of two women.

Year 2013.

They walked side by side, matching step to step. The beautiful woman was young, and much younger than her companion. Yet something in her eyes and her manners spoke of a maturity and gravity that defied the youthfulness of her eyes. Her companion, the man dressed in a common leather jacket and a pullover pointed out things and places and people to her. She marveled at the sights, her eyes moist one instant and lips parted in the most sincere of smiles the next.

They weren’t from here. Well, at least she wasn’t. She seemed like she was in an alien world. And yet it was as if this was déjà vu. And her companion, the man in a common leather jacket and pullover knew exactly what they were doing here. And why. They had just met, and yet they were like friends for a lifetime.

As they wandered, they came across a woman. A wretched woman, on the side of the road. A destitute with torn and tattered clothes; her body broken. She looked marauded: like a prey of fierce wild animals left half-eaten and alive. And yet her manner was proud but her eyes betrayed long years of pain and suffering endured.

They both stopped. Tears welled up in her eyes, she couldn’t dare look at this woman. She sensed great anger in her. Anger and a deep sense of betrayal, and this hurt her. She hesitated. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, encouraging her. He knew this moment would come.

She looked at the woman again. The wretched woman looked up. Their big black eyes looked into each other’s souls. They mirrored the pain and excitement. She kneeled down and held the woman’s hands. Her touch seemed to comfort her. The wretched woman clasped her hand tightly.

‘How old are you?’, the young woman asked sadly.

‘Sixty and seven years', she croaked. ‘How old are you?’

‘i am as old as you are. And once i was as wretched as you are now.’, the young woman said.

‘Then i am as beautiful as you are.’, the wretched woman said softly.

‘Yes, you are.’, the young woman whispered as she held her closer in an embrace of warmth and comfort.

In long time both of them broke down. They cried till their eyes hurt and no more tears came.

The man stood watching, a faint smile on his face. ‘Do you now know who you are?’, he asked.

The women pulled apart. The wretched woman wasn’t wretched anymore. The young woman was more beautiful than ever.

They smiled.

‘Yes’, they said in one voice. ‘Thank you.’

The man, dressed in a common leather jacket and pullover, bowed ever so slightly.

‘Take your time’, he said. And he walked away leaving them alone.

Much later, the women parted from each other’s company, each happy in her own way.

The wretched woman happy in the knowledge of peace and beauty to come.

The young woman happy in the triumph over grave misery and misfortune.