A 'SPECS'TACULAR SURPRISE | ONC 2021

1¦ New Specs

"But Maa, I don't want to," Aalo insisted. "The other kids at school are going to make fun of me. No one wears specs to school."

"But honey, the doctor says you should. Else the power of your specs will increase more and then you must wear thicker glasses," her mother reasoned from the other side of the door.

"No. You all don't love me. That's why you are making me wear specs," she screamed into her pillow.

"Honey, please open the door," her mother's voice was frantic at the other end.

"Only if you don't force me to wear the glasses," Aalo cried.

"You're hurting Maa with this behaviour. Do you want to hurt Maa?" her mother pleaded from the other end.

Was she hurting her Maa? That was the last thing she wanted, to hurt the woman who had raised her single-handedly. She had never seen her Baba and Maa was the world for her.

She got up from the pillow and slowly went to the door. Then she opened the latch. Her mother's face was red and so were her eyes.

"Oh my poor baby," her mother sniffled, lifting her and squeezing her tightly.

"Sorry Maa," she whispered, rubbing away the few tears that rolled down the soft cheeks of her mother. Her little hand was completely wet from her mother's tears.

"It's okay, baby. Maa needs you to wear glasses. Will you wear it for Maa?" Her mother smiled at her.

"I will," Aalo said in a small voice, "but don't cry, Maa."

"Thank you," her mother sniffed again, carrying her into her room. "And here are your brand new specs."

Aalo took the little cuboidal box from her mom and looked at it in fear, not knowing what to expect. Carefully she flipped open the lid to find a set of cute little red specs. The colour was like ripe strawberry and the temples were speckled with little white dots.

"Cute, isn't it?" her mother asked.

"Yes, but still..." Aalo whispered.

"You'll get used to it," she insisted. "Wear it."

Aalo took up the specs from the box and very carefully placed it on her nose. The entire world seemed to blur before her eyes. Everything became a mixture of colours and flashes of light.

"Owww," Aalo winced, taking them off immediately.

"It'll take some time to get adjusted, honey. You need to try again and again and let it sit for some time," her mother instructed.

Aalo put it on again and sat still. The mixture of colours finally seemed to settle into objects in her room and they looked clearer.

"Keep wearing it and I'll make your favourite kheer tonight." Her mother smiled, getting up.

She then left Aalo alone.

Aalo shuffled in her place for a while. Then she took off the glasses and threw them across the bed in disdain. She had agreed to wear it because of her mother. But in reality, she detested it, even if it came in a cute colour.

"Hey," someone whispered close to her ear.

"Who? What?" She jumped up.

"I'm here," the high-pitched voice insisted.

Aalo looked around, frightened out of her wits. Someone was there in her room, someone she couldn't see. Was it one of the monsters under her bed? She thought of calling her mother, but she was eight, a big girl. She should know how to handle the things she feared.

She climbed down from the bed carefully and lifted the bedsheet which was dangling. Below the bed, it was pitch dark.

Did she hear a scuttling noise or was it just her imagination? She ran to her toy drawer and took out the small pink torch. Then she lifted the sheets again and peered under the bed, shining her light around. She expected something to jump at her any moment, but there was nothing.

"I'm on your bed. What are you looking for under? Maybe I can help you."

"Where are you?" Aalo asked in a shaking voice, very sure that her room was haunted.

"Put on your glasses, girl," the voice screeched.

Aalo grabbed her glasses, adjusting them on the bridge of her nose.

Something blue and fluffy was sitting on her bed. It had soft green irregular circles on its body and also weird white lines. The most striking feature was the pair of glasses on its nose. They were strawberry coloured and looked exactly like Aalo's.

"Who are you?" she asked, approaching it cautiously.

"I'm Pompom." The little creature extended its stubby hands.

She didn't move from her position, "What are you?"

"I am a Gyppie," the creature said.

"What's a Gyppie?"

"A type of monster that lives under your bed and comes out at night to put sleep dust into your eyes."

It bounced excitedly, grinning at her. It had only 3 teeth in the front. Two on its upper gums and one on the lower, almost like Sheetal Auntie's newborn baby. The baby looked cute, but for this creature, it was looking odd.

"Ugh! You don't have teeth. How are you even a monster?" she squinted at it through her glasses.

"That was rude," the Gyppie's voice dropped into a mumble.

"I'm sorry," Aalo apologized, "I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that I'm upset."

"Why are you upset?" the Gyppie asked, scuttling closer. Aalo sat down gingerly on her bed, keeping a safe distance from the strange creature.

"I don't want to wear glasses. The kids will make fun of me," she said.

"But kids in our land consider themselves lucky if they get glasses," the Gyppie said thoughtfully.

"Why?" Aalo was surprised.

"Because once you get the same specs like a human, you get a specs buddy in the human world. Just like you are my specs buddy," it explained.

"But that means no one else can see you?"

"Only you can see and hear me. That too when you put on your specs. I'm the only lucky Gyppie in my school that got a specs buddy," the Gyppie said, puffing its chest proudly.

"So getting glasses isn't a bad thing?" Aalo asked, still not convinced.

"No. it makes you unique and different from your classmates," the Gyppie convinced. "Then you have me, whom none of your friends can see." Pompom grinned again, flashing his almost bare gums.

"You seem friendlier than you look," she whispered.

"Looks can be deceptive," Pompom got up on its leg and twirled again.

"Friends?" It extended its hands again.

"Friends," Aalo flashed a smile.

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Author's Note: I hope this story is simple enough to be children's fiction! Working in paediatrics, I've always wanted to know how the dream world of children might feel like! This story is just a representation of my inner child and maybe a lost childhood due to the rat race of career.