Short Story: The Lost Sun

Rehanul Hoque’s poignant short story tugs the reader’s heart and reminds you the price of the freedom to be yourself.

After four daughters consecutively, when a baby boy was born both Mr Jafor and his wife Jasmine were, literally, on cloud nine. To commemorate the birth of their long-awaited son, they arranged a grand feast, inviting all the kith and kin and sought blessings for the newborn. With unanimous consent from all, they named the baby Surjo, which translates to the Sun, as they believed he had brought light into their lives. The parents doted on him, and his sisters had an unfathomable love for their little brother.  The family was so protective that the boy was never left without someone’s watchful eye. Yet, tragedy struck within a few months- Mr Jafor suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and breathed his last. It is a universal phenomenon, perhaps, that happiness often lasts for only a brief span.

At the death of Mr Jafor, the entire burden of the family fell upon Jasmine- rearing four daughters and a boy. The family owned some land, but its inheritance became mired in litigation between Mr Jafor and his sisters. It is true that Jafor’s father bequeathed all the land to his son, since the girls would eventually marry and join other families, it was not unjust to favor the son with the property. Moreover, the marriage of the daughters had imposed a significant burden on Jafor’s father. He had to sell the entire swathe of the eastern land, along with a pond to fund the nuptial ceremonies and provide the grooms’ dowries.  That eastern land, marshy and most fertile, had yielded substantial harvests each year. Had it remained within the family, they would not now be in such dire straits.