“So, how was your day?” Pompom hopped on Aalo’s bed.
Aalo scooted to one side to let him sit as she held up the now completed art.
“That’s my family,” she beamed at Pompom, thrusting the paper at him. Pompom grabbed the paper in his stubby fingers and studied the drawing carefully, comically cocking his head to one side.
“That’s you and your mother, nice,” he remarked.
“Yeas,” Aalo clapped, drawing out the s in the word, as she snatched the paper from his hand, looking admiringly at her crayon creation.
“Why is there so much blank space on your left side though?” Pompom mused, still critically staring at the drawing.
Aalo quickly hid the paper behind her, smiling sheepishly.
“What?” Pompom nuzzled closer with an eager gleam in her eyes.
“I think I like this person.” Aalo fiddled with her fingers.
“Your new Dad?”
Aalo nodded, her eyes lighting up in happiness for a brief second before her eyebrows frowned like two question marks.
“What happened again?” Pompom asked, studying her face carefully.
“I don’t know I…”
“Aalo, whom are you talking to?” Maa’s voice sounded outside the door. Pompom shot under the bed in a panicked frenzy while Aalo almost fell off the bed to grab her doll from the nightstand. The doorknob turned and her Maa walked in with a little plate on which sat a tiny piece of fried chicken. Aalo liked to have that plain fried piece always before her mother put the pieces in the curry.
“Just playing with my doll, Maa. She has been naughty,” Aalo gave a broad grin, pulling her doll’s hair for emphasis. Her mother smiled and extended the plate to her.
She picked up the piece in her fingers and almost dropped it.
“Careful baby,” her mother chided, swishing the ladle in the air. Queens had swords, her mother had her ladle. She could brandish her ladle at anyone she wanted to threaten and big tigers would become little scared cats at her anger.
Maa blew air on the piece for a minute before offering it to Aalo, who picked up the piece and shoved it in her mouth, feeling the soft chicken melt on her tongue as she relished the taste. Chicken was almost a luxury in their house owing to costs so Aalo was pleasantly surprised that her mother had brought chicken without Aalo having to beg and coax a hundred times.
“You’ve been a good baby,” her mother smiled. “That’s why I’ll make your favourite Chicken Chilly today.”
“Yay,” Aalo jumped up from the bed, attempting to throw her arms around Maa.
“Oof, stay back. Not now,” her mother brandished the ladle again, “I am wet and sticky with sweat and oil. You can hug me once I take a bath.”
“Okay,” Aalo nodded like a good girl, used to her mother’s ways.
“Do you want to help me cook?” Maa offered. Aalo dithered for a moment, wondering what she should do. Finally, she smiled and nodded. Her Maa smiled back and left the room.
Aalo closed the door softly and rushed back to her bed, peering under it.
“Pompom,” she whispered.
“Aren’t you going to help your mother?” Pompom’s head popped up from the dark, his beady eyes looking curiously.
“But I want to spend time with you,” Aalo whined.
“Just because you get new friends doesn’t mean the priority of others in your life reduces, Aalo,” Pompom sighed, crawling out of the dark and plopped down on the ground on his bum. Then he grabbed Aalo’s hand, “Let me tell you this today. A lesson you need to remember for life. Every person has their position and their own significance in your life. Love grows and love flows the more you share your heart. And if someone is a true friend, they will realise that you need time with your mother right now.”
“Ooh!” Aalo blinked twice and gave a wide smile.
…..
“What can I do, Maa?” Aalo walked into the kitchen, her little play apron draped on her dress. Her mother’s face lit up like the full moon rising out of the shadows.
“It’s hot in here babe, you don’t come near the flame,” she warned.
“Okay, so what do I do?” Aalo sprawled on the kitchen floor, her little legs spread out.
“Help me by skinning the peas,” her mother put a steel bowl on the ground and handed her a plastic carry bag with fresh pea pods. That was Aalo’s favourite thing to do.
“So, how was your day at school?” Maa asked, throwing some spices into the oil which sizzled immediately.
“It was good, I guess,” Aalo mumbled, suddenly unsure.
“Why guess?” Maa used her fingers to empty the last drop of the garlic paste into the hot vessel.
“I mean, I was afraid people would make fun of me,” Aalo said in a small voice, breaking open a pod and tossing the peas into the bowl.
“Oh, my poor baby. People will get adjusted…”
“Actually, they did. I think they got adjusted pretty well,” Aalo remarked, thinking about Juhi and the entire incident at the bus.
“That’s good then, baby.” Maa pinched the salt and added it to the curry, slowly stirring the taste into the mixture.
“Yes, and the teacher praised me,” Aalo broke open another pod and tossed the green peas into her mouth, munching them.
“That’s good, but don’t eat all those raw in your excitement,” her mother chuckled, before taking up some curry on her ladle and putting it on her palm, lapping it up with her tongue.
“Check the salt, hun,” her Maa held out the ladle, blowing on the two drops glistening on the oily ladle and letting the drops fall on Aalo’s outstretched palms. She sucked it in greedily, closing her eyes, and then she smiled. The mother and daughter duo looked at each other, smiling at the strange newness of their bond with the coming of a third person in their midst.
❤️❤️❤️
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A 'SPECS'TACULAR SURPRISE | ONC 2021
Fantasy[Open Novella Contest Longlisted] A little girl meets a magical creature who takes her dream-surfing. When the dream world and real-world collides, she finds solutions to the questions she has been searching for a long time. ❤❤❤ When Aalo is advise...
