A Pocketful Of Peace

10. The Art Of Patching Up

As soon as Sandy crossed over the threshold into her compound, she was greeted with a sight of utter chaos and mayhem. It looked like a bulldozer had leveled her garden. Well, whatever few shrubs she had planted in the name of a garden. They certainly didn't look the way they had that very morning. From the looks of it, the poor little saplings and their older pals had withstood a hurricane. There were tools littered all over the place and certainly, one humongous form of a human being was lying under her kitchen window, his energy well spent.

Sandy risked a closer look. Just to verify that he was very much alive and breathing. He shifted and the sudden movement caused her to panic and jerk back. And while doing so, she bumped her head on the window frame. That, was odd; she thought. The hole-way to her kitchen had a 'closing apparatus' in place. Brand new with shine, painted just fine!

The human form lying prone at her feet groaned and switched sides to reveal it's identity. You want to guess? Well, you have three chances minus two to guess. No prizes though. Yes! Our very own, good old Aman was snoring away peacefully under the star lit sky, oblivious to the presence of a dumbstruck Sandy.

She must have stood there for an eternity by the time she got back to her senses. Still perplexed by this development, she finally shifted from her place. She took some time to get a semblance of order to the chaos that was her garden. The tools were picked up and packed away into their sack. The fallen warriors... err, I mean the plants were straightened and their de-fences were mended. Once she had the situation in the garden under control, Sandy dared to step inside her abode. The living room and hallway were in pristine condition, if you could just ignore a few occasional specks of dirt lying forgotten over the place. It was the kitchen that she dreaded stepping in. After all, the epicenter of all the chaos; the window, was in the kitchen!

With her heart racing at jet speed, she cautiously peeked inside. What she saw, took her breath away. She was truly astonished to witness the sight that greeted her. True, the place was covered in dust, but underneath the layer of dust lay layers and layers of newspaper. Aman had done his job thoroughly well. Every single artifact, be it her gas stove, the chimney, the utensils lying around, just about everything open and prone to dust was carefully covered. Sandy didn't waste time and got to work. The dust and debris were done away with in no time. The newspapers were carefully picked up and discarded. Everything was dusted and whatever needed washing was duly awarded with a quick dash of water under the tap. With everything and most importantly, the kitchen under her control, Sandy got the dinner preparations under way.

The tired laborer sleeping peacefully under Sandy's window woke up to the harsh sounds of whistles from her pressure cooker that doubled up as an alarm clock for him.

Reluctantly, he got up and steadied himself on his feet. Aman surveyed his surroundings with utter confusion written in his deep blue eyes.

Once he got his bearings and was truly awake, he turned to look towards the window. At the same time, Sandy turned up at the other side of the window. Their eyes met for a brief nanosecond and a thousand unspoken words found themselves enveloped in the layers of steam between them. An owl screeched and the magical spell was broken. The aroma of the freshly cooked meal overpowered Aman's senses as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. When he opened his sea coloured eyes again, his line of sight found a bewitching smile, beckoning him inside. Without further delay, Aman stepped in to claim his incentives for the day's hard work. He was duly awarded. Sandy had cooked up his favourite meal. A lip smacking veg platter and half a dozen chapatis as accompaniments.

"You, are an angel!" He proclaimed as he took in the inviting sight laid in front of him. "This is what I call a feast."

"You must have starved at the University." She exclaimed. "Calling this simple mixed veg a feast! Is the food that bad there?"