Nikki vs Rikky

Chapter 8 - The Shock

Rikky turned the knob of the bathroom door and barged into Nikky’s bedroom. The room was neat but unembellished, barring some tattered stuff toys on the bed. Her eyes fell on a particular ragged stuffed doll that sat comfortably against the headboard, and somehow she detested it at first sight. Rikky ignored it and climbed on the bed.

She had just clutched a teddy bear that lay upside down in the centre of the bed when she realised her knees had sunk into the mattress. She flung the toy on to the floor and checked the bounce of the bed. It was springy and firm. Delighted, Rikky got on to her feet and started to jump, kicking the toys out of her way one by one.

Once the bed was cleared of the toys, she looked at the bedroom door. She got off the bed and walked towards it, on the way deliberately stepping on the stuffed doll that was just a moment ago perched comfortably against the headboard. It was Lhasa, Nikky’s favourite doll.

Rikky opened the door and stepped into a narrow corridor. Straight ahead was a big door, with another door on its left. She didn’t know which door to open. She decided to open this big door that unlike other doors had a small chain attached to the frame and a tiny gap below it.

She was about to turn the knob when she heard some voices behind her. It seemed as if some argument was taking place between two people. She turned around and tried to pinpoint the source when she saw another door at the opposite end. It was shut.

Rikky walked stealthily on her toes and pressed her ear on the door. Yes, there was more than one person talking. She pressed her ear harder and all of a sudden the voices hushed. And before she could react, the door swung open.

The two females stood facing each other. Rikky didn’t expect to see Nikky’s mother. She had completely forgotten about her as she was busy touring the house. Rikky stood agape fluttering her eyes. Ira stood shocked, her hands pressed tightly against her thumping heart. The moment seemed like an eternity. A thought that she was caught red handed just passed through Rikky’s mind, when Ira said, ‘Oh my goodness, Nikky. You frightened me.’

***

Rikky calculated her next move as she walked behind Ira into the room. Rikky was about to ask something silly but stopped short as she heard those familiar voices again. She turned her head to where the voices were coming from. She looked at the two arguing people who were inside a box on the table, wondering if they were real.

Ira was quick in noticing her expressions and asked, ‘You came in here to watch the television?’ The word immediately rang a bell her eyes sparkled in excitement. ’Ah ha, so this is the television,’ she said to herself. Nikky had told her that she loved watching cartoons. What did she say her favourite cartoon was?

‘Nikky?’ Ira called again breaking Rikky’s thoughts.

‘Oh, yes. I came in here to watch ...the television,’ Rikky said dryly.

‘Alright, just as soon as this one gets over, okay? Do you want to watch it with me?’ Ira asked.

‘No,’ Rikky said. ‘How long will it take for this to get over?’

‘15 more minutes, Nikky!’ Ira said gently.

‘It’s fine. You watch,’ Rikky snapped back as she hastened out of the room, leaving Ira in utter confusion. A second later Rikky popped her head into the living room again. ‘Can I have a television in my room?’

The demand left Ira bewildered. Although she brushed it off as one of Nikky’s pre-teen outbursts, the thought that maybe it came in too early pinched her. She’s yet to reach double figures, she mumbled in disbelief. She had heard of children becoming agitated perhaps due to boredom or peer pressure. Maybe her classmates had televisions in their bedrooms but she was surely not getting another television.

Rikky went to Nikky’s room, the space that already started to feel as her own. She picked up Lhasa from the floor and pulled its hair hard. Rikky was seething and had to take out her anger on someone. Yet, she was happy. Happy to be in the world she had heard of so often but never got a chance to enter.

Rikky knew Capricia’s instructions very well - ‘Go there and bring them here.’ Capricia’s shrilling voice echoed through her ear. Rikky buried the thought and wondered what Nikky would be up to in Fantastica. ‘Poor Nikky,’ she said grimly. ‘Maybe I should have given her a guide map.’

Rikky’s eyes caught Lhasa again. ‘This ragged stuffed doll,’ she spoke through clenched teeth even though she didn’t understand why she detested it so much. She wanted to pull it apart, tear it to shreds. She tried to rid herself of that thought. ‘It’s not a good idea,’ she said to herself. ‘If I rip her apart, Nikky’s mother would become suspicious.’ Indeed, that was the last thing that Rikky wanted.

She wondered what Nikky would have done at the moment if she was here in her room. Shame, she looked like Nikky, spoke like Nikky, walked like Nikky, but the only thing that separated them was their minds.

Rikky gritted her teeth, fighting her impulse. ‘I am anyway cleverer than that fool,’ she assured herself. She took a long deep breath. ‘Calm yourself,’ she said to herself and glanced at the clock. The 15 minutes were over.

It was time to take control of the television.