, as an adolescent of 16 she didn’t find any.

They say that teenage is a stage of life where people expect you to behave like an adult but treat you as child. All such thoughts started flowing  in her mind along with a flow of tears from her eyes. Despite those muses Rhea tried to gather up herself. She, perceived herself, just as the masses around her thought of her...a timid being who was not equipped to raise her voice. She had made an abode in the silence and she resided over there.

The moonlit sky outside her hostel room was spreading a blanket of light on the mountains below it, adorning the snow capped peaks. Rhea stood up and went near the window. She glanced at the snowscape, as her mind led her back to the incident that had happened in the afternoon.

Rhea climbed up the stairs to the cafeteria during the lunch break. She was moving swiftly, in her own world as someone called her from behind. “Hey you! You’re the new girl, right!?” said a tall,fair girl from behind. “I saw you moving around the corridors today.” There were two girls and a boy alongside the tall girl. “Yes. I joined this school last month. I’m Rhea. You are?” said Rhea in her normal voice with a smile on her face. “You don’t need to know my name. Just do as I say. Go to the cafeteria, get your lunch and hand it over to me. I’m standing right here.” said the tall girl as her friends smirked and passed glances at Rhea.

She climbed the remaining stairs and reached the cafeteria. She was aghast as she took her lunch. She couldn’t understand what had just happened. She went down the stairs and found that same group of seniors targeting other people and threatening them. She went towards them, gave her lunch and went back to her class.

As she managed to let that incident fade away from her mind temporarily, she crawled inside her bed and fell asleep. The next morning she went back to school. She reassured herself that today the same thing won’t happen. But little did she know that her expectations would go futile. As the same incident kept repeating itself and getting worse each day, Rhea was somewhere losing her hope. Her abode of silence was transforming into an abode of darkness where there was no ray of light or hope.

She called off sick from the school for a week and thought that she would recover from the impact of these incidents. But, eventually a fear developed inside her. Every morning she’d get up, dress herself up for the school but her feet would turn cold and refuse to take a step forward. She thought of complaining to the school authorities but was afraid that nobody would pay heed to her complaint.

One evening, while Rhea was in her room, in the companionship of her loneliness, her phone rang, breaking the eerie tranquility of her room. It was her mother. Rhea answered the phone. “Hello mom.How are you?” asked Rhea, pretending as if everything was good. She didn’t want her mother to worry. “We’re all good over here. But I got a call from your school yesterday. I was shocked to hear that you’re sick. What happened, dear? Are you okay?” inquired her mother. Rhea couldn’t hold her tears back, atleast not in front of her mother. She told her about what was happening with her and how she was afraid. Once she had narrated the series of incidents, she felt comforted.

Her mother who was aware of Rhea’s nature knew that she could break apart with even a slightest wrong thing happening with her. Since her childhood days, she always had her mother’s shoulder to cry on in any meagre problem that fell on her. This protected environment had made her an oversensitive and emotionally dependent being. “Rhea,you are the only one who is capable of protecting yourself. You shall not allow anyone to suppress you in anyway. You have to fight back, first your fear and then those ‘bullies’.” said her mother. Rhea was in a state of trance and retrospection. She thought aloud about what had been happening since the past few days, how she had handle those incidents… Then she recalled the conversation with her mother. The clouds that had shadowed her thoughts were slowly disappearing and giving way to a clearer sky. Now, she knew what she had to do. Now it was in her hand whether to bring back light to her abode or stay in darkness.

Next morning she woke up with a new spirit.… A spirit of hope… A spirit of new found energy... A spirit of standing up for herself. She dressed herself up with utmost courage and went to school. Soon half of the day went by and it was time for lunch. She climbed up the staircase and encountered those bullies again. “Didn’t see you for some days. You know what you’re supposed to do. Go get your lunch and hand it over to us” said the tall girl. “What if I don’t?” said Rhea. The bullies were stunned as they heard her opening statement.”This is wrong, you can’t do this to anyone. You’re not supposed to do this. I’ve been through this a lot and now I won’t let you suppress me anymore. You get it? And if you try to do anything wrong again, I’ll complain to the school authorities” said Rhea with a loud voice. She could feel her body shivering and her heart pounding with double the rate. However, she did not let all this come to her face. She posed a strong voice in front of those miscreants. She turned her back towards them and walked towards the cafeteria. She was on the verge of crying yet she held her composure.

She knew she had shown great courage by standing up for herself. She wasn’t sure what the next day would bring to her but she felt empowered and better equipped to deal with anything. Now, she realised that she was no longer a timid being…