Venkat Raman

Children Stories Drama

4  

Venkat Raman

Children Stories Drama

Furry Comes Home

Furry Comes Home

15 mins
25.3K


I still remember the day Furry came into our lives. It was the third of February, a cold wintry evening in the mountains. The snow covered the tree tops and roads like a white blanket and the wind cut through our faces as if it were a steel wire. Our parents had warned us against going out to play but we as usual, slipped out as soon as they got busy at their work, oblivious of us. I mean, which kid will miss an opportunity to go out and play no matter how inclement the weather. We could hear Ammaji yell at us “Come back Guddu, Chhoti. You will get sick” But we were too excited and engrossed at our latest venture to care. Today, our friends Sunny and Priti had called us to the park near the Town Hall to show us their new bicycles. We went running towards the park.


Suddenly we stopped near the gate. A cute puppy was shivering in the cold and looking lost. He looked at us with imploring eyes as if to say “I’m lost and hungry. Can you help me, please? I went down to pick him up but Choti screamed “He will bite” The little fellow seeing me, started to wag his tail in spite of the shivering cold. I immediately picked him up and we took him to a small temple at the entrance to the park. Choti kept yelling “he will bite” but followed me nevertheless. Luckily, the priest was nowhere to be seen, so we took him to a corner. We found an old cloth that we covered him with. And when we looked at the offering area, we found some kheer left over by a devotee. Without a second thought, I took the kheer and gave it to the doggie who ate it with much relish, his tail wagging more furiously than ever. We suddenly remembered that we had to meet our friends in the Park. I immediately told my sister Choti to take a look if they were still waiting for us at the Park. She was happy to get away as she was scared of the doggie, who by now found his strength and started barking happily.


His shivering also had stopped and he was beginning to feel cosy in the cloth that I had wrapped him in. I looked around fearfully if the priest had come and happily seeing no one, continued to pet him and feed him. Soon, I could hear voices and Sunny emerged followed by Priti and choti. They came running to see our new friend. Priti took an instant liking for him and picked him up. He wagged his tail even more at this. His head was hidden by a mane of thick fur and we could only see his ears and nose. We decided to name him “furry” and started calling out to him. He seemed to have liked the name by responding to it and barking. Sunny was lukewarm in his approach but was worried about where to take him. I suggested we take him to the garage behind their house as I was quite sure my father would not approve of this new visitor. Sunny reluctantly agreed but Priti was all for it and she said that it would be the best place for Furry.


In this confusion we had forgotten about the new bicycles. But SUNNY AND Priti assured us that they had locked the bikes and come, so we started on our journey to the garage with me holding Furry and the others providing me cover. The idea was to do it quietly without anyone knowing it. On the way we met a few persons but luckily no one showed interest or knew who we were. Soon we reached the garage but it was closed. Priti said she could manage this and soon came out of the house. Her mother was there but Priti knew where the keys were and the garage was in disuse anyway. As we opened the doors of the garage, we put on the light and saw that it was the best place to keep Furry.


We got some old clothes to provide a dry place for him to sit down and also there was a small tin which we soon filled with water from a tap outside. Priti then went and got some chappatis and biscuits for him. This was enough for the night and so we closed the door and hoped Furry would keep quiet. He barked a bit when we left but soon became quiet probably as he was well fed and must have felt sleepy in the warm garage. We left him there and soon went into a huddle. The first thing that I did was to make everyone swear an oath that no one would tell anyone anything about this which was agreed to unanimously. We then decided to ask our Buaiji who lived in a town nearby and who loved animals what to do next. I knew she would be busy now with preparing dinner for the family, so we decided to meet after dinner saying we would do combined study to our parents in Sunny and Priti’s house.


We came back home and washed. Ammaji asked us “Where were you both all this while” I immediately gave a warning look to Choti before she could open her mouth and said “At the Park Ammaji, with Sunny and Priti. And we are going there to study again after dinner as Sunny has agreed to help me out with my Maths” Ammaji looked rather taken aback by this and retorted “Since when did Sunny become so generous that he agreed to help you out with your studies. I always thought he grudged you being in a better school than his” to which I replied casually “Ammaji, he’s not such a bad boy, he may be envious but he is also proud that his Maths is better than mine. And in any case, he is a year Senior to me, so he is bound to know more, and when I asked him today if he would help me, he just couldn’t say no”


Ammaji looked satisfied but Choti gave me a look that seemed to say “When did all this happen” I quickly changed the topic and said “Ammaji, I want to show Choti my new story book and took her inside our room. The moment we were in the room and I shut the door, she was like” What are you doing. Don’t you know it’s a sin to tell lies?” I took her to a corner and whispered menacingly “Look, do you want to come to Priti’s house after dinner? Then do as I say” She opened her mouth to say something but then changed her mind and merely nodded. I said “that’s like a good girl. Now listen, tell Ammaji that you want to give me company as it’s late. I’m sure she will say yes. But do it before Papa comes or he may suspect something”.


We then washed ourselves and got ready for some homework before dinner. After about half an hour, when Ammaji came to put the clothes in the cupboard, I nudged Choti and she immediately asked her “Ammaji, can I go with Bhaiya to Priti’s house after dinner as he be alone” to which Ammaji looked at Choti lovingly and said “My, my, what a lovely example of sisterly affection. Okay, you may go but remember to be back before ten PM”.


We finished our homework soon after and after a quick and quiet dinner with Papaji remarking “Why are you both so quiet today” Choti again started to say something but IO nudged her with my elbow and said “Nothing, Papaji, we are just worried about our exams approaching next week. That’s why I am going to Sunny’s place after dinner to learn Maths from him” Papaji looked surprised and asked “since when has Sunny started to help you in Maths? That’s good news. Keep it up.” Choti gave me a look of admiration and I started to feel like a hero. We finished our dinner in silence, I picked up my Maths books and we were on our way to Sunny’s house. I had already texted Sunny “Reaching in next ten minutes to discuss about Furry. Finish dinner”. We reached the entrance and found Sunny and Priti at the driveway. He motioned us to follow him quietly to the garage. I asked Sunny “hope no one knows”, he nodded reassuringly and opened the garage door. Immediately Furry ran out barking and jumped up to greet us, wagging his tail and licking our face. It was a moment I would never forget all my life. I grabbed him in my arms and held him near me, listening to his happy yelps and completely wet with his licking my face.


Priti had managed to get him some milk and two slices of bread in a bowl which she placed before him. Furry immediately gobbled it up as he was obviously hungry. Priti then filled a bowl with water and kept it in the garage. Suddenly a voice called out from inside the house “Sunny, Priti, where are you both” It was their mother and we immediately kept Furry back in the garage while Sunny called out “Just taking a walk in the garden, Mama” We closed the garage doors and followed Sunny and Priti back to the entrance of their house. Their mother looked at us with surprise and said “Look who’s here! I immediately replied “Good evening Aunty. I came to take some tips from Sunny in Maths as he’s really good at it” Sunny’s mother looked first with surprise and then pride, looking at Sunny and said” I never knew Sunny was that good”.


We went inside and sat at Sunny’s table. While I opened my Maths text book and pretended to ask Sunny some doubts, I was worried about how long we could keep the secret from others. Sunny too was not too enthusiastic about this arrangement continuing as he would have to do the answering in case we were caught. Priti then suddenly said “why don’t we take him to Buaji tomorrow. She has two dogs and knows lots of people who can adopt Furry”. I liked the idea but the thought of sending Furry away was too much for me. I suggested, “okay, let’s do that but at the same time I will try and convince my parents to keep him at our place”. “Are you mad”, countered Choti.” You think Ammaji would allow him to enter our compound? No way” I knew that was mostly true. So what was to be done?


Anyways, we went home and I was thinking “why not broach the topic and see how it goes” As we reached home, I kept my books and went to Ammaji. She asked me “What did Sunny teach you today?” I gave her some reply which I do not remember I was thinking of how to approach the problem. Suddenly, I blurted out “Ammaji, we found a dog near the Park today and have kept him in Sunny’s garage. He’s really cute you know. Could we please, please, please bring him home?” Ammaji’s first reaction was disbelief at what she had heard, anger and then followed by a stern “I will not tolerate any such crazy ideas, no one is bringing any animals into this house”. Baba came to see what was up and looked at me as if to say “I’m with you Beta but you know how it is”. I immediately retorted “But why not, Ammaji, we will keep him in the outhouse where he will not disturb anyone. I’ll look after him, feed him and clean the place every day, I promise”. Ammaji looked at me as if she would kill me if I said one more word and said “I said no and that’s final. I don’t want any more discussion on this topic” And Baba was like “See, I told you”.


Suddenly, Ammaji caught the door and her hand started shaking violently. She also sat down on the chair as her legs too were unsteady. Choti screamed and said “Ammaji, are you dying” to which Baba said loudly “Keep quiet Choti, your mother will be alright. He made Ammaji relax, took her hand and asked her if she was feeling better. He also asked me to run and get a glass of water. Baba rang up and called the doctor who told Baba to get her to the clinic the next morning and give her some medicine to make her calm and sleepy. I ran to the chemist who was just closing and asked him for the medicine. I called up Doctor Chacha from the chemist shop and made him speak to the chemist who then gave me the medicine.


The next day, Ammaji seemed better but looked scared. We were packed off to school by the maidservant and were anxious to know what happened to know to Ammaji. We also discussed with Sunny and Priti over the phone during the break on what our next course of action should be for Furry. We decided to talk to our Buaji in the evening after we found out about Ammaji. Accordingly, we came back home and found Ammaji to be in a pensive mood. After we had our evening snacks we opened the conversation by asking Ammaji what the doctor at the clinic had said about her health. To which she evasively replied that she was fine and there was nothing to worry about. I knew that she was not telling the truth so I decided to ask Baba about it when he came back from the office. While having dinner, I casually asked Baba after telling him about our day at school “ Baba, what did the doctor say” Ammaji immediately came from the kitchen and gestured towards Baba saying “Didn’t I tell you it’s nothing and I’m alright”. To this I retorted, “but you don’t look alright to me” Suddenly Ammaji burst into tears and I knew I had said something wrong. I tried to make amends by saying “Sorry, Ammaji, hope I did not say something wrong”. Baba came to the rescue and said “Don’t worry Beta it’s nothing to be worried. Now finish your dinner, go to your rooms and finish your homework”.


I instinctively knew something was wrong but did not want to discuss it with Choti as she might blurt out my thoughts. Instead we had a silent dinner and went to sleep after doing our homework. The next morning, after thinking over it before sleeping, I had made out a plan. I decided to call our Buaiji who was a dog lover and also would be concerned about her sister’s health. So, that day, during the lunch break, I made a call to Buaji and told her about how we found furry and how Ammaji was dead against bringing him home. I also told her about Ammaji going to the clinic the previous day and breaking into tears when I said she didn’t look well. Immediately, Buaji planned to make a surprise visit to our house in the evening as she lived just two away from us. I got scared that Ammaji might scold me for telling Buaji about it and told her that to which Buaji replied “Don’t worry Beta; I’ll take care of that”. I always liked Buaji for standing up when the chips were down. Hearing her, I felt much relieved that I had done what I felt best about the situation and then forgot all about it after we went back to class.


When we reached home after school, we found Buaji had already reached home and was talking to Ammaji. When Ammaji saw us she glared at me and asked “Why did you have to tell your Buaji about me” to which Buaji replied “You must be proud of your boy, Didi, he cares for you such a lot” and gave me a wink. I didn’t know how to react and suddenly felt very self-conscious. Buaji added “ I will also be talking to your Baba about this, now go and play after having your evening snacks. When we came back from our evening play, we found Baba and Buaji having a serious conversation. Buaji was all alone as her husband had passed away last year and she didn’t have any children so she used to dote on us. She had two dogs, one a Labrador and the other a Dalmatian at home and she also fed several strays in the neighborhood. We too used to frequently go to Buaji’s place in our holidays to play with the dogs.


Buaji saw us and said “I have some good news for you. We came running and asked her what it was. She looked at Ammaji and Baba and said “I’ve spoken to your parents and they have agreed to let you both keep Furry here at home”. Ammaji nodded and so did Baba smiling. I couldn’t believe my ears and Choti asked Buaji “Do you know black Magic” to which we all laughed. I asked Buaji “How did you do this, I can’t believe it’s true”, to which Buaji said “ I had a similar problem to what your Ammaji has when Uncle passed away. I was very lonely and getting into depression. That is when our doctor told me to keep a pet at home to keep me company and it worked like magic. In your Ammaji’s case too, she is lonely as everyone goes out and there is no one to keep her company so I have convinced Ammaji that keeping Furry at home will be good for her and make her happy again.. I was so happy to hear this that I went and hugged Buaji and cried with tears of joy.


So, we got Furry home the very next morning and Baba kept a boy to look after him in our absence. Buaji offered to stay for a couple of days until Ammaji was comfortable with Furry. She was initially scared, but when he looked at her and wagged his tail, they became the best of friends after that. So all’s well that ends well and Furry is now family and keeps us all entertained all day long. Ammaji too has started to look much better and doesn’t get angry so often. Ads they say, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Sow hate and you get hate, on the other hand, sow love and you get love back, multiplied many times over.


Rate this content
Log in

More english story from Venkat Raman