Diwa and the Monster Hunt (ONC 2021)

9 │ pizzas and snowmen are monsters

GRANDMA REMINDED DIWA OF A SNOWMAN.

She had curly white hair bunched atop her head with two black beads that poked out, looking like another set of eyes. She walked with a slow, slippery pace, as if she were about to melt. And when Grandma embraced her for a hug, all Diwa felt were her cold frosty hands.

She shivered.

Diwa zoned out Papa and Grandma's chatter, residing deep inside the warmth in her mind. They sat in the living room, talking about grown up things that Diwa had never been allowed to hear except she was hearing it today and she found she couldn't care less. Diwa sat on the couch numbly.

In her mind, she kept picturing Danny and Flora's faces as they waved goodbye.

She saw her house, with its brick walls and chipped door and the giant sign on the front yard that read 'sold'.

In her mind, she was still in the shaking moving truck with all their stuff packed in the back, waving at her best friends as they grew farther into the distance. Diwa swallowed hard.

"Papa, when're we going back home?" Diwa asked, bringing herself back. Papa sat on the couch beside her, hands clasped tightly in his lap.

"Very soon," Papa said. His hands squeezed tighter. "We'll be leaving your grandmother's in no time."

"One-hundred percent sure, Papa?"

Papa didn't look so sure. "I'm aiming for it."

Diwa stared at Papa. Without warning, she felt tears pricking the back of her eyes. "But Papa...if we were coming back how come all our stuff is gone? How come we had to say goodbye?"

"I'm sorry, Di. I just don't know yet," Papa rubbed at his eyes. He looked tired. "I'm doing the best I can."

"But you said, you promised after Mama left we wouldn't leave the house but we did. I didn't want to say goodbye to all my friends," Diwa said. Or maybe she didn't want to say goodbye to the place where her parents had last been together happily.

Papa put his head in his hands. He looked as if he would start crying any moment. Diwa's anger overpowered her guilt. "I'm sorry, Di, I'm so, so sorry."

"You promised," Diwa said, looking down at her lap. Her parents kept promising, promising they'd come back, that they'd stay, and they never kept it. She stood up and walked off.

Papa sighed.

He didn't call after her.

So Diwa walked around Grandma's big house. She wandered around, looking at the shining floors and decorated walls. She stopped when she came across a balcony door half-open. Diwa stepped out.

She breathed in the crisp air and sat down. The wind blew against her face. Tears sprung from her eyes.

Diwa thought of the phone call she had with her Mama and Paul earlier today. She didn't understand why Mama sounded so happy when they were so far apart. When she was so close to Paul.

Papa had said Paul was a monster and Diwa had started to believe that herself. How else would he have made Mama so happy, being so far away from Diwa and Papa, when they felt anything but happy.

It made--

KNOCK KNOCK!

Diwa turned around sharply. Through the clear glass, she saw Papa. He pulled open the door and stepped in.

"I brought pizza."

Pizza.

Pizza guy.

Monster.

"O-okay."

Papa dropped the box beside her, sitting down. "Grandma made it herself," he said.

Diwa nodded. She didn't say anything.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the pizza box separating the space between them.

When Diwa didn't speak, Papa soon got up, kissed her head and stepped out. Diwa watched as Papa disappeared from her view.

Something in her chest simmered.

She picked up the now-cold pizza, all she remembered was the smiling, happy face of Paul.

She threw the pizza.

It landed with a splat on the balcony wall.

She stood up and threw it again. This time harder, putting all the force into it. It soared over the edge of the balcony.

Diwa watched it disappear out of sight. Tears gathered in her eyes, blurring the sight of the smeared sauce on the balcony wall.

She heard a yell from below, someone cursed.

Monster, rung in her mind. Diwa shook her head. She swore to herself that she would never no monster ever take away Papa. Not like they had with Mama.