I was tired of running. I’ve been running since I was 10. My first employer, an old aunty, told my mother, “She’s so young. Can she manage all the chores? ”

My mother replied, “She’s young but very hardworking, Amma! And we are too poor for her not to work. It means a little more food for my family of 6, a useless, drunkard father, three more children, this girl here, and myself.” 

My mother taught me to run like her mother taught her when they migrated to the city from a remote village in Tamil Nadu in search of greener pastures. 

I ran from one house to house, room to room, floor to floor!  I ran around in rich family homes as they called me to do various chores or to tell me off that the floor was not clean enough, or that the clothes were not ironed well. Rarely a word of praise. 

But I kept running because I had to. 

“You can’t run forever, my dear woman!” said my best friend in my parent’s village, a place I love so much that I bought a little house there.

Now that I’m 60, I could stop chasing life. My parents are no more. My siblings are all married and settled in their own lives, thanks to the money I earned for them. I am unmarried. No, no, I’m not cynical at all. I’m just tired.

I’ve saved up a bit of money which I know would be enough to carry me through for the rest of my frugal life. If needed I could find work in the fields too. 

When my current employers heard of my decision to quit, some were happy for me. Some were sad, some furious. 

“Where to find another help if you stop suddenly?” One particularly angry lady said.

But I knew I was done running. I cleared my rented house in the city and came to my village. All my possessions fit into two suitcases. Simple life, indeed! 

I quickly settled down in my little home. I was at peace. My friend and I took long, leisurely walks in the fields, stopping to talk with the workers, and listening to their woes and domestic tales. 

It was liberating. It was a good decision to say enough! Yet, an emptiness filled my heart. Nothing to look forward to, nothing to look back on!

After less than a month of moving to the village, one morning, I found myself looking down at me lying on my bed. People were around crying. My best friend was sobbing her heart out! It took me a while to realise I was dead!

I heard my best friend telling the others, “When she stopped running, her heart must’ve realised how tired she was, so fatigued that it stopped beating!”

Was running my life purpose? This was my last thought before I floated into nothingness.