Touching tale of hope

By Sanvi Panda

Two women occupied the same hospital room. One of them was allowed to sit up in her bed for an hour every afternoon. Her bed was next to the window. The other woman had to spend all her time lying on the bed due to her illness. The women talked for hours.

Every afternoon when the first woman sat up by the window, she described to her roommate all the things she could see outside the window. The woman on the other bed began to live for that one hour every day. She would imagine that beyond the window, there was a big park with a lovely lake. Children sailed their paper boats, and young lovers would sit amidst flowers. Days went by.

One day, the woman next to the window recovered and went back to her home, and the nurse shifted the other woman there. She was shocked to see that the window faced a barren land.

Instantly, she asked the nurse about the beautiful scenery that was described to her every day. That is when the nurse told her that the woman next to the window lied to her in order to give her hope and encouragement.