Four Women

She sat staring at the mirror, wearing the silver necklace and the pearl ear rings.
Those were his gifts on the previous anniversaries.
The next day he will bring her another.....
Probably his last, parting gift.....
....before going away....migrating to greener pastures.

"What she had given in return?
Definitely nothing worth keeping for long."
She felt a little restless at the thought.
Her meagre income was never sufficient.....
... to run the family of four with her widowed mother.

The bus was moving at a leisurely pace, along the Saturday evening traffic. It came to halt at another suburban stop not far from her house. The lone commuter awaiting there bowed in front of the driver and made some request. Once inside the bus, she flashed a smile and proceeded to sing a song, in a heavily accented tone.

Passengers were not interested, some looked out through the windows..one woman kept talking on her phone....some elderly ladies were heard whispering that "she's a foreigner, out to make some quick money"....

Having finished, she proceeded to collect the donations...."for the shelter for the grandpas and grandmas back home"....she got nothing from the women in the bus...and finally came to the lonely alien on the back row....In her halting English she made a humble request...."even coins will do" she pleaded, still smiling.....He took out some notes from his lean purse and deposited them on her empty basket....

She thanked him again and again...and kept flashing the smile whenever he looked at her....and also when she got out of the bus and said a loud good bye with a bow...

None of it was of interest to her...she was lost in thoughts, the eyes fixed somewhere out in the distant horizon.....

The elder girl was walking silently beside her mom. But the younger boy was so adamant. And he pulled his mom back....... with all the might of a three year old. The lady allowed herself to be dragged back....... along the zebra lines.

These moms!! They are so proud of their sons!!
The son had put his foot down...... you should not cross the road when the sign flashes red. And the mom had to agree, with an embarrassed smile.

Across the road there was a huge hoarding....in support of the lady on top of the crane no. 85.

She had been up there since the last winter....and through the typhoon and a torrid summer....almost into the autumn and then possibly into another winter...she is there for the workers, and she will not come down until the workers are reinstated.

"It's very unfair: just after announcing the mass lay-offs for the workers, the company awarded huge allocations of stock dividends and wage increases for senior management."

Who cares?!! Just keep moving with the bus....

Last rays of the sun were slowly fading.
And bus had come to a halt at a deserted stop in a neon-lit neighborhood.

She got down and looked around....
From among the bright neon lights, she picked out her destination....and walked towards the door, without looking up or around.

....her first tentative steps....

.......towards the oldest of the professions.......