A Sew Through Time [Bandbudh And Budbak]

6: Dear little Yuvati

The iron swing cried from its chains twisting against the rust. Thrilled by the air gushing into her ears which left her braids flying in the air, Yuvati raised her feet when pushed back, folding them again when rising up. Ajay called her to the rooftop.

Jumping off, she swung inside the house and climbed up the stairs, her bright ballerinas crushing down garlands of marigold near the base of the altar. She appeared near the rooftop door.

Laxmi placed a charki on the ground and lit it with a firecracker. The first sparks paused, taking its moment till white embers shot past their feet and spun in huge circles.

Yuvati's pupils expanded as she watched the sparking thing, pleading Ajay to light one too. It became a norm to celebrate Diwali a week before, since Ajay would visit his hometown around the festive time. They burned thin phuljharis by clicking glowing rings to one another. Little fireflies fell off like grain being winnowed in the wind, till the ground absorbed them.

"What a loss" Laxmi crushed the burnt stick near the parapet, "Why do you buy a heap of these firecrackers when there's still so much left from last year?"

"I felt like it" Ajay said, putting the unfinished heap into a big box, "This pre-celebration is important to me"

"It was an amazing idea to turn an unused lab into a house like this one!" Yuvati began crushing the burnt sticks into ashes, "I can ride the swing and get to talk to Ajay uncle anytime!"

"I must say, you take very good care of Duck" Ajay glanced at her, "Did you enjoy the firecrackers?"

"Very, very much" she cuddled Duck in her arms,

"Do you notice how they burn?"

"I enjoyed this" Laxmi picked the box and descended the cold stairs. She placed it over a shelf in the living room
Yuvati helped her clean the place.

Ajay sat on the swing, watching his colleague walk around while reading a magazine, determining their luck for the next year by indulging in astrology. The robot played with her ribbons, singing rhymes and cuddling Duck in her lap.

Her beak got entangled with her charging wire.

"I hate being bound like this!" she freed Duck from the mess, "This battery is always attached with me!"

"I'm working to transfer the power station permanently into your heart" Laxmi said, but soom became unmindful of her surroundings.

Ajay watched her eat the icecream cake he had bought for her. Relaxing his shoulders, he held out his hand to get the beer can from the little table. He could not feel the cold surface.

Peering down, he found it missing.

"Huh... these constellations match" Laxmi chewed on pen, ink leaking on her tongue.

"Laxmi?"

"Busy"

"Erm..." Ajay grimaced, "You could had just told me you wanted a can without taking it"

She glanced at the empty table, gasping them fuming, "You think I drink alcohol?!"

"Where did it go then?"

"TeeHeeHee!"

Both turned to Yuvati. Biting her tongue, she revealed the lost can and said unapologetically,

"I was just pulling your legs!"

The tender motion of the swing made her sleepy. Loose magazine pages and flew out. Catching each piece, Laxmi settled them over the swing and shrunk back on the couch.