Specks of light

I try hard to balance myself on both arms, my rebellious curls obscuring my vision all the while, the room turning outside down as I try to perfect my headstand. The voices from the living room grew louder to a higher pitch such that I couldn’t discern the words anymore. It was followed by the sound of bang of the door and everything grew silent for a while.

I tried hard to focus on the wall across me which was turning upside down as the floor became the ceiling and vice versa, the chillness of the floor seeping onto my tiny arms.

I traced her feet as they moved hastily on the upside-down floor, her heavy anklets merging with the sound of the twirling fan in the room. She sat down in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection in it, the smudged mascara that she took a while to perfect and the streaks that ran through her cheeks amidst the makeup. The garland of flowers that she had bought lay abandoned on the dressing stand.

She slumped back on the chair as I dutifully tried to hold my upside-down posture.

I heard the engine of the car roaring to life as my dad sped away, his foot slammed on the accelerator.

She closed her eyes for a while and sat quietly. I watched her fingers picking at the golden threads on her saree, loose strands of hair sticking to her forehead. 

She silently reached for the small bunch of flowers on the dressing stand and placed it on her hair, after which she reached for the lipstick inside the drawer and applied the darkest shade of red on her lips. I looked at her in awe.

She gently walked out of the room to the balcony and seated herself on the ledge, her legs hanging down, her arms resting next to her, her face turned towards the night sky.

I straightened my posture and staggered towards her. She helped me climb on to the ledge. 

I placed my head on her lap and gazed up at the night sky which was speckled with stars. We could hear the sound of waves from somewhere nearby.`

‘Ma..’, I shrieked in excitement as I saw a shooting star race by.

She laughed gently, caressing my curls.

She lifted her finger towards the sky and drew a pattern and whispered, ‘Orion’ as my eyes tried to discern the three stars in the middle.

She moved her finger a little to her left on the sky and the traced the seven stars, raising her eyebrows at me. 

I looked at the sparkling puzzle before me with wonder, searching for the links.

‘Ursa Major’ ,I exclaimed and she nodded.

‘ And that's Leo’, she held my hand a traced the outline of a lion, the stars reflecting in my eyes.

For the next few hours, we were immersed amidst the bunch of stars- a six-year-old boy with curly hair and his mother in a sea-blue sari cruising through the maze,trying hard to link each speck of light to another. 

My eyes started to droop after a while, pulling me into the dark abyss sprinkled with stars

***

The sound of the applause brought me back to my senses. A huge crowd gathered around me.

‘It was awesome buddy’, my best friend exclaimed, tapping me on the shoulder.

‘It was truly amazing.’, someone else whispered into my ear as I tried hard to orient myself.

I looked at the images of the constellations that I’ve captured over the years on the screen behind me in the auditorium which had finally got me a paid internship in NASA.

That day I stopped at the flower market on my way back home. The lady at the market wrapped a bunch of white jasmine flowers on a leaf and held it towards me, smiling widely.

She was curled up in the armchair on the balcony when I got back home, her eyes fixed to sky. 

Some old hindi song was playing from the bluetooth speaker and she was humming to its tune.

I switched on the lights in the living room and moved towards her.

I placed the bunch of flowers on her hair, arranging it in the way she loves amidst her greying strands.

She smiled and raised her index finger at the sky , tracing a pattern delicately and raised an eyebrow at me as always.