They Fought Against All (Story)

                     They Fought Against All

She stood by the window, for hours and hours now, looking back at the war, her family and her childhood…

She was always rebellious, the one of a kind who always challenged the norms of nature and one who ended up being rewarded unfortunately and sometimes not willingly. Anya Christina Blanc was 11 months old when the NAZI’s invaded Bordeaux. Her parents moved out of Bordeaux as quickly as they could and went back to their ancestral village of St. Emillion. The war was here and there was no way out of it. Anya’s mother was all of 18 when she fell in love and married Jean Paul Blanc, the son of the local butcher. Jean Paul was pampered and loved by all as a result he never grew up. The Blanc’s were a famous family in Bordeaux and their meat was known to be famous throughout the city. Catherine fell in love with Jean Paul when they met in high school and the rest was history!

The onset of the war led to famine, destruction and poverty. Jean Paul Blanc was never used to toiling hard and living in a tiny village. He was so habituated to his luxurious lifestyle that he ended up selling all his and Catherine’s belonging in order to buy some wine and caviar. The inflation during the war and her husband’s frivolous pleasures were way too much for the still young Catherine and her daughter .Catherine ended up working at the local dairy where as her husband was en route to establishing himself as a jobless and useless alcoholic. Jean Paul’s mother soon realized her son’s situation and asked him to come and see her. Back in his old mansion and again loved and pampered, Jean Paul had an affair with Marie Anne Martin who later became his mistress .While Jean Paul enjoyed his comforts and luxuries, Catherine worked 2 shifts to provide for her daughter and herself. She knew jean Paul too well and knew he wouldn’t come back to them. After a few years she received official documents demanding her to divorce her husband Jean Paul Blanc. In those days, divorces weren’t common. This destroyed Catherine completely, she had no one to help her and her family had migrated to the north. Anya was 15 when her mother decided to send her to a school in the west of France. All of 15 and all alone, Anya loved it in there. She was free..!! The first few months Anya did all the things she wasn’t supposed to. She got her self-drunk more often and was active in college politics. She only got herself under control after her first semester results were out and she was asked to go back home. After a lot of coaxing and cajoling by Catherine, the principal let her stay. Catherine was furious and asked her to concentrate. Catherine was suffering from lymphoma and didn’t have the courage to tell anyone. As days passed by, her condition grew worst and she grew weaker. Anya came home from Christmas and realized that it was better if she did not go back. She understood that there was something wrong and that her mother would never tell her. On Catherine’s requests she attended the midnight mass and prayed to Christ for her mother’s health. Catherine pushed the daisies on the morning of the New Year and Anya didn’t cry at all. She left St. Emillion at once and went back to university. There was nothing in Anya’s life that was right at this point of time and being the kind she was, it made things even worse. She protested against everything from food in college to the teaching methods of her professors. She got herself in to trouble and somehow managed to get out of it. Years passed by and she considered herself to be god's most unloved child... The only thing which was in Anya’s favor was the fact that she never did anything which she didn’t believe in. Not loved by the Catholic Church, neither by her family, she was a girl who was not well received nor thought of in the society but that didn’t stop her from doing what she wanted to.

                                                                    

She stood by the window, for hours and hours now, looking back at the war, her family and her childhood…

When she heard “mommy, i think it’s time”, she looked back and replied "hold on Catherine, mommy will be there in 5". (She names her daughter after her mother)
Though not loved by all in the community, ANYA CHRISTINA BLANC turned out to be a successful entrepreneur and an amazing mother who lived life by her own rules and proved to be a successful single mother...

p.s: this is for all who follow and believe in the notions and norms of the society. Judging people is a mistake which we make very easily not even thinking about their history or even without knowing what kind of person they are!

                                                

                                                                                                                -Hetvi Vora

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