Week 13 Story: Comfort
**Now on my portfolio, Unconditional Love**
Sakuntala tossed and turned all night.. Once the moon was high in the starry night sky, she got up from her make shift bed and began to waddle around the forest with her pregnant belly protruding from her garments.
She looked up at the moon and stared for a long while. The wind lifted her long black hair softly before setting it back down along her back. Sakuntala began to softly cry, and the soft crying quickly turned into full on wails.
"Oh, mother! Won't you show me your face? Won't you show me unconditional love? I am beginning to believe that there is no such thing, and it is only a fairy-tale," she cried to the brightly lit moon. Sakuntala fell to her knees on the wet grass, and her tears mixed with the night time dew.
When she looked back up, clouds began to cover the stars and the wind became stronger. Sakuntala continued to cry and scream for her mother. At last, the clouds opened up and the moon's light lit upon Sakuntala's frail, pregnant form.
"Dear daughter, do not despair," a soothing, motherly voice called to her. Sakuntala was startled, but not afraid. She had heard this voice before.
Arms wrapped around Sakuntala's shoulders in a comforting hug. The woman continued to hug her while she cried, until Sakuntala looked up into her mother's bright eyes. This was the first time since her birth that Sakuntala had seen her mother, but she knew immediately who she was and felt comforted.
"What am I to do, mother? I cannot go back to the little village and let them see this sad state I am in, and I am not welcomed at my husband's kingdom. I am lost," Sakuntala quietly said with tears in her eyes.
"You come from the moon, child. Bright, beautiful, bold, strong. The moon has many craters, many bruises, but it still is there and continues to live and shine light on darkness. You will make it through this bruise in your life, and I will be right here with you," her mother stroked her daughter's black hair, "Come. I know a nearby village that will happily accept us. They know nothing of the small village you came from, and will not question your life as long as you live with a good heart."
Her mother stood up and helped Sakuntala to her swollen feet. They slowly walked toward the village her mother spoke about. By morning they were at a decorated wooden gate that was adorned with yellow flowers, indicating friendship and happiness.
Sakuntala, her baby boy, and her mother lived happily for the next 8 years, until a long lost stranger wandered into the yellow flowered village.
I loved the ending of this part of the story, because it is very dramatic and mournful. After huge losses or upsetting events, all people want is something or someone to comfort them. I wanted to focus more on Sakuntala and her mother, because I feel like a mother's unconditional love is the greatest love.
Bibliography: Sakuntala, by Sunity Devee from "Nine Ideal Indian Women" pages 69-75.
Sakuntala tossed and turned all night.. Once the moon was high in the starry night sky, she got up from her make shift bed and began to waddle around the forest with her pregnant belly protruding from her garments.
She looked up at the moon and stared for a long while. The wind lifted her long black hair softly before setting it back down along her back. Sakuntala began to softly cry, and the soft crying quickly turned into full on wails.
"Oh, mother! Won't you show me your face? Won't you show me unconditional love? I am beginning to believe that there is no such thing, and it is only a fairy-tale," she cried to the brightly lit moon. Sakuntala fell to her knees on the wet grass, and her tears mixed with the night time dew.
When she looked back up, clouds began to cover the stars and the wind became stronger. Sakuntala continued to cry and scream for her mother. At last, the clouds opened up and the moon's light lit upon Sakuntala's frail, pregnant form.
"Dear daughter, do not despair," a soothing, motherly voice called to her. Sakuntala was startled, but not afraid. She had heard this voice before.
Arms wrapped around Sakuntala's shoulders in a comforting hug. The woman continued to hug her while she cried, until Sakuntala looked up into her mother's bright eyes. This was the first time since her birth that Sakuntala had seen her mother, but she knew immediately who she was and felt comforted.
"What am I to do, mother? I cannot go back to the little village and let them see this sad state I am in, and I am not welcomed at my husband's kingdom. I am lost," Sakuntala quietly said with tears in her eyes.
"You come from the moon, child. Bright, beautiful, bold, strong. The moon has many craters, many bruises, but it still is there and continues to live and shine light on darkness. You will make it through this bruise in your life, and I will be right here with you," her mother stroked her daughter's black hair, "Come. I know a nearby village that will happily accept us. They know nothing of the small village you came from, and will not question your life as long as you live with a good heart."
Her mother stood up and helped Sakuntala to her swollen feet. They slowly walked toward the village her mother spoke about. By morning they were at a decorated wooden gate that was adorned with yellow flowers, indicating friendship and happiness.
Sakuntala, her baby boy, and her mother lived happily for the next 8 years, until a long lost stranger wandered into the yellow flowered village.
(The moon, Pixabay)
**AUTHORS NOTE**
Sakuntala, her aunt, and two other uncles are slowly making the journey to the kingdom to see Dushmanta, but it is quite hard because Sakuntala is very pregnant and weak because her stress caused her not to eat or drink for so long. They told Sakuntala multiple times that she should rest and eat, but she is too anxious and still presses on to see Dushmanta. She believes that once she sees him, she will feel better. They finally reach the gates, and at first the guards are hesitant to let them in to see Dushmanta Maharajah, but he has much respect for Kanva mooni so they let them in. Sakuntala is dressed in a veil and clothes that covered her, so the king could not see her. They informed Dushmanta that they had brought his wife, and he is quite surprised at this, because he has no recollection of her. They persist, and Sakuntala even takes off the veil and looks Dushmanta in the face, but he still does not recall ever marrying her. Sakuntala reaches for the ring that he had given her back at the village, but she realizes that the ring is gone! They leave with absolute despair, and Sakuntala tells her aunt Goutami that she can no longer return to the small village because she was known as the happy one, and she is no longer happy. During the night, Sakuntala calls to her mother, the moon, and asks her to come hold her and love her, so she does, and Sakuntala is never found the next day. The hermits sadly leave without Sakuntala, and head back to the village.I loved the ending of this part of the story, because it is very dramatic and mournful. After huge losses or upsetting events, all people want is something or someone to comfort them. I wanted to focus more on Sakuntala and her mother, because I feel like a mother's unconditional love is the greatest love.
Hi Cheyenne! After commenting on your week 12 story, I was delighted to find that you’d written this continuation. (I read the version on your portfoilo.) I love the amount of detail you’ve put into this so that we, your readers, can fully visualize the scene and hear Sakuntala’s wails in our heads. I suppose you did give Sakuntala the happy ending I was hoping for. I always felt bad for the hermits. They were the ones who raised her and went through all this trouble for her, but she abandoned them without a second thought.
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