LOKI - Aafiya Noora M S

Chapter 4 Circus Escapee

Next day, her glasses finally arrived. A wave of relief fell over her. She took her time walking around the house once again with her new glasses on. Last few days had blurred past.

They sat down for breakfast. Just as they were starting to eat, the doorbell rang. Her father went to open the door. A few minutes later, he came back with an amused look on his face. "The lady wants to know if we saw a young brown monkey with a black collar anywhere. Turns out if escaped from the circus for the umpteenth time and someone spotted it about a mile away from here." Her mother too cracked a smile. "I'm sure we'd know if a monkey is nearby. From the circus you say?....."

Mia however didn't find this as humorous. The loud silence in her head, drowned out her parent's voice.

That monkey had to be Mischief. He fit the description perfectly. He was brown, had a black collar and appeared out of nowhere after all.

She finished her breakfast as quickly as she could and then taking some left overs with her, madly made her way up the tree house. Mischief was, as usual, waiting for her there. He never came down. But she was glad he didn't, or she'd have a lot of answering to do. Her parents weren't aware of her new company. They were a bit concerned about the amount of time she spent on the tree house though.

Mischief stared at her for a while, as if judging her new look. She stared back, inspecting the monkey, now that she could see properly. He looked even cuter.

Suddenly, a mischievous grin spread across his little monkey face. She already knew he was up to no good.

"Misch.." before she could even complete her sentence, he had jumped up to her, snatched her new glasses and climbed up the tree. "Mischief!" She was shocked at his behavior. She had thought that now that he knew her, he'd stop snatching.

"Mischief! Bring it back! That's my glasses! I lived without those for 4 long days! Give it to me." Mischief looked back at her, but continued his way up.

Mia blamed herself, she was foolish to think he wouldn't take it. With a groan, she sat down. She couldn't very well ask her father for another pair. Her only hope was of Mischief returning them.

He did came back after a while. "Oo u." he stood close to her, peering at her face, nearly making her scream. She had had her eyes closed, thinking of her new glasses.

She was greeted with the sight of Mischief with large twinkling eyes, holding up something in both his hands and tail. She sat up. He was wearing a small yellow hat. Her hat. Some shiny mirror, her mother's precious mirror were held in his right hand. He took them, she realized. Her pen was held in his tail. Her old glasses! Her new one! Everything was with him! "Mischief!" She was too shocked to utter anything more than that. When she finally woke from her stupor, her eyes were wide.

"It was YOU! All this time these were with you! Honestly Mischief, I can't believe I didn't connect the dots! I shouldn't be this surprised! I don't know if I should be angry that you stole them or happy you returned them. Oh thank you Mischief!" In her excitement, she forgot her anger at him, and hugged him tight.

"Oh! You are the best little monkey ever aren't you!" She decided to ignore that he was the one who took them in the first place. Grinning wide, Mischief handed everything over to her.

She played with mischief for the next few hours. She watched him do tricks with his tail as she worked on making him a crown made of leaves and a nice flower garland to wear around his neck. As lunch time neared, she had to go back down. She hugged him in parting, and once again felt the collar. She was reminded of the sad truth. She was dying and at the same time dreading to know what was written on it. Her curiosity won, and she looked at it. 4, just four letters where written in caps lock. "L O K I. Loki! Loki? That's your name?" She looked up at Mischief surprised. He just grinned back.

"Loki and mischief are practically synonyms! Guess I named you right." "Loki...Oh lord this feels so weird. I can still call you mischief right?" Mischief cocked his head. She took that as a yes. Hugging him close to her, she murmured, sadly.

"You belong to a circus, don't you? You are someone else's. They are searching for you. And you must be missing them too I guess."

"Ouh oov" Mischief responded, seemingly sad.

"You'll be back home in a few days, ok? You'll be able to go home soon if I tell mom and dad about you. But I want to have you for a little longer. You don't mind that too much, do you?" Both of them shared an emotional moment.

"I gotta go...we'll get you home, trust me." She finally tore herself away from mischief and made her way back into the house, trying to think of the best way to break it to her parents that she had a monkey who broke out of a circus and stole her mother's precious mirror and her glasses. She wondered how they'd react.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the house.

"Mom! Dad!"
"We're in the backyard Mi"

She made her way there, the mirror, and her old glasses in hand.

"I found them." She said.

"Them?" Her mom asked surprised, and turned to look at her.

Upon seeing them, her hands flew to her mouth, she tenderly took the mirror, and admired it. Slightly breathless she asked.

"Where did you find them? I reported their missing to the police. I must withdraw it at once."

After the phone call, her parents, even her dad who usually never pressed her for details, wanted to know where she found them. Just as she was beginning to stumble through an explanation, a furry figure scrambled over and jumped on her shoulder. She recognized it instantly.

"Mischief!"she exclaimed.

"Care to fill us in?" Her father asked, after a shocked silence.

Soon, she spilled the beans. Mischief's presence somehow made it easier for her. Although, both her parents were initially weary of him, he soon had their heart. That same night, her dad called the number they found, written on the back of Loki's collar, upon further inspection, and informed the owner, who happened to be a young girl about her monkey. She seemed overjoyed.

Mia, was heartbroken. She dreaded the next morning.