2 min readDec 29, 2019 09:47 AM IST
First published on: Dec 29, 2019 at 06:11 AM IST
One Hell of A Lover was written by Unni R .
O, my lazy child, please get up and see the sun rise, his Umma* would tell him each morning. When Umma’s voice opened the door and entered, he would lie in the darkness under his blanket, like a speck of the sky untouched by light, giving Umma the slip. The dog, cat and the trees of the neighbouring house would stand around stealthily and call him, O, you lazy child! Each day, Umma, the breeze, the cat and the trees, thinking that he would rise early that day to see the sun rising, would sit foregoing sleep, waiting for the lazy child to wake up early and to come out from under the blanket. But, the lazy child slept on, snoring and ignoring everyone.
One day, before Umma, the cat and the trees woke up, he brushed off sleep and rose from under the blanket. He opened the door without making any noise. Today, the sun would come out happily from the border of the sky to see me, he thought happily. He stood waiting for the sun to touch his tender, bare body, feeling the chill of the cold that enveloped him. As his eyes pierced through the mist, watching for the instant that the sun would rise, his ear, which was accustomed to hearing only soft voices, was terrified by a sudden sound. When the sound rang in his ears, again and again, he screamed. Hearing his scream, the house sprang awake. As Umma came running, finding him with terror-stricken eyes, she cuddled him close. He asked her, “Umma, did I wake up late? Was this the right time for me to get up?”
Wordless, Umma stood staring into the darkness that was rising slowly.
*Mother in the Malayalam Muslim parlance.
Unni R is the author, most recently, of One Hell of A Lover (Westland). This story has been translated from Malayalam by AJ Thomas, poet, translator and editor of Indian Literature
One Hell of A Lover was written by Unni R .
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