It was just past one o'clock. In half an hour, they would be home. "My baby must be hungry by now," Nipa kept reminding herself as she rushed between cooking, washing Sumon's clothes, and taking a quick shower.Somehow, she managed to finish the chores in ten minutes. She knew Moni would want his favorite vuna lobster with warm rice, so the meal had to be ready when her SonaManik sat down at the table.
The phone rang. Once, twice: then a third time before she finally picked it up. Nipa was too busy preparing for their arrival to answer earlier. At first, she felt irritated. "It must be Sumon'sBoudi again," she muttered. "That woman with no sense. I don't have time for her Azairagoppo. Selfish cuckoo of the spring!" But when the ringing continued, doubt crept in. Boudi never called more than once. Heart pounding, she picked up the phone. The voice on the other end froze her blood. "Oh, Bhagoban, what has fallen on me!" she cried, dropping the receiver. She rushed out the door, slammed the gate, and ran down the stairs, since the lift wasn't at her floor.
Her younger brother Debasish, who had been studying, came out in alarm and followed her. Without even knowing what had happened, he jumped onto another rickshaw to chase after her. Fear gnawed at him: Moni's school had just let out, and Sumon was supposed to bring him home. "Bhagoban, has something happened to them? Is Moni safe? Is Sumon Dada safe?" His thoughts twisted between hope and dread. Nipa, restless and frantic, urged her rickshaw puller, "Bhai, please go faster!" Debasish, close behind, could only brace himself for whatever awaited them.
Then another call came. This time Nipa burst into tears of relief. Moni was safe. Sumon had broken through the Army barricade at Milestone School and carried Moni out of the fire and thick smoke.
When they got off the rickshaws, Nipa looked back at her brother. "My Moni is safe! Sumon saved him." For a brief moment, they felt as though they had discovered land after drifting on a dark ocean. "What happened there?" Debasish asked. Nipa was about to explain, but suddenly another thought struck her. "Have you switched off the burner?"
Debasish froze. Without another word, he sprinted back toward home, Nipa following close behind. Within three minutes they reached their building. Smoke was already seeping out of the open door. Neighbors gathered, shouting, fearing the fire would engulf the apartment. Inside, the kitchen was black with smoke. Nipa rushed in and switched off the burner. The lobster vuna had turned to charcoal.
At that moment Sumon and Moni arrived home. The residents of the ten-story building, who had gathered to help, turned their attention to the boy and his father. They were survivors of the Milestone tragedy, alive despite the warplane's crash into the school. Nipa ran to Moni, wrapping him tightly in her arms like a python. Tears streamed down her face. "Forgive me, my dear," she cried. "I could not feed you your lobster vuna. It burned. I burned."
The writer is a BCS Cadre (General Education), interest in creative writing and research
