Angeline - His Uninvited Queen ✅

33 - Memories And A Request

Arun's POV:

Angel, Pari, Mahi, Santhosh and I sat on the blanket of green grass in our home's garden, under the aesthetic night sky. The cool cozy breeze, the charming view of the night sky, the garden light poles with a mellow tone of light, everything setted a perfect atmosphere for a heartwarming family dinner.

Angel started to serve the pink vegetable paratha, chana masala and mushroom chilli on all of our plates.

Santhosh exclaimed, rubbing his palms, "Wow, Angel! Have you prepared all these?"

"No, Doctor. Mama only prepared." She smiled gently.

"Oh! Super, anna. How did the vegetable paratha get pink? Did you use coloring agents?" He asked.

I chuckled, leaning to his ears, and whispered, "No. I used beetroot extract to make the paratha dough. Amma only taught me these tricks to make the children eat. Pari didn't like beetroot at first. But after using this trick, her favorite is the beetroot cutlet now. The fun fact is, she likes beetroot without even knowing it is beetroot. She eats it excitedly by calling it a pink cutlet, pink chapathi, etc...." I laughed.

"Cheating her." He giggled.

"Caring her." I remarked.

Before he could say anything, Pari asked, her eyes fixed on the sky, "Appa, Suddenly my mind thinks of a question."

I made a face and thought, "Ayyo, Diya! She started to question. You gave me your heart. But, I need your brain to answer her. Where shall I go for such an intellectual brain? I have only a little stupid brain. Please help me out to answer her."

Pari added on, tapping her chin with her index finger, still looking up at the sky, "Appa, will it rain on the moon?"

I was dumbfounded. How would I know whether it rains on the moon or not? I don't even know whether it rains or not in the nearby street itself. Moon was beyond reach for me. Yet I was about to say, "I don't know. I will learn about it and let you know."

But before I could utter my words, Santhosh asked, "What do you think? Will it rain on the moon or not?"

"I don't know, Uncle. That's why, I am asking." Pari giggled.

Santhosh laughed. "It's okay. Make a guess."

Pari thought for a moment and said, "It will not rain, I guess."

"Reason for your guess?"

"Because, Me and Angel aunty were glancing at a book with a lot of pictures today. We saw pictures of the moon in it. Angel aunty told me that we will be floating on the moon. If it rains on the moon, all the water will be floating around na. But, I saw a man's picture in the moon. In that picture, there was no water floating around him. So, It will not rain on the moon, I guess." She answered.

I was stunned. I never thought she would be answering like this. When I was six to seven years old, I was looking at the moon blankly, wondering about the children's story of an old lady who fries vada in the moon. I was simply thinking like a gourmand whether any vada will be falling from the moon. But, Pari was asking scientific questions, and her guesses about her own questions were stunning.

On the other hand, Santhosh gasped, "Wow! That was unexpected. In which book did you see the pics and all?"

I replied, "We have an encyclopedia for children in which basic information about various topics is given with pictures. Pari would glance at it whenever she feels. She would ask questions from those basic information. Our family will try to answer her."

"Oh, That's great!" He smiled.

Pari exclaimed, "Is my answer right?"

Santhosh replied, "Yes, kuttima. It will not rain on the moon. The reason is, the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere like our earth. Our atmosphere has water vapour in the air. That water vapour only gets cool and falls down as rain. But, the Moon's atmosphere is dry. There will not be any water vapour. So, There will be no rain. But, Scientists found there is water in the form of cold ice on the moon's surface. But, the source of that ice is unclear. Maybe, scientists will find out in future. Or, you become a scientist and find it."