Melissa And The Ugly Old Hag

Albert was lying on his back, looking up into the sky as if he were searching his fate, his good fortune among the tiny bits of white clouds that had gathered together to form an irregular shape.. perhaps his destiny.

His brown eyes, though sparkling, were losing their glamour just like a dying star. They were deeply fixed in the eye holes. His face was pale as if all the blood had been sucked or his death was standing only at some yards distance. His skinny body was growing weaker day by day. His forehead bore some lines that were, of course, due to the anxieties and worries he had.

"O my God!" he sighed.

"I don't know what's going to become of me... and my... my dear wife." He whispered in agony. "Can't our grief turn into happiness? Of course you can... You can turn it. Please... please my Lord..." he continued.

His heart was full of grief. Tears slowly ran down his cheeks. He was not more than forty- five, but his poverty and the grief of being issueless had made him sixty plus.

"O Lord, please help us... please..." he was praying.

Suddenly an eagle came there flying and sat on one of the branches of the tree under which Albert was lying. It had a serpent, a small snake, in its claws. A few crows had been chasing it continuously, making the place full of noises with their irritating sounds. It caught Albert's attention. Albert rose and stood up to watch their activities. The snake twisted and wriggled in the claws of the eagle with all its might. In the mean time, a crow hit on top of the eagles head with its beak and the eagle got confused. Its grip loosened and the snake slipped from its claws and fell at the feet of Albert. It was wriggling but was unable to move from the place; It had been severely wounded by the eagle. The eagle had now no work to do and simply flew away in search of another prey.

Albert looked at the snake. It was not fully grown; it was a baby snake, and was bleeding. Albert's heart melted. He finally felt pity for the tiny creature. He caught the baby snake carefully and took it into his thatched hut. The house was based on two rooms, a small kitchen and a verandah.

"Catherine!" he called his wife.

"Just coming, sweet heart." she replied. She was dressed in bright violet that exposed her beauty in an absolute manner. Though she was not so beautiful, yet she was good to be looked at. She could easily attract ones attention. Her eyes were a little brown. Her hair was jet black. She had a good feminine body. She was holding a comb in her right hand when she came to him, perhaps she was combing her hair when he called her. She was struck to see a snake in her husband's hands. Albert told her everything that had happened.

"I was moved. So I took it for dressing it's wounds. May be it proves a blessing for us one day... who knows?" Albert said.

"It's severely injured" she said, "It needs care and attention a lot. Okay, I'll try my best to assist you in dressing its wounds."

As the baby snake twisted at her gentle touch, she exclaimed, "Oh see, how it curls!"

"Let's first of all clean its wounds with water. Afterwards we'd apply the lotion." said Albert.

"How cute!" she again exclaimed with excitement as the baby curled itself.

"Darling are we going to name it? I... I think, we must..." she left her sentence incomplete.

"What?... What do you mean? Do you... do you intend to pet it?" Albert asked her in astonishment.

Catherine fell silent for a moment; looked up; her gleaming eyes, filled with a mother's love, met with his. There was something in her deep eyes which Albert could not ignore.

"Well. If you intend to... but... okay, I don't mind." he continued, "I need your smile... your pure and heart-touching smile." He put one of his hands on her shoulder and hugged her gently.

When the night came, the couple, before going to bed, caressed the baby snake lovingly and poured a little amount of milk into a small cup. The baby snake was given a bed that was not in use. The couple looked after it so well, as if it were their child. The little snake darted its tongue in and out and slowly crept towards the cup; slid its mouth into the cup and began to sip. They both watched it drinking milk; and were overjoyed at the sight. When the cup had been emptied, it slithered back; stared at them with grateful eyes and coiled itself in the bed. By the time Albert's wife had managed to fetch some extra pillows that were kept unused; and made a small boundary with them around it. The couple then left the room.

"Albert! Wake up dear!" cried his wife kissing his forehead. It's too late. You've got to go to the field. Come on sweetheart!"

Albert woke up with laziness; twinkling his eyes again and again.

"Hmm! Night has gone. Okay, what about your baby?" Albert asked her.

"I just got up." She answered. "Let us go and see it."

The door opened with a creek sound, and as the couple entered the room, they stood amazed with their mouths open.

" Wow! Miraculous!" said Catherine.

"Of course." added Albert.

There was no snake anywhere but a two-year-old baby with golden hair, chuckling and giggling in the bed. Her lips were fine and delicate; her eyes glittering. Her face bore a deity look. She was so attractive that the couple couldn't help staring at her. At once, the mother inside Catherine woke up with an arousal. She ran to her with stretched arms and wet eyes; stood for a moment and then embraced the child affectionately. Her lips were leaving signs of her intense love on the baby's cheeks in the form of dampness. Her deep eyes soon began to shed tears - not for any grief now but for joy she'd received in the guise of a baby. Albert, too, hugged and kissed the child. All their sorrows and grief had disappeared now.

"Cathy!" Albert called Catherine with love.

"Yeah!" she replied.

"Our only dream has come true, isnt it?" he asked.

She said nothing; turned to him, smiled and again kissed the child. Both were thankful to God.

"Thank God!" she said, "Had we not got the baby, we would have suffered a lot in want of one like her."

"Now, what name should she be given? Perhaps... perhaps Celia?" he asked.

"No" was her answer.

"Then, I think Anne?" he again asked.

"Oh No" she said in a teasing mood and shook her head to set her hair aside from her forehead. Her name must be... she smiled and left her sentence incomplete.

"What?" he asked in excitement.

"M-E-L-I-S-S-A" she pronounced each and every letter of the name separately.

"You mean... you mean Melissa?" he asked being puzzled.

"Yeah!" she replied with a courteous smile on her face.

"Hmm! Cute name like yours." he remarked admiringly and kissed her on the forehead, holding her in his arms.

Catherine closed her eyes and was lost in the world of dreams.