The Eye's Candy

                             

 There was a twinkle in her eyes, when she heard the candyman’s bicycle bell. Two rupee would be sufficient to get her this desired happiness, that moment. Before he could cross by her house, she scurried to her mother and got the amount. She came running to the gate while her mother was keeping a eye on her, from a distance. This time it was not the regular guy so she was being extra careful.

The man asked which colour that she preferred and she pointed her finger at the pink –white combination, which meant she liked the strawberry flavour. She gave the coins and indoors. She went to the kitchen to show her mother, her most prized possession at that moment. Her mother smiled and also told her to have it after she was done with her lunch. She was not quite ready to listen but then she knew that if she disobeyed, then the chances of getting the candy as and when she desired, would be negligible.  She kept the candy safely on her study table and then went to have her lunch. Now the most common characteristic of children as such is that they tend to forget certain things, which would have meant a lot, for a particular moment, when there is a bigger catch and in her case was television. It was her favourite ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoon and so she was definite to forget the entire world. As the day was drawing to an end, the 8 year old came exhausted after her enthusiastic play time with her friends. She then washed her hands and feet, chanted the evening prayers quickly, and then as a flash of thought, she recalled about her candy. She went to the room as she knew where exactly she had kept her dear candy. Oh God! It was not there. She searched beneath her books, inside her school bag, under the table and as if it had vanished all of a sudden.  Her tears were right at the brink of her eye, but she controlled it, wondering where to find it.

She went to the backyard, just next to the kitchen and sat on the steps, gazing at the sky.  She always marvelled the moon. Perhaps, there was a divine connection. During her cherubic years, her mother would always show her the Moon in the sky, tell her happy fables and put her to sleep. She was trying to recall where she could have kept it, with eyes scanning the sky horizontally. Her mother called her for dinner and she went with a gloomy face. Her dad asked her about her day and she was answering in a disinterested manner and did not utter a word about the candy. Her mom, intervened with a friendly gesture, tapped on her head, and told about the candyman. Her love for those specific candy was known to all and when her dad asked her how it tasted, her mom was about to say something, when the shift was on the tears rolling down the little ones eyes. Her parents were bewildered and wanted to know of the sudden trigger that made their child cry. They were patient and when she calmed moderately, she narrated the entire story, gasping for breath in the middle. Her mother was patting her back to calm her and then she loosened her arms and then disappeared from the room. Her dad, meanwhile, said that he would get her another one, the next day. The subdued cry was as if instigated, she sobbed and said she knew that the candyman came only once a week with those special variety. He told her to drink water and finish her food. She was eating slowly, still a tear or two trickling down, denoting gradual closure. 

Her mom then came in and told her , if she was done with her dinner and crying, to follow her to the kitchen. The candy was right next to the spice box and as per her instructions that she gave her mom (Mom, can you keep the candy in the kitchen as I fear the ants might eat it, I am going out to play).  In the excitement of joining her friends, she completely forgot this bit of the conversation, during her hunt later in the evening. She gave a naughty grin and hugged her mom. She then got  totally involved in her precious candy treat and smiled, up at her Moon.