“Those who can see in darkness will never be lost in light.”

The cold winter winds slithered through her, but her body felt only the chills that came from loneliness. The gloominess of the winter nights enveloped her as she sat staring into the blank space in her balcony. It seemed like her entire world had been sucked into one big black hole and her life was spiralling in its endless tornado of blackness.

She stood up with a jerk and started pacing back and forth, rubbing her hands to get rid of the cold that was eating her. The scene played on a loop in her mind and every single time, she could feel her stomach churning in knots and she was left with an intense pain in the hollow of her stomach. She felt her mind give up when she travelled back to the moment he finally walked out of her sight. Her initial shock and distress hadn’t worn off but was already paving way for a life full of heartbreak and loathing.

*Clank*

She immediately rushed in the direction of the noise. Her 15 year old was tip-toeing in the dimly lit kitchen, wordlessly cursing for the previous mishap. He filled the jug with water and she followed him to his room. He poured a glass and handed it to her 9 year old who took barely two sips and dozed back to sleep. He patted his baby sister gently to sleep before slipping in the covers himself. She admired her babies sleeping peacefully; at least they were unaware of the intensity of the storm that had hit their family.

But a strong sense of guilt overpowered her - wallowing in her own sorrows, she’d overlooked the fact that her kids would miss their father, despite him being the reason for this entire mess.

She walked out. Things had taken an abrupt turn in the past one week. He was gone and as soon as she’d realised there was no chance of him coming back, she’d secluded herself from everyone. Drowning in the endless ocean of her own miseries, she had distanced herself from the kids who needed her now more than ever.

It was only now she saw how much her son had grown up in the past week. He’d taken charge of all the chores of the house. He’d made sure that they didn’t miss any meals of the day, even if it meant having cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Both the kids attended their school carpooling with the neighbours. She was unaware of what the neighbours knew, or how much they knew, but none had come with a fleet of questions or with unsolicited pity to her. She was thankful because obviously they knew some of it; it was unavoidable given the scene that took place in the street the last time her husband was here.

She stopped to look at a frame that carried their happy faces, their complete family. Her body gave up as she crashed to the ground and cried her heart out. It was the incessant ringing of the phone that caused her to break her stance.

“Hello.”

“Hello ma’am. I’m the Chief Detective from the police station. I’m sorry to call at this hour, but we have identified the man who’d called us using the CCTV of a shop nearby. He was here five minutes ago to give his statement. He said he had placed the call at the insistence of a kid. He said the kid seemed to be trembling and couldn’t speak on the phone, so he offered to call instead. The kid was about 6 feet tall, blonde haired. There was not much light, so he couldn't identify the face, but he did mention that the kid wore a red long coat that seemed pretty expensive. The kid left the booth immediately after the call, muttering something about history not repeating itself…”

The phone fell from her hand as she gasped in shock. She ran to the room and opened the cupboard, only to find the red coat she’d bought last month. She hadn’t seen him wear it even once, but the stains of mud on the coat said otherwise.

One week ago, the police had landed at her door with a search warrant. Before she could make sense of anything, they’d extracted images and videos from her husband’s laptop - of kids being abused in the worst way possible.

The police had been tipped by an anonymous caller that her husband was responsible for sexually abusing numerous children and that the proof was in his laptop. Their neighbours had witnessed the police taking him away as he struggled and threw kicks and punches to get out of their hold.

She’d wanted to believe it was all a lie, but the Chief Detective had stayed back to explain to her that her husband was sure to be convicted. He had promised to get back once he knew more about the caller.

Tears gushed out as she realised it was her son who had called the police. She was flooded with questions. How did he know? What did he mean by history not repeating itself? Did a father…his own kid...? Her kid...who she thought was untouched by the intensity of the situation they were in? She shivered at the mere possibility.

Few minutes had passed since she’d been rooted to her position. She finally moved to where her kids slept. Running a hand over their heads, she planted a soft kiss on both their cheeks before she left the room with a firm resolve.

A wife had been weak in this situation, but a mother could fight everything in life, she was strong - for her kids.

She’d finally found the path that would help her move ahead in life. Her son saw the right path in darkness; she would make sure he was never lost in light.