A Promise That Never Came

The eighty-six-year-old Nonahami came from the small village of Udispathuwa, carrying a wish she had held for many years – to worship at the sacred Dambulla Cave Temple. Her son brought her here and told her gently, “Amma, I’ll come back and pick you up this evening.”

She believed him.

That evening passed. Then another morning came. Then weeks. Then months. He never returned.

It's been a year now; Nonahami has sat here at the foot of the temple pathway, waiting... watching every passing face, every approaching shadow, hoping one of them will be her son.

As I sat beside her and listened to her story, it wasn't her words that stayed with me.

It was the sadness in her eyes.

Some people wait for buses. Some wait for time to go by.

And some wait for a promise that never came.

9th April 2010

Dambulla Cave Temple

Sri Lanka