3.A New Member to Home
522 Words
A New Member to Home
A white sedan found its place in the seemingly stingy parking lot. This space was near a shabby store, with a rusted grill door and dirty board that said ‘Florence Pets’
A family of four got out of the car. A potbellied, middle aged man with a thick moustache, a middle aged, saree clad woman with her frontal locks held back with a clip, a girl in her twenties, with pink and blue highlights on her hair, wearing jeans and hoodie of fluorescent pink and green, and then, a shy, bespectacled and slightly stout boy of about ten years.
A thin man with salt and pepper beard came forward to welcome them.
“It’s my son’s birthday” the father said, patting the boy on his shoulders. “He wants a pet”
“Pick anything you like, son!” the man smiled, pulling the boy’s cheek. But the boy’s eyes had already begun to look for the pet.
The animals and birds were kept in rusty and dirty cages. The boy looked intently at the three white rabbits huddled together in a cage and then to a large, colourful parrot.
The mother looked at it disapprovingly though. She never liked the idea of caged birds though, not even the idea of pets. She knew she would have a hard time cleaning the mess up. But it was her son’s choice for his birthday present.
He was never a stubborn child and she thought he ought to get a gift he liked this time. Then she saw him turn away from the parrot. Her elder child plugged on her earphones looking completely disinterested.
“That’s one colourful parrot already in the house” she thought
“Appa!” a cheerful cry was heard.
The rest of the family and the shopkeeper turned to the corner where the boy stood, pointing at a cream coloured Labrador puppy.
“Do you like him?” His father asked.
The boy paid no heed to his father’s words. His eyes were already fixed on the dainty puppy that looked back at him, clutching the dirty rust- red grills and brown eyes welled with longing. By then, even his elder sister had her attention on the cute animal.
“We’ll take him” The father said “for fifty percentage of the price”
The shopkeeper looked at him at a state of shock.
“I was just kidding!” the large stout man laughed “But you can give me a small discount…as a birthday….”
“Not today” his wife nudged him. Her husband would bargain for anything.
“Okay then” He agreed
The shopkeeper gladly lifted the puppy from its cage and handed him over to the boy. The puppy kept itself snug in the boy’s palm, still looking innocently at him.
“So Buddy, will you play with me?”
The puppy smiled, feeling at home in the boy’s hand.
- Writer
