When he slipped his hands

Under my shirt 

I froze 

I didn't know what was happening

The bus was overcrowded 

So I had to sit at a distance from my mother 

I had dozed off to sleep 

But the touch of an alien hand

Kneading my breasts

I was barely a teenager then

The fear was so overwhelming 

That I didn't move

He kept marauding them 

Till I dared to move

Immediately he withdrew his hand 

And behaved proper

I looked at him

He was way older

I couldn't gather my courage to raise voice

He knew he had pinned a timid minor

I tried to reach out to my mother 

But she was a few seats behind me 

The bus being full with tribals and animal husbandry 

I couldn't find her

The bus stopped for a recess 

I ran away to my mother for support 

It's been years now

But the memory of it

Is still etched in my darkest layers.

©LR