“Dad, I saw Mom at school today. She told me not to come home with you anymore”
The next day, I went to pick up my son early… What I saw chilled me to the bone.
I’m a single father. My wife, Anjali, died three years ago in a terrible car accident. Since then, I’ve been raising our son Rohan alone, who just turned six.
Since she passed, I’ve done everything I could to raise Rohan — taking on both the roles of mother and father. Every morning, I drop him off at kindergarten in Pune, and I pick him up after work.
One day, while riding home on my scooter with Rohan clinging tightly to my waist, he suddenly looked at the framed photo of Leela hanging in the living room.
His soft but unexpectedly serious voice broke the silence:
“Dad… I saw Mom in front of the school today. She told me not to come home with you.”
I froze.
My heart raced. I wanted to believe it was just a child’s whim, a spark of imagination. Maybe Rohan misses his mother too much. But his eyes… so sincere and determined… It wasn’t a lie.
That night, I barely slept.
The next morning, I took the morning off. I had to find out the truth.
I arrived early at the school and discreetly blended in with the other parents near the gate.
And then… I saw something absolutely unimaginable.
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And then… I saw her.
A woman approached the gate. She wore a pristine white salwar kameez, her long dark hair flowing gently in the wind. Her delicate figure, her graceful walk… it was like seeing Leela again.
My heart started pounding without warning.
She stood still, eyes fixed on Rohan with a painful tenderness.
I stepped forward cautiously, trying to see her face. But she wore a mask, revealing only her eyes — eyes that were hauntingly familiar.
A word slipped out, almost involuntarily:
“Leela?!”
She jumped and quickly turned around. For a brief second, our eyes met — and I knew. Those eyes… I had loved them a thousand times.
But before I could say anything, she turned away and walked down the street. A bus passed between us, separating us.
I ran after her…
But when it disappeared, so had she.
I stood there frozen, heart shattered.
Was it really her? Or just an illusion?
Back home, I calmly asked Rohan to tell me again what he had seen.
He answered confidently:
“She was in front of the school. She smiled at me and said, ‘I just wanted to see you. I can’t stay.’”
His words sent a chill down my spine.
I dug up all the old files: accident reports, certificates, official statements. All confirmed Leela died instantly. No doubts were ever raised.
So why had Rohan seen her? Who was that woman?
The next day, I went back to the school to review the security footage.
And there… she was.
A woman, standing at a distance, watching Rohan. The mask covered most of her face, but her posture… it was heartbreaking.
I contacted an old friend in the police, hoping for answers.
A few days later, he called back, sounding a bit uneasy:
“Dev… her name is Kavita. She’s Leela’s cousin. She just came back from Australia after being away for years.”
My mind froze.
I called her immediately. We arranged to meet.
When I found her, she broke down in tears before I said a word. She confessed everything.
Kavita and Leela were very close growing up. Leela’s sudden death devastated her. Unable to cope with the pain, she left the country, hoping to forget everything.
But after returning to India, she couldn’t resist the urge to see Rohan — the little boy her cousin adored. Terrified of reopening old wounds, she stayed in the shadows, only watching from afar.
She never imagined Rohan would mistake her for his mother.
I stayed silent, deeply moved.
It wasn’t Leela. But in Kavita’s presence, a part of her lived on.
I invited her to come home.
Rohan ran to her, smiling as if he had waited for her forever.
I watched them, eyes misty, a bittersweet smile on my lips. My gaze fell on Leela’s photo hanging in the living room.
And quietly, like a prayer, I whispered:
“I’ll take care of him, Leela. You can rest in peace now.”
