Little Shruthi was rushing through her home work, looking at the clock every few seconds, as it was getting closer to 5'o clock in the evening. She was all excited to go out and play hide and seek with her friends from the neighborhood. She quickly finished her Math homework and ran to her mother, "Mamma, Mamma, I finished my homework! Can i go now, can i please go now!".
Leela put down her coffee cup on the dining table and took the book from Shruthi and went over each math problem double checking the answers. Shruthi was impatiently looking at her mother's face. Leela finished and looked up at Shruthi and gave her a smile and said, "Good work! You can go now!".
Shruthi's face lit up with excitement and happiness and she ran to the front door to wear her slippers, when she suddenly noticed that it was raining outside. She was so busy with her homework that she hadn't noticed that it started raining. The rain started out silently and suddenly started pouring heavily, as if it didn't want Shruthi to come out. Shruthi was still ready to step outside when Leela called out to her, "No Shruthi! Not in the rain!". "But Mamma, please! I finished my homework right! Please Mamma!" Shruthi's voice cracked when she screamed out to her mother and was almost on the verge of crying.
"No Shruthi! Look its raining heavily now. You can look out if you want, I am sure none of your friends are coming out to play in this rain". Shruthi was so disheartened, this was her favorite part of the day. She had so much fun the previous day playing hide and seek with Neena, Pragathi, Kiran, Rahul and Sunny. She never got a chance to count and hunt for the others yesterday. Today was her turn. She was supposed to catch the others. She was planning for this all night. She knew most of the hiding places now as she had been skipping from place to place to hide from the others yesterday.
It started raining heavily now. Shruthi sat near the window trying to fight her tears and was looking at the rain hitting the glass windows really hard. She had never seen it rain that heavily. She could hardly see anything outside. The windows were trying to hang onto the hinges while the wind and rain were fighting each other to pull them off.
Leela made some hot hot mirchi bajji and brought some for Shruthi to eat, but Shruthi was so heart broken, that she did not want to eat anything. Leela felt bad for Shruthi! She tried to console her, but Shruthi just would not speak to her.
After a while, the rain slowed down and slowly Shruthi's mood also changed. A bird flew into the window, trying to escape the rain. It was so beautiful. Its feathers were a mixture of blue, green, red and yellow as if it just flue through the rainbow. It was a small bird, but with big eyes. Shruthi was all excited about it. She slowly got up holding the window grills and put her hands out of the window and tried to catch the bird, but the bird probably noticed Shruthi and just before she could grab it, it flew away. Shruthi ran to the front door and saw the bird flying away and felt a new happiness. She held her hands out in the rain and started swaying and was giggling as the rain drops fell on her.
Leela was watching all this and was delighted to see Shruthi happy again. She walked over and stood beside Shruthi and held out her hand into the rain and filled her palm with some rain water and sprinkled the water on Shruthi's face. "Mammaaaa...!", Shruthi giggled. Leela laughed and said "Go!". Shruthi asked "Where?". "Go and play in the rain!" said Leela. Shruthi was surprised. "What?", her face lit up again. Leela said "Go, it will be fun! Go and play in the rain!". Shruthi's happiness had no bounds. She jumped straight into the rain with a huge smile showing all of her teeth. She started screaming out with happiness.
Neena who was watching TV peeped out of the opposite house. She saw Shruthi dancing in the rain and quickly ran and pulled her mother to the front door to show her how Shruthi was playing in the rain. Neena's mother smiled at her and told her to go. She screamed out to Shruthi with happiness and told her she was coming.
Shruthi stopped for a second and quickly grabbed her slippers, opened the gate and ran out on to the street to meet Neena. Both of them held hands and started playing in the rain. They jumped into water puddles, splashing water onto each other. Slowly all the other kids from the neighborhood started coming out. They would stand under small trees and shake them for the rain water on the leaves to fall on them. They had so much fun! They all played till they were tired.
Sudhir came by on his scooter. He was all drenched in the rain. He hadn't planned for this, or else he would have taken a rain coat. He saw the kids playing on the street. He saw Shruthi having the time of her life. Shruthi saw Sudhir and came running to him, "Daddy! Daddy! Its so much fun playing in the rain!". She saw that he was all drenched too, and said "Daddy did you also have fun in the rain?". Sudhir smiled and parked the scooter and walked towards the gate and looked back and said, "I think you should come in now, or you would get sick!". Shruthi looked in the direction of her friends and saw that they were also leaving one by one. She was already tired so she decided to go in.
Leela was standing at the door with two towels in her hand. She handed over one to Sudhir and she put the other towel on Shruthi's head and started to dry her hair. When she was done she wrapped Shruthi in the towel. "Happy?" she asked Shruthi with a smile. "Thank you Mamma!" said Shruthi and hugged Leela. "OK, now go and change your clothes" said Leela. Then she turned towards Sudhir to take his lunch bag.
"You shouldn't have let her play in the rain, she could catch a cold!" said Sudhir. "If she catches a cold she would recover within a week, but she would cherish this memory throughout her life" said Leela with a smile on her face.
I dedicate this to my mother who gave me so many good memories to cherish all my life :)!
Leela put down her coffee cup on the dining table and took the book from Shruthi and went over each math problem double checking the answers. Shruthi was impatiently looking at her mother's face. Leela finished and looked up at Shruthi and gave her a smile and said, "Good work! You can go now!".
Shruthi's face lit up with excitement and happiness and she ran to the front door to wear her slippers, when she suddenly noticed that it was raining outside. She was so busy with her homework that she hadn't noticed that it started raining. The rain started out silently and suddenly started pouring heavily, as if it didn't want Shruthi to come out. Shruthi was still ready to step outside when Leela called out to her, "No Shruthi! Not in the rain!". "But Mamma, please! I finished my homework right! Please Mamma!" Shruthi's voice cracked when she screamed out to her mother and was almost on the verge of crying.
"No Shruthi! Look its raining heavily now. You can look out if you want, I am sure none of your friends are coming out to play in this rain". Shruthi was so disheartened, this was her favorite part of the day. She had so much fun the previous day playing hide and seek with Neena, Pragathi, Kiran, Rahul and Sunny. She never got a chance to count and hunt for the others yesterday. Today was her turn. She was supposed to catch the others. She was planning for this all night. She knew most of the hiding places now as she had been skipping from place to place to hide from the others yesterday.
It started raining heavily now. Shruthi sat near the window trying to fight her tears and was looking at the rain hitting the glass windows really hard. She had never seen it rain that heavily. She could hardly see anything outside. The windows were trying to hang onto the hinges while the wind and rain were fighting each other to pull them off.
Leela made some hot hot mirchi bajji and brought some for Shruthi to eat, but Shruthi was so heart broken, that she did not want to eat anything. Leela felt bad for Shruthi! She tried to console her, but Shruthi just would not speak to her.
After a while, the rain slowed down and slowly Shruthi's mood also changed. A bird flew into the window, trying to escape the rain. It was so beautiful. Its feathers were a mixture of blue, green, red and yellow as if it just flue through the rainbow. It was a small bird, but with big eyes. Shruthi was all excited about it. She slowly got up holding the window grills and put her hands out of the window and tried to catch the bird, but the bird probably noticed Shruthi and just before she could grab it, it flew away. Shruthi ran to the front door and saw the bird flying away and felt a new happiness. She held her hands out in the rain and started swaying and was giggling as the rain drops fell on her.
Leela was watching all this and was delighted to see Shruthi happy again. She walked over and stood beside Shruthi and held out her hand into the rain and filled her palm with some rain water and sprinkled the water on Shruthi's face. "Mammaaaa...!", Shruthi giggled. Leela laughed and said "Go!". Shruthi asked "Where?". "Go and play in the rain!" said Leela. Shruthi was surprised. "What?", her face lit up again. Leela said "Go, it will be fun! Go and play in the rain!". Shruthi's happiness had no bounds. She jumped straight into the rain with a huge smile showing all of her teeth. She started screaming out with happiness.
Neena who was watching TV peeped out of the opposite house. She saw Shruthi dancing in the rain and quickly ran and pulled her mother to the front door to show her how Shruthi was playing in the rain. Neena's mother smiled at her and told her to go. She screamed out to Shruthi with happiness and told her she was coming.
Shruthi stopped for a second and quickly grabbed her slippers, opened the gate and ran out on to the street to meet Neena. Both of them held hands and started playing in the rain. They jumped into water puddles, splashing water onto each other. Slowly all the other kids from the neighborhood started coming out. They would stand under small trees and shake them for the rain water on the leaves to fall on them. They had so much fun! They all played till they were tired.
Sudhir came by on his scooter. He was all drenched in the rain. He hadn't planned for this, or else he would have taken a rain coat. He saw the kids playing on the street. He saw Shruthi having the time of her life. Shruthi saw Sudhir and came running to him, "Daddy! Daddy! Its so much fun playing in the rain!". She saw that he was all drenched too, and said "Daddy did you also have fun in the rain?". Sudhir smiled and parked the scooter and walked towards the gate and looked back and said, "I think you should come in now, or you would get sick!". Shruthi looked in the direction of her friends and saw that they were also leaving one by one. She was already tired so she decided to go in.
Leela was standing at the door with two towels in her hand. She handed over one to Sudhir and she put the other towel on Shruthi's head and started to dry her hair. When she was done she wrapped Shruthi in the towel. "Happy?" she asked Shruthi with a smile. "Thank you Mamma!" said Shruthi and hugged Leela. "OK, now go and change your clothes" said Leela. Then she turned towards Sudhir to take his lunch bag.
"You shouldn't have let her play in the rain, she could catch a cold!" said Sudhir. "If she catches a cold she would recover within a week, but she would cherish this memory throughout her life" said Leela with a smile on her face.
I dedicate this to my mother who gave me so many good memories to cherish all my life :)!
