What are you most excited about for the future?
The white painted wooden door of flat number 136, in building B of the
Oakwood Apartments slowly opened with enough space for an eye or two
to see through. Esha looked at the empty corridor, then she opened the
door wider to check whether the door of the apartment in front was
closed or not.
When the 12-year-old girl had ascertained what she was looking for
then she coughed two times and the sound of a pair of legs coming down
could be heard and down came a boy about the same age as Esha. He was
Fitan. He lived with his family in the apartment which was three
floors above the one Esha and her family lived in.
Esha opened the door wider and with an irritated expression signalled
Fitan to get in quickly. Fitan moved in quickly when his eyes
experienced the expression.
“I believe I had asked you on the phone to get down very quietly,”
Esha spoke in a voice which was low but not by choice, then she looked
at Fitan’s feet and there was a pair of red slippers on them, “the
worst choice for getting down the stairs quietly.”
Fitan adjusted his full black rim eyeglasses, “Look I came down as
quietly as I could. If I wore shoes, what would I tell my parents
where I was going?”
“Then what did you tell them about where you are going?” Esha asked,
knowing well what the answer would be.
“I said I am going to a frien…,” Fitan didn’t complete the reply, when
he realised that he might have probably let his mother know he was
going to meet a friend in the building because Esha was his only
friend in the building.
Esha smiled a smile which was a smile in all sense except for the
intent behind it, “You know what would happen if one day my mother
happens to ask me about your visit here, in her and my father’s
absence, at a time when I was supposed to study and complete my
homework?”
Fitan thought that it would be better not to look at that smile for a
prolonged time, “Well what did you call me for? You said it was
important.”
“Yes, now listen carefully, two days back on Friday, I was visiting my
aunt with my parents..,” Esha realised both of them were still
standing near the door, “let’s sit down first.”
Both of them sat down on chairs on the opposite sides of a dining
table with a glass top and wooden legs.
“Would you like something? Like water or maybe.. chocolates?,” Esha
asked, remembering the hospitality her parents had taught her.
“No, I don’t need anything. Please continue with what you were saying”
Esha got back to it, “Right! So, we went to my aunt’s house and had a
good time there. On our way back we stopped at a new supermarket that
opened recently. Well, we had already decided we would go there when
we saw it the first time, while going to my aunt’s house.”
“Let me guess. You got lost there?” Fitan asked.
Once more Esha displayed the irritated expression, “Don’t interrupt if
you don’t have something important to say.” Fitan nodded.
Esha continued, “So, a newly opened supermarket always has that smell
of newness. While my parents moved along the aisles slowly with a
shopping trolly. I decided to explore on my own, with their permission
of course.
I moved from aisle to aisle, looking at how everything was arranged
and what all was available there. I spent quite some time at the art
and craft section. They had a variety of things. I picked two spiral
bound drawing books which I thought my parents might not show much
apprehension in buying for me.
Next, I stopped at an aisle with bakery items, it had a variety of
breads, dry cakes, cookies, muffins etc. While I was looking at the
muffins, I noticed a lady standing next to me. She looked at me and
smiled, actually she looked at me several times and was clearly
growing tired of smiling. So, I walked to the opposite aisle where the
cookies were kept.
Suddenly, something fell down behind me and I turned to see what it
was, I am sure it was a packet of dry cake and the lady whom I
mentioned earlier, picked it up more quickly than what most people
would do. But the odd thing was what came next, she didn’t keep the
packet of dry cake back from where it must have fallen and neither did
she keep it in her shopping basket, she kept it in her handbag.”
Fitan’s face showed an expression of surprise, “she.. she stole it..
she stole the cake?”
Esha replied with more excitement than what she was speaking with
earlier, “Yes she did and she walked away quickly.”
“What did you do then? Did you run after her and catch her?” asked
Fitan who was beginning to tap into his imagination which had formed
as a result of watching television.
“I did follow her, but there was no way I could catch a grown woman
all by myself. She went to another aisle and pretended like nothing
had happened, I also pretended to do the same. That is when she
suddenly looked at me and started walking towards me, and she was not
even pretending to smile this time. I wanted to run but my legs were
shaking. I did not know what to do, I took a few steps back only to
disbalance myself and fall down”
Esha looked at Fitan who was listening very carefully to her. Hence,
she continued.
“I did not know what would happen to me. I didn’t have the time to get
up and run away. So, as I stood and looked in front and I saw the
lady’s dress. She was clearly staring down at me, not that I wanted to
see; but it had to be done, and I looked up and she was staring, but
not at me, she was staring at someone behind me. I looked behind and
from the uniform of the man and woman standing behind me I knew they
worked as the store’s security”
Fitan rested himself back, “Thank god, for a moment there I almost
thought she got hold of you. She might have stolen other things as
well.”
“She might have. Thankfully she was not able to harm or hurt me in any
way. I didn’t tell my parents though; they would be worried and
stricter than they already are. My next-door neighbour has already
come to check on me twice already.”
Fitan became alert again, “So, I am the only one who knows about it?
Although I would not recommend hiding it from your parents.”
“I will tell them eventually and I had to let someone know. I was
becoming crazy just thinking about it again and again. Now, you better
not tell anyone else,” said Esha.
“It is a story worth telling though..”
“Then, we will write about it someday. I have decided one thing, I
will be more aware of what is happening around and then we will have a
lot to write about and you will help me do it.”
Fitan thought even though he and Esha were good friends, Esha never
expected much of him. But, knowing she had decided for him to be part
of something so exciting made all the difference to this friendship.
Early Morning Memories 