He tossed and turned again, the sound of the cat -
helplessly meowing in the chilly night - it was hurting his ears. Then it grew
quiet outside. Just as he almost reached the threshold of deep sleep it started
again. It pained him to be able to hear the cat. He wished he could turn a deaf
ear but the meowing kept haunting him. He opened the window and squinted as his
ageing eyes tried to find a cat probably stuck under a car or something in the
empty night.
He put on a woollen cap and went into the kitchen closing
the bedroom door behind him & turned on the light in the kitchen. He turned
around to check that the light was not by any chance lighting up his room,
waking up his wife. She hated to be disturbed while sleeping. He took out a
plastic bowl, wide but shallow and a
half full bottle of milk.
When he reached the door, she crept up behind him and said
Pappa where are you going at this time. He smiled like a little boy off on an
adventure and said come with me I'll show you. She ran into her room quickly
and wrapped her blanket around herself and came out.
Together they left the house stealthily like thieves in the
night. They went down three flights of stairs and came upon the main road just
in front of the building. His eyes squinting again as she looked at him
surprised beyond wonder. Pappa it's so cold - what are we doing out here- the
excitement evident in her voice. Ssh he whispered can you hear a kitten? She nodded no her brows almost colliding into
each other as she strained her ears,
closing her eyes.
And then as if they had called out to the kitten it mewed.
They followed the sound across the road to under the pile of cartons someone
had thrown from their balcony. He handed the bowl and bottle over to her and
quietly lifted the big cardboard boxes one by one and voila - there was the
feline damsel in distress. She looked barely a week old. He cautiously moved
his hands towards the kitten as his daughter held her breath in anticipation.
The kitten had been separated from its mother too early to understand how to
judge the people's actions - Just a scared little baby out alone in the big bad
world. Her heart felt sorrow for the kitten as she tried to claw at her
father's hands. But he picked up the kitten despite its fruitless struggling
and motioned to his daughter to follow him. Can you carry a small carton with
that bowl princess? He whispered to her. Why she questioned but didn't wait for
an answer- her own excitement was rising high.
They crossed two more roads in the silence of the night and reached a
little vegetable shop. He asked her to put down the cartoon and placed the
kitten inside it along with the bowl. Why here Pappa? She asked in a whisper -
because speaking out loud felt like invading the silence of the night (and
because nobody speaks loudly on secret adventures - you have to be discreet).
Life insurance for the cat he winked as he whispered back to her. The owner of
that shop loved cats more than his own life - he would be incapable of letting
go of a weak lonely kitten and he would certainly take good care of it. She smiled as it all made sense to her tired
little sleepy brain. He was still staring at the meek kitten - she shivered in
the cold. He took off his woollen cap, picked up and placed the kitten inside it
and then set it down again. They waited a couple of minutes until the kitten
warmed up and instead of staring at them started drinking the milk. They had
just walked a few steps away when the kitten mewed again - they turned around
to see the kitten standing up staring knowingly in their direction - and like
offering a solemn thanks she nodded and settled down again in the cap.
By now the drowsiness took over her and she almost dozed off
while standing. Her father picked her up and wrapped the small blanket tighter
around her petite form and carried her home. All the while she was
contemplating how heroic her dad was - just like the valiant kind generous
strong knights in the books - who gave compassion and humanity more value than
their own comfort - the kind her second grade homeroom teacher had said didn't
exist anymore - only she now knew they did.
It made her smile to imagine her dad like a knight - it would be funny
in today's world. Nice dream I suppose - he teased her as he put her down
carefully in her bed and she half opened her sleepy eyes and kissed him
goodnight for the second time tonight, holding his rough hand in her two small
ones and said Pappa this is why I love you.
His heart soared into the heavens as it did every time he
heard those words, those sacred words spoken with innocent intensity. For
moments like these-for those butterfly kisses, for that smile on her beautiful
face - he would slave away at that dreadful office, for his daughter to have all the happiness in
the world - he would put up with his devil of a boss.
For every jolt of joy he receives when he sees his daughter
rise up, for every time she shows her childlike maturity, for the tide of
emotions that drowns him when her eyes light up with laughter, for every silly
prank she plays, for every single time she reminds him of himself, for every
time she becomes an image of her mother, for the pride that illuminates his
heart when she comes first in her class, or when she takes a decision or even
when she learns something new, for the grief that kills him when he sees tears
in those big curious eyes, for the fear he had never known before but feels so
strongly now when he sees or hears about the evil in the world, for the
responsibility that overcomes him when she holds his hand while crossing the
street, or climbing the bus or when her expectant ever-curious eyes search for
answers in his, for the moments between
the minutes when he winks at her and she giggles, for these kind of secret
adventures they have - for that feeling of contentment, for that peaceful
beating of his heart in the knowledge that he has been the world's bestest
father as she likes too put it, to always remain the bestest father in the eyes
of his princess - he would do any thing,
he would move heaven and earth if he could for her. He would fight all
the demons within, he would never slip into his past, for her he would be a
better person ,for her he would give his all.
In that one second he is burdened by all that he feels,
experiences - but like the weight of the wings - the burden lifts him - allows
him to fly.
And that is why he loves her. But instead of telling her all
that - he plants an affectionate kiss on her forehead and says may all your
dreams come true. His every isolated heartbeat- a prayer for her.
