The Story Of Giselle

This true story is about a girl who believed in fairy tales as if they had existed for real, who believed in miracles as if they had happened for real. She had her own dream world – a world she called her own, a world filled with happiness, love and joy all around. There was no sign of any sadness that persisted in this dream world of hers. While on the contrary the real world in which she existed always brought her pain and sadness. She fought through the pains bravely hoping that someday her dream world would turn into a reality and that all her tears would one day vanish away. She kept hoping and hoping till the last breath she took of her life. She never lost hope and this hope was exactly what kept her going all throughout the while.


Giselle, was born in a city named Gramshugh which was one of the most advanced cities of Europe. She was the only daughter of her parents. Her father was an idol to her. The reasons were obvious – he was intelligent, smart, caring and the most important reason was that he loved her the most. And so did she love him the most. He meant the world to her. He had sacrificed all his happiness throughout his life so that his girl could be happy. She rarely spoke of her mom with anyone. Probably deep down her heart she always had a feeling that she did not get the love of her mother she deserved to get like other children. It wasn’t her mother’s fault either as she was unwell but she desperately longed for the tender love and affection of her mother. Her mother could not understand her neither could she. At school, while her other friends spoke of their mothers, she used to keep mum because she had nothing so memorable of her mother to share like them. But her father always compensated for the love of a mother. He taught her whatever a mother teaches her child because he could understand the reason why her mother couldn’t tell her all that. And she used to, instead, proudly tell her friends about her father and was surprised to know that no one really had much to talk about their fathers. That was when all her regrets would vanish off.In a way, he was her mother as well as her father.

When she was a tiny kid, whenever she cried, her dad would gently pat her on her head while laying her in his arms and put her off to sleep. He did nearly everything possible to keep his little girl happy. She was the world to him.He never took her as a burden on her being a girl, instead he took her as his strength and a girl was exactly what he had wished for before she was born. He grew her up like a boy because he knew that she was no less. He was amongst the best brains the country had generated and was very successful professionally. Whosoever met him used to adore him for what he was. He was the ultimate man a woman would ever desire for and the best dad a daughter could ever wish for.
Slowly and slowly as time passed by, Giselle grew older and older . Giselle’s father had the habit of cracking silly jokes at every instant and the jokes used to be the most absurd jokes one could ever hear, yet Giselle used to laugh them off and this was the thing she loved the most about him. He always made her smile, be it with his crazy absurd jokes or the acting skills he portrayed of various people in front of her.

He used to grant all her wishes but also made sure that she learnt to accept things even if her wishes weren’t granted. He wanted her to learn to accept life even if it doesn’t go the way she wanted and he made sure that she didn’t turn out to be one of the snobbish kids who wanted their wishes to be fulfilled at any cost-come what may! Ultimately, in the end she grew out to be one beautiful woman who could handle all sorts of situations, all thanks to the qualities imbibed in her by her dad.

The only desire that Giselle’s dad had was to see his daughter turn into one self independent woman and not rely on anyone-not even him! He wanted her to stand on her feet and be professionally successful. And that is exactly why he asked her to never compensate on her studies. He showed her the dreams of becoming someone so great in life, that no other person could ever think of. He brought in her the faith that she could achieve anything, if she wanted to with all her heart because that is exactly the reason he did realize why he had accomplished so much in life. To him, nothing mattered more than knowledge and studies because he knew how life actually was and that is why he always kept on guiding her to be someone great like him someday .This is why he laid so much of emphasis on her studies. Giselle had the habit of dreaming the impossible and turning it into one possible reality. She believed in a saying once quoted by Ralph waldo Emerson—“You see things and say ‘why?’ But I dream things that never were and say ‘Why Not?’ and this quote stuck to her mind ever since she heard it for the first time.

And one fine day she turned her dream as well as her dad’s dream into a reality, so that he could be proud of her, which the world around her thought was impossible to accomplish. She worked very hard all throughout her college days towards her future to just see her dad be proud of her and to prove to people that if you want a dream to come true, you just need to work hard towards it with all your heart and mind and there could be literally nothing then that could stop you from achieving your dream. Apparently one fine day, her hard work paid off. She grew out to be one successful woman and to see her dad so proud of her, she was more than overjoyed to make her dream come true. Though this was just one of the dreams she dreamt of .

Giselle’s dad knew her really well that just by looking at her he could understand the unsaid. All he desired in life was for her to be happy in life wherever she went. But one thing that her dad did not know was that she couldn’t live without his presence even for a day. Although he did know that his daughter was totally dependent on him, and he desperately wanted to change this habit of hers. Whenever a task or a problem cropped up, Giselle would go running for the solution or advice to her father even if she knew what had to be done. She couldn’t literally do anything until and unless she heard it from her father no matter how right she was in her decision making. This habit of hers used to make her dad so worried that sometimes he used to wonder what would she do without him. He knew he was her strength as well as her weakness. He tried his level best to make her go and face the world without holding his hand, all on her own but all his efforts went in vain. He would often question Giselle and ask, “Every time you come running over to me questioning me with the questions and problems that crop up before you. Its high time you learn to tackle things on your own,Gis. After all you are 21 now. When will you grow up baby? How will you face the world without me? This very thought haunts me every time .” And Giselle not knowing the strength of the words her father used to put forth her, would laugh it off like always. There were times when she used to give it a thought. In fact, there were many of those times. She never really got the answers to her father’s questions but there was a voluntary response that followed her thinking process – the tears that dropped one by one down her eyes. She could never really think of living without her dad, never at all. The world around her just seemed perfect. This was the world that she desired to live in forever all though out her life with nearly no changes around and with the same people. This was it. This was her dream world. And it had to have a happy ending like those fairy tales, she always thought.

Gradually as years passed by Giselle grew into an even more beautiful woman with the same innocent heart she had with her always. By this time she had shifted to London along with her family. She was a HR in one of the best placed companies in London.Though she grew up physically, the child that hid behind that sober, mature, intelligent, smart, successful girl never really went away. She was still the kid she was ten years back. Noone really got to see it anymore though. She was now 28.

But during all this while, there was a change in her dream world. Her dad who was the strongest man she had ever seen as well as the most intelligent, was gradually becoming slower and slower day by day. He was becoming physically weak all those years. His thinking process became slower. She was shocked to see that her dad who used to solve her most difficult problems in a second and answer in a quick second, took time to think about things around him and he was no longer that quick. He had by then retired from his job and he was now 65. How she wished she got her strong father back. But then his presence always comforted her. It was all she needed to keep her hopes high and to have the confidence in her. She used to often chat with her dad about the funny memories they had in the past and they used to laugh it off together. Oh how good did the father and daughter look together while sharing their talks, no one could really explain. They would appear as the best father daughter pair one could have ever seen in the world.

There were times during her chat sessions with her dad when Giselle would tell him about her day at work, and out of nowhere would her dad ask her, “My little girl, when are you going to find that someone to marry and be ready to enter a new world of yours waving your daddy goodbye?” .And Giselle would answer back in a very serious tone which was like once in a blue moon and reply, “ Daddy, I don’t want to marry. What’s the point after all? One marries to have kids and i could have a kid without marrying. So therefore no marriage is required.” Her dad would instantly reply back by saying,” But what’s the harm in marrying?” Giselle would laugh off and say,” There is really no harm daddy. Its just that i don’t wish to get married.
”Dad:”But….”
Giselle:”No buts daddy. You always wanted me to stand on my feet and be successful. Here I am-the way you always wanted. But nothing beyond this daddy. ”
Dad:”but don’t you want kids of your own?”
Giselle would smartly answer back by saying,” Papa, we don’t marry to have kids. I can have kids without marrying!!”.
Dad:”you mean you would adopt someone of someone else’s blood and not even know what the kid might do in the future”.
Giselle:”No silly daddy,I would go for IVF, ha ha”.
Her father knew how stubborn and adamant his daughter was and would reply, ”That’s a good idea but tell me something, what’s the harm. . .”.Giselle:” as I said daddy, no more buts. So did you have your medicines today?”Thereafter ,she would knowingly change the topic and ask him about irrelevant stuffs relating to other things and see her dad go into his deep thinking mode after answering them. How she wished deep down her heart that she could make her dad understand that she was happy with him and only him and needed no one to complete her picture – no one anymore. She had experienced the world enough by now and knew that it was filled with nothing apart from selfish people. She was happy with the only unselfish man she ever knew and the only one who loved her. What she did not know was her dad was very worried for her. He knew there would be no one to look after her once he is not there. He knew his little girl wouldn’t be able to survive this harsh world on her own without a man’s presence – a man who loved her the most wholeheartedly. He wanted to make sure that she was in safe hands before he left her. How much he was worried about her, no one really knew apart from him. But then he knew he couldn’t force her for a decision which she didn’t wish to commit, he knew it from the very beginning as she had made it clear from the very start. He in fact never forced her for anything. He let her take her decisions on her own,he knew it was her life after all. All he was worried about was his young little adorable innocent girl to be in safe hands. So that someone was always there to wipe away her tears, to love her unconditionally with no negative feelings at all and mostly importantly to take care of her when he wasn’t there.

It was probably his last wish to see his grandchildren playing before him and see his daughter happily married to someone who loved her more than anything in the world.

He wished his daughter could understand him but he knew his stubborn daughter so well, a quality she had inherited from him.
Time passed and so did the days pass gradually. Giselle’s dad was growing weaker and weaker day by day. She often used to joke with her dad regarding his bald head that now became a part of his physical appearance. Giselle: ” Papa, you are totally bald now. You’ve grown old, eh.”And her dad would reply back by saying : “But my heart is still young as ever!”. He could see his daughter still laughing at his joke and spontaneously hear her say : “ Papa, you still have an answer for everything. Don’t you?”. He would reply back and say, “Well, yeah. After all i am Papa.” Giselle, ”ha ha.” Giselle loved this never give up hope attitude of her dad and the very fact that he had an answer for everything that she asked. He was her inspiration. She was more pulled towards her dad because of this spirit of his towards life.

One morning, it was 24th September 1970, she still remembered. Everything that happened that day was well printed in her mind. She remembered every detail of that day second by second. That was the day when he left her, left her all alone in this world. Her world came crashing down since that day onwards. She wanted to quit it all but she had one last responsibility to fulfill, a responsibility that her dad asked her to fulfill – to take care of her mom. She was supposed to take care of someone whom she had hardly known well inspite of having been her daughter. Its was one of her dad’s last wishes that she take good care of her mom. He knew that there was no one to take care of her mother apart from her. He knew his wife wouldn’t at all be able to bear his loss and because of her psychiatric problem it would be even worse for her to overcome the pain. This was the day that changed everything. She swore to take care of her mom till her very last breath. After all she owed it to her mother. And so did she. She took care of her mother in each and every way possible. She gave her the medicines at the right time, chatted with her just like her dad used to in order to make her feel comfortable, listened to all her griefs quietly without even shedding a tear before her and had the meals only with her. She often used to take her mother out for dinner following the previous routine that she, her dad and her mother followed although it was no longer the way it used to be before. This was the first time she felt the love in her heart for her mother grow. She never really wanted to see her mother cry but each and every day when she returned back from work, she could see her mother’s face drenched in tears. Yet she controlled herself. She tried to comfort her mother as much as she could but it didn’t really help. Since the day her dad left her, she sweared to never cry in front of anyone apart from her self. Each and every night she used to cry remembering her father in the darkness of the night that now prevailed not only in the sky but in her life as well.

Giselle wished she could end everything then and there but she wanted to fulfill each and every wish of her dad like always. Since that day Giselle barely spoke a word with anyone. The laughter that was once a part of her daily routine had now gone forever. There was never a moment when she didn’t remember her dad, all those memories were still fresh in her mind as if they had occurred just yesterday. She missed her dad badly, how she longed for him to sit beside her and talk with her just like before and share her feelings with him. How she missed taking care of all his needs right from the medicines to the water that he required! She missed all those absurd funny jokes that her dad used to once make her laugh with. She used to everyday go to the bed where her dad slept and sit beside it thinking as if he was still present there. She used to gaze at the bed for hours and hours and tears poured down each and every moment remembering the sweet memories that they once shared. She used to walk upto to the cupboard that still that her dad’s clothes and hold them and cry. It was the only physical thing of his that reminded her of his presence around. Sometimes she used to talk to herself thinking that she was talking to her dad. She used to imagine with her eyes closed, her dad answering back just the way he used to. Her ears now desperately wanted to hear those words in the night that reminded her that she had to go to off to sleep and leave her job work she had for the next morning as it was quite late, ”Gis, get up early in the morning and do your work. Go off to sleep, it’s quite late.” “ Yes, Papa.” She could have literally done anything to get back her dad now even for a second.

She lost the liveliness that she once had in life , she looked pale and devoid of life. Her face showed no expressions anymore and one could just look at her and say that she had been crying all night. She now wished just to see her dad for one last time, so that she could tell him how much she misses him and whatever was there in her heart. She prayed to God to just grant this one last wish of hers. She desperately wanted the fairy God mother that existed in her dream world to come and ask her for this one last wish of hers. But then she never really came. Her dream world came crashing down. It existed no more for her dream world had happy endings and not an end like this.
Then happened the unexpected. Five years from then, it was time for her to bid her mother good bye one last time. When she sat next to her mother on the mother, the last words she heard from her mother were,” Take care of yourself Gis ”. Giselle,” Yes I will, Mom.” This was the first time that Giselle could see before her eyes her mother crying for her and strangely enough it was the first time in 5 years that she cried before her mother, all for her. She hugged her mom really tight as if she didn’t want her to go this time. But she had to. And so did she. Giselle felt strange for having such feelings of love and affection towards her mother. Probably she realized that her mother was after all not that bad, she loved her a lot but was just able to tell it to her through her actions and neither could Giselle ever understand it. She now knew it was never really her mother’s fault. Her mother loved her from the very beginning. It’s just that destiny had it that way. After her mother having gone, there was a sense of relief that now prevailed that could be seen on Giselle’s face. She smiled with all her heart for the first time in several years on realizing that she fulfilled her dad’s last wish. She took care of her till the very end. She did everything possible to make her happy and fulfilled the duty of a good daughter. And the other reason for her happiness was that she was now free to do anything that she wished. Her responsibilities were finally over.

That night was her last night as well and the last things that she picturised with her eyes closed were the sweet memories that she shared with her dad. Right from seeing him teach her learn to ride a bike when she was 8 though he himself did not know how to do it to the very moment when he used to tickle her so much that she used to burst out laughing as a kid, she recalled it all. She remembered all those days as a child when her dad used to hold on to her hand whenever they went to market so that he did not lose her and also the times when he used to pick her up in his arms when her legs would start hurting for having walked for a long distance and then carry her all the way. She remembered it all. She recalled all those talks that she had with her dad and all his crazy jokes that he used to crack before her and make her laugh off. She also recollected the times when she used to go crying to her dad as a kid and he used to carry her in his arms and pat her constantly on her back comforting her. How she missed all those days. Those were the best days of her life and she cherished them all. It was her mother’s last day and so was that night Giselle’s last one.

No one really knew what happened to Giselle after that . No one heard frm Giselle ever since that day. No one could find her at her workplace or at home. It seemed as if a magician had whipped his stick over her and taken her along. The mystery was never really solved. And till this day the mystery still continues that where did she really go. Hopefully, she has reached the place she had always wanted to go – her dream world but her responsibilities stopped her from going over there. She finally got the happy ending she had always desired for. Her fairy really did come and take her away where she wanted to go. She must be somewhere with her dad playing with him and laughing with him. She must be so happy in that world of hers. But the sweet memories that she took along with her would never die–they are still alive!