The Son
I tossed around in the bed. It was past midnight, and my mind started to wander. My ten-year-old mind could not digest the strict sleep schedule that my mother was imposing on me on a weekend. My father was the enforcement, and my mother was the legislature. Laws were meant to be broken when the enforcement was not around.
I slowly took out my doppelganger, an enormous pillow, and kept it right next to my mother, who was fast asleep. There was an eerie silence coupled with my mother’s soft breathing that filled the house. I felt like I was the only moving object in the house filled with darkness and tranquility. I popped on the sofa and switched on my PlayStation Portable to play games.
I quickly munched on whatever snacks I could find, and the hours went smoothly. It was fun at first. But the night was cruel to me. The silences started to haunt me and reminded me of how alone I truly was. My strong protector was not here. He was far away. I was alone with my mother. The crickets and silences made it worse. I did not feel like sleeping. I was afraid that some intruder might come to our house. Each car and bike sound passing by our house added to my fear of this unknown intruder.
But suddenly, I heard the birds chirping and the darkness slowly fading. I listened to a vehicle leaving our house. I could feel the sweat escaping from my eyebrows and head. I was scared and did not want to rely on my skills to fight this intruder. The windows lit up, and I saw a shadow that resembled a tall alien. I was wondering what made the windows beam with a lot of light. I realised that the Sun had risen, and it was already morning. I never wanted to repeat this stunt of staying up ever again.
I continuously stared at the figure, who was revealed to be my father. I was completely relieved and happy to see that he had returned to protect me. My body felt too restless to move. He picked me up and started scolding me. But I was happy I did a decent job as a makeshift protector who kept a close watch.
The Father
The KSRTC bus halted at the entrance of my house at dawn. I got out of the bus as the darkness slowly settled. The house looked peaceful, and I liked to believe that Appu and my wife Nisha were fast asleep. I was tired as the ride was very uncomfortable. I did get a lot of work done, but it was too late.
The old door of the house creaked open, and I carefully entered to not wake both of them up. As I closed the door, I felt goosebumps as I felt the Sun’s light rays illuminate the whole room. The lit-up windows made me feel like a god for a few seconds as I thought my presence lit up the house. I saw as the light fell on the rosewood sofas and the television set. It was the most abnormal sunrise I had ever experienced.
The Sun had shown its happiness in new beginnings, and I felt refreshed, understanding the amount of work I had put in. It was distributed two days ago, and my battery was still in reserve mode from yesterday. It will be like that until I sleep. I opened the bedroom door, and the light rays accompanied me. The windows of my bedroom were also glistening with the golden rays.
The glass produced brilliant silhouettes of the trees and small shrubs growing in our garden. I loosened my tie and was just about to sleep next to Nisha when something caught the corner of my eye. My son Appu was wide awake and sitting on the sofa. His droopy eyes just kept on staring at me. He said a good morning to me. But I scolded him for staying up so late.
This was bad for him. I saw a mess composed of his favourite comics, snack wrappers and his PlayStation Portable, out of which I excavated him. He was giggling as I shouted at him. He slept just as I closed my eyes as well.
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