Seema peeked down from behind the curtains. What??? she rubbed her eyes once, twice and……. for the millionth time. She looked at the wall clock. Yes it was 5 pm.
She quickly put on her socks and shoes and ran to the lift. It was taking ages to reach the third floor!She crossed her fingers as she prayed to God mumbling …..Just for once God! All the rides! Please! Pleeeeease!!
Her little legs could barely carry her as fast as her heart desired.Stumbling, running, faltering, giggling, her heart beating faster than anything she knew, she reached the playground. The kids’ area, the swings, the slide, the see-saw all were vacant, empty! Her eyes grew big and round and nearly popped out.
Barely containing her excitement she jumped onto the swing and pushed herself off. Up, up and away from the earth, she felt herself lifting into the blue sky. Faster and faster she swung.Wheeeee! It was such fun……… much much more than she had imagined.Beyond the joy of Daddy taking her for a drive to the beach and getting her a fresh strawberry ice cream. Which she always ate punctuated with squeals of delight, as the ice cream would slowly but surely swirl in her mouth and effortlessly slide into her throat leaving a cool, sweet, enchanting taste lingering over for hours.
She then clambered over to the slide. Down she slid …… swooosh! That was fun! She raced back to the steps, climbed over in in joy and went down the slide in exhilaration.She was having a whale of a time.
No obnoxious kids who pushed her away, called her rude names and never ever gave her a chance on the swings. Her tears and pleadings only made them laugh . And that bully Babloo, would torment her till she went back home crying.
Why was Mum praying for these days to end? There’s a silver lining in everything ……… even in these days of some Corona virus…..
And she swooshed down the slide one more time.
