Mallu's Treasure Hunt

 

It was raining in torrents and the night sky was getting illuminated with the occasional thunderbolts. Mallu, the big, fat mole peeped out of the damp, dark hole in the farthest corner of the kitchen floor. For the last two days, Mallu and his family had been starving. What lay in his hand were just a few pieces of dampened popcorns from a torn packet thrown by a very indisciplined schoolboy near the newly installed signboard declaring in bold letters: KEEP YOUR CITY CLEAN.

He turned, you could say, into no less than a notorious and absconding burglar in this colony. To catch such a culprit was now their sole aim. Therefore, the residents set about to carry out the task with all sorts of things------traps, Green Dragon's Rodent Repellent Spray, rat-killer poisons and numerous other rodenticides available in both online or offline markets. Of late, for his family of three Mallu had to learn the art of stealing and turned desperate. Now, he and his dear, graceful wife Chinki hardly got leftover food scraps strewn across the colony to feed on in their good old days. Two days ago, the picture of the colony was different and so was their life. Drains, dust-bins, courtyards, pavements would be badly littered and choked with dirt and filth-----food packets, leftover lunch or dinner items, banana skins, rotten vegetables, licked-away mango stones and many other kinds of wastes. You could say, for the couple, the colony used to be their heaven that to their shock turned into hell so quickly.

Mallu and Chinki had never known poverty and starvation before. A week ago his Chinki gave birth to a little, pinkish-whitish, silky haired baby daughter, Mishel. Mallu had to gather food for both his wife and newly born daughter. Everything was going on well but fortune frowned upon them all of a sudden-----in two days. Malaria broke out, many were hospitalized from all across the city, some, even succumbed to it, the residents of the colony called for a strike demanding a cleaning drive and proper sanitation. The municipal chairman and the local ruling-party leaders did not want to make it a political issue for the election was ahead. Hence, they complied with it. Just in two days, the entire city was cleaned off filths.

More dustbins were installed, streets and lanes were being broomed, insecticides were sprayed. Now, Mallu and his family were toiling hard to get, even a square meal. A mere thought of his baby made him more desperate. He could not let her starve and die of it. So, he had to venture out that night dripping wet, dodge the traps set to catch him and slither through a narrow tunnel leading to the kitchen of a wealthy man that they used to drain out waste water. He twitched his pink nose tip and sniffed to detect the location of eatables. The darkness of the room was unfathomable. He sneaked along keeping himself very close to the wall and reached near a wooden box with a wire mesh door. He sniffed again and tiptoed following the smell of food items. Now, Mallu found to his disappointment that the wire mesh door was latched about five feet high above the floor.

He suddenly leapt upon a water filter...still out of reach. A risky job indeed!! Now, he stood up on his hind legs...a little more effort...he nudged the door-latch. But it was unmoved Repeated second time. Nudged again...again and, there with a clack the wooden latch slid and the door screeched open. Before him...was the TREASURE. With his sharp claws, he caught hold of a stale chapatti-scrap and made off through the hole scampering.                                     ___________