The story of happy-face

Once upon a time there used to live a girl. Her name was happy-face. She was born with nice teeth and a cheerful smile. As a baby, she used to bring a lot of happiness to her parents. Hence, they named her happy-face.

As she grew, she turned out to be a very nice girl. One day her parents thought that their beloved happy-face should read in a good school. But alas there was no good school where her parents were staying. So they sent happy-face to her Grandma's house in a very distant place.

The school was good and disciplined. Happy-face came to know of a lot of things there. But at grandma's home all her aunts and uncles were very big. They were busy with their lives. Noone to play with happy-face. Noone to talk with her. Happy-face missed her parents and little brother very badly. Her mother and father came to visit sometimes. Sometimes they wrote to her. Always they told her that "You have to give up small pleasures to get a bigger one". She hardly understood anything about it and she still missed them.

Initially her only friend was a little girl in the neighborhood named lonely-face. Later she made friends with sporty-face, styly-face, frawny-face, sickly-face and many more at school. All the friends had some good and some bad in them. It became a rule with happy-face to extract the good and move on. Sporty-face introduced her to different kind of sports. But she was sometimes quite egoistic and boisterous. Styly-face tried to instill some lady-like qualities in happy-face. But her life was quite boy-centric. Happy-face abhorred it. Frawny-face was always there to push and shove ways for happy-face. But happy-face can't tolerate her unnecessary quarrels. Sickly-face introduced her to stitching; because she was no good in others.

They were not real friends of happy-face, but their antics made happy-face's life easy going. Lonely-face became a shadow to her, much to granny's annoyance. Gradually she knew to live life in granny's place. Slowly the years passed by.

School ended. Happy-face got admission in a college and shifted to the college hostel. Did she feel unhappy while leaving granny's place? Neither she was happy nor unhappy. By now she had understood that "She have to give small pleasures for getting a bigger one." Sometimes she tried ask herself "What is the bigger thing that she is pining for???" She was unable to answer that question. "May be I'll get it in future", She solaced herself.

But now she was away from lonely-face also. No doubt many more were there like sweet-face, sad-face, angry-face, sticky-face, badger-face, poky-face and sooty-face. Happy-face got busy in classes and more classes. She started climbing the stairs year by year. Everytime she achieved something her friends cheered, but happy face silently went to her room and added another goal to her diary. The bigger thing... she wanted to get it.

One more, one more, another one more, happy face climbed, ran, panted and ran. College ended. She got a job. Shifted to a city and started working. One good thing about work was she had no free time to feel sorry about anything. She piled more, more and more work for herself. More than she can do. Days passed on.

Does she miss her home now also? Yes she misses it very badly. But a lot has changed back home. When she goes there she can't find a single thing she can map into. Everybody's life has moved on and everything is new. She still tries to search her innocent childhood in the home. May be it is hidden in some corner of any room. Where went her beloved dolls she can't tell now. Once or twice she went home in the holidays. But the stays increased her alien feeling. Lonely-face came into her dreams whom she does not know how to find now. Finally she started dreading holidays and home.

Still happy-face tries to smile today. Tries to find the bigger thing her mother promised her. She searches among any-face, some-face, every-face and no-face for little bits of happiness that were earlier hers' only, but life extracted it in the name of a bigger thing. She still tries to understand what bigger thing she wants and when it will come to her?