Ate!
Genre - Sci-Fi
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Maya stood next to the
picket fence gasping for air. After all, she managed to escape being caught by
Nirmal, her friend. That was no ordinary feat. She looked around expecting him
to surprise her by pouncing from behind and getting her out. She scanned the
yard for places to hide. They always played in Nirmal’s backyard, but today
they decided to move to Ami’s house. Nirmal’s mom wasn’t keeping well. This
backyard was trim and clean unlike that of Nirmal’s. Nirmal’’s dad, Mr. Ashok
loved bikes and cars, hence his yard was bare with various vehicle parts
littered all over the place. Since she was the smallest of her friends,
physically, she could hide behind one of those mammoth engines or door
frames that on the yard. If Nirmal was chasing, he would always catch her by
surprise in spite of her not making any sound.
Today, she had no such
thing to hide behind. Ami’s yard was filled with potted plants all arranged
neatly. She had managed to reach the far end of the yard without tripping over
the pots. She turned back and looked at all the plants. They were in varying
stages of growth. There were flowers of all colors and sizes. A strong scent of
wild Jasmine hung in the air. A slow smile crept to her eyes. There was
rectangular patch towards her left. Four long wooden poles stood rooted in
rectangular form, covered with vines and leaves. A small wooden horse lay
rocking gently inside. She tiptoed towards it and sat on the horse. If felt a
size smaller for her frame. That didn’t really prevent her from gripping the
handle and rocking the horse gently. For a moment she forgot all about Nirmal
and their game. It felt so nice to be in the garden and enjoying a rocking
horse. She lived in one of those tall buildings with glass lifts. Her house was
on the 7th floor. She hated that she couldn’t go out and stand on the balcony
like her brother Rajesh did. He was taller than her and older too, though by
just two years. This whole place felt dreamy to her. May be, she could persuade
the gang to play in Ami’s house often. Ram came running out screaming and
kicking down many pots in the process. Nirmal followed him laughing. At least
he was careful enough not to step over the fallen plants.
Maya sulked and stood
up. It was time to end the game.She would walk straight to Nirmal and ask him
to get her out. She wanted to stay in the garden taking in the scents and
sights. She was bored of the hide and seek game. Her gang of 9 kids from her
school almost always played this game for a year now. They had all joined the
Sunny brook school in their kindergarten. Now they were all in the third grade.
As she walked to towards Nirmal who was now in the floor tackling, a small
figure appeared suddenly in front of her. It shot out of nowhere with a low
swishing sound. It looked like it was some kind of a creature cut out from a
tree. Two tiny black eyes blinked at her as she looked at it with curiosity. It
reminded her of that woody thing from the movie her dad had watched on the TV
few days back. She scratched her nose to try remember it’s name. It slowly
stepped forward towards her. She looked at with curiosity. Were such things
even real, she wondered?
She stepped forward. It
stood still and blinked at her. A pearl of sweat dripped over it’s little nose.
Ah! It looked like groot. Groot was the name of that woody thing from the movie
her dad had seen earlier that week. It smiled at her slowly revealing just two
pearly white teeth which were almost pale yellow in color. She smiled back and
move near it to touch it. It stood still without moving. Just as she was about
to touch it, it’s lips moved and in a low electronic voice it said, “Hi. Eat
me!” She jumped back in shock. Could trees actually talk? Why was it asking her
to eat it?! Her tiny head began buzzing with all sorts of questions.
“Who are you?” she asked
in a small voice.
“I’m alvera. I’m what
your people call “chocolate angel”. I’m here because you wished to eat a bar of
chocolate yesterday. So what are you waiting for! Go on, eat me!” it
replied.
Her eyes literally
popped out. How did that “angel” know that she had wished for a chocolate! She
wondered!
“But….but…..you feel
like a living thing, you talk! How can I eat you?” she asked.
“Well, how do you
normally eat a bar of chocolate?” it asked.
“Chocolates that my mum
buys for me comes wrapped in plastic covers and papers. I tear open the
wrapper, peel the paper away and eat the chocolate. And if it’s melted, I lick
the paper away” she replied. Her mouth started watering at the very thought of
chocolate.The tall man wearing white coat, the man whom her mother had called
dent-something had scared her by telling that if she ate chocolates
frequently, her teeth would turn into brown color just like chocolates and fall
off.
It started her for a
minute as if processing what she had spoken. Using it’s small twig like hands,
it took out a small black round thing.
“Subject asking for
wrapper dress. Drop dress.Over!” it spoke into it in a loud squeaky off key
electronic voice.
“Drop confirm in 5
minutes.Over!” the black thing crackled.
Maya looked at it with
fascination. It felt like being in that groot movie her dad watched. A low
buzzing sound interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to the source of it. A
small plate like object flew just above Alvera’s head. One tiny red lamp glowed
in the middle of a plate and just like that the plate fell over Alvera’s head
transforming into a dress.
Maya broke in a high
pitched giggle. The Groot like object looked funny. It’s face and hands peeped
out a box which resembled the packing of a chocolate.
“What are you waiting
for now? Go on, tear open the cover just like you do and eat me!” it said in an
excited voice.
Maya couldn’t control
her laughter. She doubled over laughing and was on the floor rolling.
Since it insisted,
she stepped forward and touched its limb like structure. It felt cold but soft.
She licked her fingers, trying to taste the “thing”.
“Maayaa! Darling. Wake
up!” said Ravi in a sing song voice as he tickled Maya awake.
“Daaad!” replied Maya in
a groggy voice.
She rubbed her eyes and
shook her head and looked around.
It had all been a
dream.
