The Morph's Curse

Chapter 1 : Tushie

The aroma of toasted bread and hot coffee filled the room as Iniyan cautiously opened the bedroom door, so as to not startle his wife awake. He tiptoed his way near the bed stand and slowly placed the plate and the mug on it. He sat on the bedside beside a sleeping Maaya and gently stroked her jet black curly hair which he had always admired. Maaya slowly woke up and whispered him a good morning with a smile on her sleepy face. Iniyan got up and pushed aside the curtains to let the darkness out.

"What time is it?" Maaya asked, struggling to keep her grey eyes open in the sudden storm of brightness.

"Its 10 in the morning. You've been sleeping in a little too much lately Mo, don't you think so?" Iniyan questioned her mockingly.

Maaya's reply was cut off by a voice from the living room, "was it you that gave birth after carrying a child for months?" his mother questioned him playfully. "Leave her alone for God's sake Iniyan, not everyone can be a morning person like you!" Iniyan and Maaya chuckled to his mother's comment.

"I'll go freshen up, keep an eye on Keva while I'm at it darling." Maaya said as she made her way to the bathroom. Left to himself, Iniyan diverted his attention towards the little baby sleeping in the cradle beside the bed as Maaya had instructed him earlier. She had given birth to their daughter four weeks ago and they had come over to stay at his mother's place for a few weeks.

A smile grew on his face as he adored her little hands and how beautiful her golden brown skin looked in the morning light. Everything about his baby reminded him of the words 'peaceful' and 'quiet'......at least until she slowly woke up and began to cry, very loudly.

Panic stricken, he took her in his arms and got her out of the room in an attempt to distract her, 'maybe her big brother might help' he thought to himself, as he went searching for Kelan, who happened to be beside his reluctant grandma begging her to take him out for a walk on the summer morning.

To Iniyan, the plea seemed fair enough, summer was short in Mount Sintali and the green scenery in summer was absolutely ageless. It was exactly as beautiful as it had been when he was a little boy. He discreetly signaled his mother to give in and went out to the garden, gently patting his daughter's back whose cries seemed to be settling down slowly.

"I'll take Kelan around for a walk, do you need anything before I leave?" Miren asked Maaya, who was sipping her coffee, standing in front of the window looking at the view of rolling hills against a back drop of moderately sunlight blue sky. "Sure ma, everything is alright, I don't need anything for now. Kelan, be near grandma and don't misbehave, alright?" she questioned him rhetorically while caressing his straight black hair. 

He gave his mother a little hug around her waist before running off, pulling his grandmother along with him. Maaya saw her five year old kid run out of the house and sighed as she sat back in bed. She could not help but feel uneasy about her interaction with Tushar the previous night and was desperately hoping that no one had seen either of them or had tuned in on their conversation. She had kept something about her past a secret, a secret she was not proud of, a secret her son was a part of, yet was completely unaware of it. She was headset on her goal of protecting Kelan and the rest of her family from Tushar. 

"Grandma look at those pears! I want one!" Kelan shrieked as he saw a pear tree with ripe pears on a downward slope from the roadside. Miren told him to stay right there and went towards the pear tree to grab a pair for her grandson, she always liked the tangy sweetness of the fruit and was more than happy to let him experience the taste as well. However, she was a bit worried as he was not within her vision.

"Alright, alright. You have to stay right here till I pluck them for you, yes?" She warned him.

Kelan looked around while impatiently waiting for his grandma to get him his pears. He saw a man standing at a distance of about a hundred meters away, who seemed to be looking towards him. He was too curious and walked heedlessly towards him ignoring everything his grandmother had just told him. 

As he ran towards the man in whatever pace his little legs could take him, the strange man seemed to hide behind a tree, this only made Kelan run faster.  As he got closer he noticed the man wearing black woolen pants and a black woolen upper garment that covered his arms till his wrists and his collar, it was long enough to go well below his knees and there was a tiny slit in the cloth between the man's legs. This was nothing new to him, he had seen almost every person he knew wearing the same outfit, in various colors. They called it the raufin, a gender neutral outfit that everyone in the town wore. What surprised him was the man's blue crop coat jacket with golden colored buttons which seemed to be made out of silk. He had never seen anyone wearing that before. 

He looked up to see a pair of mesmerizing purple eyes. The man snapped his fingers to get him out of his trance. 

"What's your name kid?" he questioned him in a nonchalant tone. 

"Kelan." he boldly replied. The strange man seemed to smile a little on his answer, but that faded quicker than dreams when you wake up. 

"Well, won't you ask my name then?" He asked, towering the kid.

"If its a boring name then I don't want to know."

"What classifies a name as boring?" he asked, actually curious now. 

"Give me an example, I'll tell if it's boring." 

"Something like.......Tushar, maybe?" he questioned,  on one hand secretly hoping to get a 'not boring' as an answer, yet on the other embarrassed for being this immature with a toddler. 

"Boring." 

The man looked away while scratching the back of his ears in embarrassment.

"Is that your name?" Kelan questioned in a disappointed tone.

"No, of course not......I'm Tushie." he argued. 

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Tushie as in butt?" Kelan chuckled loudly. 

"Yes." he said as he turned around showing his back to the toddler. With this body and legs still in place, he turned his neck towards the toddler and drew his index finger towards his cheek and bent his butt slightly towards the side. 

"Tushie." he repeated, remaining in his awkward position. 

Kelan burst out laughing, the man turned around and smiled at him, content with his attempt in making the toddler laugh. He was really starting to like this man with a strange name he met less than five minutes ago. Yet, Tushie seemed to be the one, in whose company he felt comfortable in. 

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