National Park

Chapter 2

Haa-haa-de-dah!” The raucous shriek sounded from the backyard. Raja slowly opened his eyes to glare at the large hadeda bird in the backyard, startled by Dev opening the back door. “Haa-haa-de-dah!” it screamed again as it flew up to land on the low branch of a bare jacaranda tree in the yard. Raja spent countless hours staring at this magnificently beautiful tree during the spring. The bluish purple of its flowers were hypnotically enchanting, and provided Raja with a deep sense of comfort. He wished those flowers were blooming now, as he needed a lot of comforting to lift his spirits and energy for the planned trip. He groaned silently, stood up, rubbed his nose in the blanket and stretched out his body, followed by a large yawn. Raja looked up at the clock on the study table and, although it was only 5am, the household was bustling with activity. Bharti was busy in the kitchen packing all the food. The cooler box was already packed and standing against the wall near the entrance of the kitchen. Raja guessed Dev must have woken even earlier to pack all the alcoholic drinks. As with every trip, Dev would always over pack the alcohol and Bharti would always complain that he was taking too much. She was always correct, as the cooler box was always brought back after a trip 90% full. Raja assumed the argument with regards to the cooler box had already occurred, as Dev was already busy packing the car with the girls’ luggage. As usual, Meesha had three large bags and Maya one small bag. Dev complained softly to himself about the number of bags that Meesha had packed, but had learnt not to say anything. The last trip he had complained about her bag, Meesha chose not to speak to him for the entire trip.

The girls sat at the kitchen counter having their breakfast. Meesha was having her favourite chocolate-covered flakes while Maya was having a simple piece of toast with orange juice. Bharti had just finished packing the last of the food and was getting ready to have her cup of spice tea. She would always say, “This is the fuel I need to get my day started. Without it, I might as well go straight back to bed!”

Dev finished packing the car, walked back to the kitchen and sat down at the table with a sigh. “Hey boy, have you had your breakfast yet?’ he asked as he reached for the toast on the table and dropped it into a bowl lying next to the cooler box.

Raja walked over and broke off a small piece of the bread and took a sip of water. It was time to leave, and he had decided he might as well just change his attitude and consider it another adventure. If this was the last trip he ever took with the family, he might as well make it the best trip ever.

“Watch out, national park; I am expanding my kingdom and have my sights on a new conquest,” he barked. “This will be where everything changes; the final exciting chapter in my life!”

Raja stalked over to the car and jumped in.

“First trip to the park and someone seems really excited,” Bharti observed as Dev quickly walked around the house making sure all the doors and windows were closed.

He entered the pin for the alarm system and locked the front door. On a previous trip, Dev had his teenage nephew, Manoj, stay over while the family was away. During the second night of the trip, Dev had received a call from the neighbours complaining about the noise. Not about the music, but about the noise created by the network gaming entertainment that was connected to eleven powerful speakers. Muriel, their eighty-two-year-old neighbour, had called the police in a total panic convinced that the country had gone to war! Since then, Dev had installed a sophisticated alarm system and had it linked to the neighbourhood watch security patrol.

The drive ahead was going to be a long one. Raja gathered that the trip was going to take roughly four hours. This was their first trip to the park.

“Before you kids were born,” Dev explained, “your mother and I would make a trip at least twice a year to the park. The natural beauty of the land and the free roaming of animals of different shapes and sizes always brought us a feeling of freedom. We have waited until you kids were the right age so that you too can enjoy this natural beauty…”