The Shadow
The family came back after having a dinner at friend's wedding reception. It was already 11 o'clock. Go sleep or else you won't make it to your school tomorrow, said the Mother to the over-energetic son. "But I am not sleepy, not even a bit" son argued. The mother was done after a prolonged tiring day. She once more requested her son to go and sleep, but this time with a restrained anger that seemed to burst out any moment. Father felt the reluctance and fear behind the childish excuse made by the Son. So Father came up and took his son lovingly into his lap and asked "What happened to my champ? Why isn't he willing to sleep"?
"Papa I am scared of the shadow that meets me during the night" Son replied in a fearful tone.
"Shadows are nothing but own reflections. How many times shall I tell you that it is nothing" scolded his Mom somehow holding her furious anger?
"But Mumma my shadow can talk, and I don't like his coarse voice. And it is not like other shadows, it's ditto copy of... ". The son was interrupted by his Mom's shout.
"OK... that's enough for now..., Don't make stuff on your own. Go and sleep now or else I will kick and lock you up in your room" the Mother roared.
Father who was patiently listening till now told his wife to go and sleep and assured he himself will take care of the son. The Son hugged the father tightly with compassion. The most pleasing and relaxing experience it is to have his father by his side, especially when he is feeling scared. The father started narrating a sweet story in order to divert the son's attention as the son was raising thousands of absurd queries regarding the 'unknown'. The son slept before the story ended. Soon the father dozed off too.
The father slept with the son on his bed only. In the night at around 2 AM, a sobbing sound broke the father's sleep. He opened his left eye in sleepiness, only to see his son weeping in fear. He instantly sat up and took his son in his arms, hugged him lovingly and asked in a dusky sleepy voice "What happened to my dearest son"?
"Papa, there's someone under the bed" son whispered.
"There's no one."
"No there is."
"Ok, let me see and if no one is under the bed you will stop crying and will have to sleep immediately."
Father lightened the table lamp for lightening up the surroundings a little bit and looked under the bed.
There was his son under the bed too. He looked back on the bed and his son was on the bed also.
'How on earth can this happen'?He thought.
He looked under the bed again collecting all his courage and fell off the bed in anxiety to see his son under the bed once again.
The son under the bed cried "I told you about the shadow, but You didn't listen."
The father looked up on the bed again. He felt like some lightening has struck him to find no one on it this time.
Father took his Son and ran as fast as he could towards the room where the mother was sleeping. As he reached the gate of the bedroom, he saw something soo weird that he couldn't control himself from screaming.
He saw the son sleeping on the bed with the mother!
Her wife who got disturbed with the loud noise frowned at the husband "Are you Idiot or what! Why are you screaming?" Suddenly the father noticed that nobody was there in his arm.
"How is he there, he was sleeping with me na!" the puzzled father queried in fear pointing his finger towards the son sleeping on the bed near mother.
"Oh, he came to me after getting scared of your loud snores" replied the mother in a witty tone. The sarcastic smile on the mother's face looked scary at best to the father.
The son who also woke up hearing this much noise looked at his father who shaking in fear and asked: "Why are you soo scared daddy." And he started laughing, the mother too started laughing along with the son as the father stared at both of them in disbelief...
Anupam Pandey
