The little guest!

There is something about the rains and the pensive mood it brings along. For city dwellers monsoon brings in a bag of mixed emotions. While escape from the heat is a privilege, clogged drainage, traffic blocks and a consequential flood are the fears every city dweller co-exist with. So it was natural that Sally couldn’t sleep peacefully that night. It had been raining incessantly for the past 4 hours.

It’s 3 AM and there is still time for the world to wake up and function in panic like every day.

“Should I go out and check out the water tank outside?

Her greatest fear of drainage seeping into her water tank due to over flooding didn’t let her doze off. She wanted to go out and inspect, but it was dark outside and cold too.

“Let me wait till morning”, she consoled herself with a deep sigh, looking at the bible kept on the bedside table.

The faint smell of ayurvedic oils continued to waft in her little room as she switched the lights off to sleep. Insomnia has been her soul mate for quite some time. Just like life, she has accepted it without any complaints.

‘The curtains need dusting, maybe a good wash’. She chalked out her itinerary for the next day as she gazed on to the windows in the dim light. Everything in that house had a story to tell. Even those curtains had one, maybe many.

She didn’t realize it was 7 in the morning. Rarely has it happened so before. She has never slept for 4 hours at a stretch for years, and she could sense the freshness on her face.

“Praise the lord”!

She muttered.

Sally quickly rushed from her bedroom to the kitchen to pick the food waste bin. It usually needs to be placed in front of the house for the municipality waste collectors every day. Come rain or shine, she sees them every day at 7.15 AM without fail. Probably a ritual for all the housewives in the neighborhood.

While walking back from the front yard something caught her eye. A rustling noise followed. She felt like something was wriggling through her porch. Maybe …. She paused her thoughts.

One needs to careful during monsoons, the wet and slurry surrounding can be breeding grounds for reptiles. She went closer to the parked car in the porch and looked around hesitantly.

 She couldn’t find anything strange at first. But her instinct told her walk further. She went closer to the backside of the car parked and slowly pulled out the sheets lying below.

A pup it was.

She stared at the unexpected guest in her yard. It eagerly looked up to her and wagged its little tail.

Sally hates dog, ever since she remembers. As a kid, she stayed away from them even when her school mates fancied to own one. Not that she is scared of it or being chased in the past, dogs never seemed to be in her good books for some reasons.

The little one but had no clue of Sally’s feelings for the species, it stood up and trotted closer to her with affection. 

She stood clueless with her left hand on the hip as he leaned onto the pillar near the car.

“It was still drizzling and no way can it go out. It looks quite small, maybe only a few months old, how did it come here and it must hungry”

Thoughts began ruminating in Sally’s mind and heart in loops.

She could not shoo the little one out from her compound. Nor could bear the future of adopting it.

“Oh lord, what do I do now?”

She clasped the rosary from the front pocket of her gown and went inside the house in despair.

The little one began to bawl, as Sally went out if its sight. 

“It will go on its own, just how it came”, she pacified herself.

Sally began rummaging through the kitchen cupboard and took a meter long towel out.  “This would keep it comfortable in this cold climate” she blurted to herself. 

The microwave in her kitchen beeped. Sally confirmed the temperature of the warm milk inside before pouring out a portion of it to a wider steel cup.

She placed it both on a tray and took it along. She paused on her way in front of the Jesus' photograph on the wall. She offered a brief prayer before opening the main door.

It was still raining outside. Luckily water hasn’t clogged this time and her tank also seemed safe. God has been kind. She put on her slippers and walked towards the porch to meet her guest.

She removed the sheets carefully beneath the car trying not to scare the little one by any chance. But to Sally’s surprise, it wasn’t there. The pup was missing from where she last saw it just 20 minutes ago. She began searching around all the possible hideouts. Backyard, staircase area, slabs, garden. Possibly everywhere. But in vain.

A good 30 minutes went by now and there was no sign of the pup.  She picked the newspaper lying on the floor and trotted towards the veranda in despair.

Woof!

Woof!

She heard that again. Sally quickly turned around out to catch the sound. An overflowing gush of hope was evident on her face. She left the tray on the chair and opened the gate scurrying towards the main road without even an umbrella. The 50 feet paved pathway from her house seemed miles longer.

She reached the side of the intersecting road with passing vehicles blocking her view. Rains gained momentum making it harder to catch up any gentle sound.

Where is it? She asked herself straining her eyes through her wet spectacles.

Woof!

She turned around swiftly and looked across the road. And there it was.

The pup and its mother were playing  gleefully.  Happily Reunited.

"Praise the lord". Sally prayed as she took off her glasses to clean the moisture caught in the rain. 

She could see clearly all over again...