Waiting: Forever.

A beautiful morning, first dew drops on the huge vegetation across the area, stark clear skies and huge shining black coal mountains surrounding half of the town.It was like the mountains are hugging the village with all the love nature could give. It was like just out of Picasso's beautiful paintings.It didn't fail to amuse as you look around.

It was an energetic Monday morning, children and parents busy getting ready for school, professors rushing to reach school on time, Adults running to catch their bus to work.

It was the end of the session for St.Mary Convent.It was absolutely one of the key places. Situated in the heart of the town giving a perfect view of the mountains and the rivers.

It was full of creativity.It was driven by the needs to it’s students. It made sure that all the facilities needed for the child to grow were installed.It was a place where the children experimented and actually applied their idea into reality.The walls of the school were painted with the handprints of the children.The classrooms had class photographs of the respective batches.Library was full of books across the domains. The assembly ground was the arena of creativity for the students.

Mr. Lary was the headmaster he was a young 28 year old lad, the school was established by his father and Lary made it his mission to make the school successful.The whole school was preparing for their annual day.The school professors with Mr. Lary Mascarehes as lead had planned quite a few things for the annual day, this one was special as the school was completing 20 years and also the fact that after the annual day he was getting married to the childhood love of his life Tory who stayed in the neighbouring village.

The school was suddenly a playground for all the students, to my surprise the children were excited to go to the school.The choir lead Montreux was enthusiastic as he had participated in a 100 meters race too.His mother was a photographer, he wanted her to photograph him while he was running and winning.Mona who was a passionate ballet dancer was prepped with her best foot.All the children in the scout were practising twice a day.They did not want anything to go wrong.

All was going as per planning, Larry was prepared to leave for his marriage after the Annual day celebration on friday as he was getting married on saturday.

Suddenly it started raining on Tuesday. It was a rainfall no one had seen in the town for a decade.It continued to pour relentlessly.It rained cats and dogs till Thursday.The rain had destroyed the vegetation and the annual day decorations that were done at the school.

Lary and the other teachers decide to move the annual day date until the rains normalize.

It was friday, students came to the school as regular disheartened by the rescheduling of the annual day, they still prepared for it. They were completing their classwork so that they could go back to practising.Lary too came to the school to collect a few belongings and talk to the teachers and help them with arrangements while he wasn’t there for a week.

Tory was aware of the situation in Lary’s town, she had spoken to Larry. He had informed her after leaving school he would directly reach Tory’s house for the rituals.

Amidst all this chaos and disheartened children, the coal miners were still working.When suddenly the mine head realised that the coal slurry was moving . He ran and alerted the immediate response group.But I believe that nature had other plans for this beautiful town.

The coal slurry heaps started flowing , the mountains colloquially broke and started engulfing everything coming in it’s way.Nobody could have imagined the breakdown or may have.

All the administrative offices, coal miners present at the location, a few farmers present in the farms and St.Mary Convent were engulfed in the coal slurry.

People couldn't believe to what had just happened, everything in a radius of 12 km was destroyed and was of only one color “BLACK”

The firefighters came along with the police officers, planned the operation rescue and started to search , the grieving parents started to search for any traces of their children still hoping that they were alive.

The rescue team tried their best to help as many as they could, they found remains of the hand printed walls of the school, a heap of tables under which the small childrens leaped to save themselves from the apocalypse of their lives, a few uniforms and the tiffin boxes.

After the search operation completed a total 200 bodies were found out of which 160 were of the children.

Montreux’s mother could now only photograph him sleeping in the graveyard and the remains of her child.Tory was still unaware of the tragedy that took place, she was informed only 24hrs after.She couldn't believe her ears, her whole life was finished , her dreams were shattered.Not a single soul was alive in the entire school.She lost herself and fainted.The blackness of the coal had stained their lives forever.

It was a mournful day,it was pouring again this time it was in the form of tears of agony, hurt and sorrow. The parents laid out their loved ones in the cemetery. None of them screamed or fought or blamed. They prayed for their children and the hymn of their prayers wrenched the heart of the whole human kind.

The village still awaits the annual day which never took place.