MOONBOW

The Bomb

"Is it safe?" I asked.

"Of course it's safe. The school always says swimming pool under construction, but we know it will never be constructed. So no one comes here." answered the Supe.

"But yes, you've to be prudent, as the bomb can come anywhere – anytime."

"The bomb?" I asked curiously.

"Oh! Our principal Ms. Usha Nair. We've named her the bomb, as she is a blatant lady and gives explosions wherever she goes."

He then lit a cigarette and handed it to me. I inhaled, coughed, wheezed, gasped for breath. Coughed again. Considered vomiting. Grabbed the swinging bench, head spinning and threw the cigarette on the ground.

"It seems you don't smoke much?" he laughed.

"Yeah" I replied still coughing.

"All right Sid. We've reached a point in the evening when I'm obliged to go and find my girlfriend."

I decided to hangout on the swing for a while and inhale that left over cigarette.

Now, as I think over again. I remembered that father advised me not to smoke and here I was smoking like no tomorrow jovially.

I made it through three steps. First I felt dizzy and fell from the swing, second tried to sit and got my head banged to the swing and third, decided to sleep.

As I woke up a voice behind me said:

"So do you really like to write stories?"

She ran up beside me and grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back onto the porch swing.

"Yeah." I said. And then jovially, I added, "Do you have one?"

"Yep" she said.

She laughed "God, that's awful, I shouldn't laugh. But I have," and then she laughed again. "Okay, Sid, I have one for you."

She patted my shoulder and started massaging. In a lovely voice, as if talking to her soul she said, "I have a story and it's special, so I will narrate it to you later."