Aboard a glorious escapade(hiihii)here I am with my second act of fiction for my blog;this is a dedication to all who are young at heart or wish to be so :) and to an ageless wonder who's frequenting my dreams recently..love u dida!
Once upon a time in a place quite close to your bedroom window, there lived a romance. Everyone who met her agreed that she was one of the prettiest romances there could be. She had a beautiful princess, a handsome prince, a wonderful castle,high towers, friendly dragons, wicked witches, sparkling rivers with pretty silver fishes and lots of feasts and carnivals. But most importantly, she had the most amazing key that was ever dreamt about.It was a small golden key that unlocked precious old memories, and was hidden in the tummy of a special fish in the sparkling river.
Rishabh lay quietly, staring at the darkness outside his bedroom window,tremulous.It felt odd,like he was being wary of something.It could have been the demons in Dida's story.Dida. Why did they have to.....He tried very hard to understand why grown up people did these things,but he never could. And Bholu was no help, wagging his tail and licking his face when Rishabh really wanted him to sit quietly and work out why Dadu and Didu would be angry with Mummy because Daddy went away. Actually-Rishabh pulled his soft blanket tighter around him– these days Dadu and Dida always seemed angry for all the wrong reasons. They scolded Mummy for the really cool things she did for him,like giving him a key to the house and letting him come home in the school bus with his friends-he was soo happy the day mummy had given him the permission.He wondered why letting him have sandwiches for lunch (on the promise of eating his dal and vegetables "with no fuss" at dinner) on the three days Purnimadi did not come to their house would cause any problem.Rishabh had even tried to tell Dida not to scold Mummy so much because he liked being alone in the afternoons and that the ayah he had used to lock him in his bedroom and bring the tall rickshaw-wallah in to
watch TV.But Dida had spoken to Dadu and there was a big fight that evening. Dadu refused to speak to Mummy, but Dida scolded Mummy for 'poisoning the child’s mind' against them.Rishabh knew Mummy would cry after that, so he went into the bathroom and opened the taps and tried to read the comics he kept behind the cistern. After that day, Dadu-Didu stopped coming. Mummy stopped taking him to meet them and Bholu. And the romances stopped coming to see him at night. For a year now, Rishabh looked at the tiny stars in the square darkness in his window till he fell asleep.
She was a lovely romance,everyone said,and brave and intelligent,but would she be able to find him in time? She had till next Thursday,when he would turn eleven.If she didn’t find him by then he would stop believing in princesses in towers,in dragons who flew you to the rainbow and back,in silver fishes with golden keys in their round tummies; and then, asked everyone, what would happen to the stories?Romance was not frightened in the least.Well, just a little bit. But the secret name of the fish with the key in its tummy was Pheonix,and so she knew she would find the boy before he turned eleven.
Rishabh liked the white haired granny who had come to live in the flat next to theirs. Mummy and aunty from downstairs had been whispering about how sad it was to have to live alone at her age with none of her children nearby, but Mummy suddenly changed the topic to his schoolwork.Rishabh knew aunty would speak about Pooja’s homework,quickly swallow her cooling tea and go away.This is what happened when any of the aunties spoke about the granny living alone and being sad about her children and grandchildren in faraway places.The granny never seemed sad though.
Rishabh knew,because although he had not told Mummy (Mummy was always so tired these days,office and going away to meet lawyer uncle,Poornimadi’s holiday and his homework. He didn’t want her to worry any more) he had been spending his afternoons with the granny. It started when the current went suddenly one evening while Mummy was at
lawyer uncle’s and Rishabh had insisted on staying alone in the house. He hated the smell of old books in lawyer uncle’s office. Besides it was the evening Daddy usually called.He was sitting in front of the television trying to understand a serial Dida used to watch when suddenly everything went dark. Rishabh froze.It felt like the square of darkness outside his window had suddenly found a way into his home.Just then, someone knocked on their door. Thinking it was Mummy,Rishabh lunged at the door and tried
to open it,but he couldn’t see the key in the dark.When he finally opened the door it wasn’t Mummy, but the new granny. "Rishabh, shona… are you scared?" "And Rishabh threw his arms around her soft plump waist. "Yes," he sobbed, "yes". The electricity came back in a few minutes, but Rishabh
stayed with the granny for a whole hour. "I already have a Dida," he informed her. "So call me Didu", smiled the granny. "No," said Rishabh, scrunching his nose. "It’s the same thing.I shall call you Granny,like people do in books. Okay?" The granny laughed and laughed, but she said
okay.That was how Rishabh came to spend his afternoons with Granny.
Tuesday morning was mild and breezy when Rishabh swung himself into a seat by the window in his school bus. By the time there was only Sid left to pick up, though, the breeze grew stronger and dark clouds started rolling in. When they reached school ten minutes later rain was pouring down in sheets and the morning looked like evening. The durwan ran out to speak to the driver, waving his hands over his head. "No iskool, no iskool", he
shouted at the cheering boys, before running back into his tiny room beside the school gate.Rishabh loved the rainy days and the splurge that came with it.He was back home and completely drenched by ten in the morning. He and Pooja had been playing in the rain till her mother spotted them. Running up the stairs, he pounded on Granny’s door instead
of unlocking his own. "story! story!" he cried as he bounded in when she opened the door. Stories were how the two of them spent most of their afternoons. Granny tried to capture him inside a dry fluffy towel, tut-tutting at what she called his ‘badrami'. 'monkeyness’.
The thunder rolled outside. In the cool shadow behind Granny’s spice and pickle jars, Romance grinned to herself and whispered with Pheonix.
Rishabh’s mother sat clutching her head while his Dida stroked her hair.His Dadu was on the phone with one Sid’s mother. Sid was home.Yes, school had been cancelled. No,Rishabh had gone home.He was not at any of his friend’s places.Yes, please let her know when he was found, she was so worried about the poor child. "Let’s go back to your place, ma," Rishabh’s Dida said softly to her daughter. "Maybe he’s asleep, maybe he could not hear the phone ringing in this thunder…" "The poor boy is probably terrified, left alone in this thunderstorm…" began his Dadu, but his Dida silenced him with A Look."Rishabh loves thunderstorms" his mother sniffed."Such scoldings he would get from his father about playing in
the rain…" "Just like you used to”, his Dida said, smiling a little at the memory. "Let’s go to your place, he’s probably playing with a neighbours child, there’s no reason to be scared. Come on." She gently guided her daughter out of the room.
"…and when the prince showed them the golden key, the King
and Queen remembered how much they loved their beautiful
princess and went with the prince to rescue her from the
tower the wicked witch had locked her in… Rishabh! Rishabh?"
But Rishabh was fast asleep after a morning’s splashing about
in the rain and the hot bath and lunch Granny had forced
him to take. Granny covered him with a thin blanket and
tiptoed out of the room, missing the smile that settled on
his face as the beautiful, beautiful story settled in his
heart.
happy ending,whatsay? ;)
Once upon a time in a place quite close to your bedroom window, there lived a romance. Everyone who met her agreed that she was one of the prettiest romances there could be. She had a beautiful princess, a handsome prince, a wonderful castle,high towers, friendly dragons, wicked witches, sparkling rivers with pretty silver fishes and lots of feasts and carnivals. But most importantly, she had the most amazing key that was ever dreamt about.It was a small golden key that unlocked precious old memories, and was hidden in the tummy of a special fish in the sparkling river.
Rishabh lay quietly, staring at the darkness outside his bedroom window,tremulous.It felt odd,like he was being wary of something.It could have been the demons in Dida's story.Dida. Why did they have to.....He tried very hard to understand why grown up people did these things,but he never could. And Bholu was no help, wagging his tail and licking his face when Rishabh really wanted him to sit quietly and work out why Dadu and Didu would be angry with Mummy because Daddy went away. Actually-Rishabh pulled his soft blanket tighter around him– these days Dadu and Dida always seemed angry for all the wrong reasons. They scolded Mummy for the really cool things she did for him,like giving him a key to the house and letting him come home in the school bus with his friends-he was soo happy the day mummy had given him the permission.He wondered why letting him have sandwiches for lunch (on the promise of eating his dal and vegetables "with no fuss" at dinner) on the three days Purnimadi did not come to their house would cause any problem.Rishabh had even tried to tell Dida not to scold Mummy so much because he liked being alone in the afternoons and that the ayah he had used to lock him in his bedroom and bring the tall rickshaw-wallah in to
watch TV.But Dida had spoken to Dadu and there was a big fight that evening. Dadu refused to speak to Mummy, but Dida scolded Mummy for 'poisoning the child’s mind' against them.Rishabh knew Mummy would cry after that, so he went into the bathroom and opened the taps and tried to read the comics he kept behind the cistern. After that day, Dadu-Didu stopped coming. Mummy stopped taking him to meet them and Bholu. And the romances stopped coming to see him at night. For a year now, Rishabh looked at the tiny stars in the square darkness in his window till he fell asleep.
She was a lovely romance,everyone said,and brave and intelligent,but would she be able to find him in time? She had till next Thursday,when he would turn eleven.If she didn’t find him by then he would stop believing in princesses in towers,in dragons who flew you to the rainbow and back,in silver fishes with golden keys in their round tummies; and then, asked everyone, what would happen to the stories?Romance was not frightened in the least.Well, just a little bit. But the secret name of the fish with the key in its tummy was Pheonix,and so she knew she would find the boy before he turned eleven.
Rishabh liked the white haired granny who had come to live in the flat next to theirs. Mummy and aunty from downstairs had been whispering about how sad it was to have to live alone at her age with none of her children nearby, but Mummy suddenly changed the topic to his schoolwork.Rishabh knew aunty would speak about Pooja’s homework,quickly swallow her cooling tea and go away.This is what happened when any of the aunties spoke about the granny living alone and being sad about her children and grandchildren in faraway places.The granny never seemed sad though.
Rishabh knew,because although he had not told Mummy (Mummy was always so tired these days,office and going away to meet lawyer uncle,Poornimadi’s holiday and his homework. He didn’t want her to worry any more) he had been spending his afternoons with the granny. It started when the current went suddenly one evening while Mummy was at
lawyer uncle’s and Rishabh had insisted on staying alone in the house. He hated the smell of old books in lawyer uncle’s office. Besides it was the evening Daddy usually called.He was sitting in front of the television trying to understand a serial Dida used to watch when suddenly everything went dark. Rishabh froze.It felt like the square of darkness outside his window had suddenly found a way into his home.Just then, someone knocked on their door. Thinking it was Mummy,Rishabh lunged at the door and tried
to open it,but he couldn’t see the key in the dark.When he finally opened the door it wasn’t Mummy, but the new granny. "Rishabh, shona… are you scared?" "And Rishabh threw his arms around her soft plump waist. "Yes," he sobbed, "yes". The electricity came back in a few minutes, but Rishabh
stayed with the granny for a whole hour. "I already have a Dida," he informed her. "So call me Didu", smiled the granny. "No," said Rishabh, scrunching his nose. "It’s the same thing.I shall call you Granny,like people do in books. Okay?" The granny laughed and laughed, but she said
okay.That was how Rishabh came to spend his afternoons with Granny.
Tuesday morning was mild and breezy when Rishabh swung himself into a seat by the window in his school bus. By the time there was only Sid left to pick up, though, the breeze grew stronger and dark clouds started rolling in. When they reached school ten minutes later rain was pouring down in sheets and the morning looked like evening. The durwan ran out to speak to the driver, waving his hands over his head. "No iskool, no iskool", he
shouted at the cheering boys, before running back into his tiny room beside the school gate.Rishabh loved the rainy days and the splurge that came with it.He was back home and completely drenched by ten in the morning. He and Pooja had been playing in the rain till her mother spotted them. Running up the stairs, he pounded on Granny’s door instead
of unlocking his own. "story! story!" he cried as he bounded in when she opened the door. Stories were how the two of them spent most of their afternoons. Granny tried to capture him inside a dry fluffy towel, tut-tutting at what she called his ‘badrami'. 'monkeyness’.
The thunder rolled outside. In the cool shadow behind Granny’s spice and pickle jars, Romance grinned to herself and whispered with Pheonix.
Rishabh’s mother sat clutching her head while his Dida stroked her hair.His Dadu was on the phone with one Sid’s mother. Sid was home.Yes, school had been cancelled. No,Rishabh had gone home.He was not at any of his friend’s places.Yes, please let her know when he was found, she was so worried about the poor child. "Let’s go back to your place, ma," Rishabh’s Dida said softly to her daughter. "Maybe he’s asleep, maybe he could not hear the phone ringing in this thunder…" "The poor boy is probably terrified, left alone in this thunderstorm…" began his Dadu, but his Dida silenced him with A Look."Rishabh loves thunderstorms" his mother sniffed."Such scoldings he would get from his father about playing in
the rain…" "Just like you used to”, his Dida said, smiling a little at the memory. "Let’s go to your place, he’s probably playing with a neighbours child, there’s no reason to be scared. Come on." She gently guided her daughter out of the room.
"…and when the prince showed them the golden key, the King
and Queen remembered how much they loved their beautiful
princess and went with the prince to rescue her from the
tower the wicked witch had locked her in… Rishabh! Rishabh?"
But Rishabh was fast asleep after a morning’s splashing about
in the rain and the hot bath and lunch Granny had forced
him to take. Granny covered him with a thin blanket and
tiptoed out of the room, missing the smile that settled on
his face as the beautiful, beautiful story settled in his
heart.
happy ending,whatsay? ;)
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