A Sew Through Time [Bandbudh And Budbak]

9: Babysitter Ganesh

The monitor in the cyber cafe was downloading a Slipknot playlist. After completion, a DVD icon appeared like an alien UFO and began bouncing off the screen sides.

Toddler Khushi tried to catch it, but it flew off. She punched it, making the monitor rattle. Before she could stomp over the keyboard, her feet got tangled with a nasty wire and she fell.

Down on Ganesh's leg. He shook off the book and stared angrily, smiling,

"Badmoshi karni hai?"

She giggled.

"Bolo?"

"Haaan!!!'

The leg magically descended down and she stomped away from his chair. Appearing around, she watched him click open the burnt CD from the megalithic CPU slot and shove it inside a stack of netted storing pages.

"What you staring at"

"What that?" she tugged his jacket.

"Nothing. Go play or something"

"Nou!"

"What the hell do you want?" Ganesh turned towards her side, "You crawl over the desks when I told you not to, you eat random candy from the jars when I told you not to, and now you're disturbing me when I told you NOT... to"

"Weirdo! Ganes weirdo!"

"I'm not a weirdo" He stood up, "And my name's not 'GANES', it's Ganesh. Actually, you should call me Ganesh bhaiya"

She giggled, but the weirdo was walking out of the cyber cafe. Sergeant Khushi found it inexcusable and followed him into the clothing stores, hiding behind a yellow bench.

"Khushi?!" this was irritating to him, to run behind two kids who always sneaked out under his nose. The little one was already overwhelming, now the older one had vanished. He wondered about the bare excuse his brothers had fished out from their uncouth minds which led him to stay back at this dingy mall dimension.

"Khushi!" he called, "Where did this kid go?" and ran towards the food court dreading she was down with a tummy ache.

Nobody was there.

He returned back to the stores and checked the bookstore, the porcelain display and the toy shop.

"Bahh!!!!!"

He saw the toddler "Tch, what?"

"Where she?"

"Ugh, you ask yourself" he looked around.

The toddler raised her arms wriggled his fingers, imitating a keyboard.

"Cyber cafe?" Ganesh turned.

Khushi noticed a moth motif on the back of his jacket.

"You're not going anywhere" he picked her up by her clothes and returned to the cyber cafe. He heard the rattle of a keyboard and dashed in without warning.

Time traveller Khushi was typing into the computer for Youtube.

"Khushi!"

She recoiled her hands with a wince.

"Where were you?!" Ganesh scolded her, "I told you to follow the rule-"

"WHY'RE YOU HOLDING HER LIKE THAT?!"

He stared at the swinging toddler. Bending his legs, he placed her on his feet.

She ran away.

"KHUSHI COME BACK!"

She turned around the CD display and giggled from the door. Ganesh signaled her towards a little chair.

She cackled and hopped over it, wedging her little legs through the chair spine.