Dreadful
There was something that had startled me. I looked around.
I saw a strange, dreadful
creature, pacing up and down in my
bedroom. It looked like a man but it had a monkey’s head. It was unusually tall
and thin.
The monkey-man took no notice of me. It muttered something
and left the room. I crept out of my bed. Taking deliberate
and measured steps, I came out of the room.
Out in the courtyard, there were two more monkey-men. All of
them went into a huddle; they were talking to one another in low whispers. Their
shadows on the wall attracted my attention; the shadows were large and scary.
I looked around. Grandfather was reclining in his armchair.
He was perhaps dozing. Mother was busy
washing clothes. But she kept glaring at the monkey-men. Father came and, in a
very polite tone, said to mother, ‘Don’t you
think that we should serve these people some tea and snacks?’
‘Why have they come? How dare
they? If something happens to my boy I would be devastated………..’
mother was unable to restrain her fury.
One monkey-man saw me and said to my grandfather, ‘He is
here. He has woken up. Can we take him with us?’
Grandfather looked at me but said nothing; he yawned and
closed his eyes. Soon he began snoring loudly.
‘His mother will not agree, she dislikes
you all,’ father said to the monkey-man.
‘Why are you here? Go back to your bed, right now,’ mother hissed
at me furiously.
‘You will all regret if you fail to honour your promise. You
know that he is destined to be our king. You
were told. You can’t deny, not now,’
Monkey-man barked at my father. Mother gave that monkey-man an angry glance. The
monkey-men promptly went into another huddle and a heated discussion began.
Mother glared at me and directed
me with her glances to hide somewhere. I quietly went back to my bed and hid
myself under the warm quilt. I pretended that I was asleep but sleep eluded me.
A thought occurred to me, ‘This can’t be for real. I must be dreaming. Yes, it’s a dream.’
I felt like laughing loudly.
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Post for A to Z Challenge 2016
