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| Sunday, 25 December 2005 |
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Short story This comes to pass by Jeannette Cabraal The house was one buzz of activity. The whirr of the polisher, the swish of the brushes, the scrubbing, the scouring, the noise, the animation. Mr. Perera sat up on his old wooden bed, feebly he manoeuvred his feet to the floor, stood up unsteadily, toddled along to the window and opened it.
He usually awoke early and lay in bed staring at the ceiling incidents in his life seemed to be passing across it like a frieze. By 7 O'clock his cup of morning tea would be on his table. He needed it. It refreshed him. Today at 9 O'clock it hadn't arrived. He dragged himself unsteadily to the door and called out to his daughter. The servant girl popped her head through the window and said "Nona wants to know what you are shouting about. She is busy and so are we". "But my cup of tea. You've forgotten about it." Flushed In popped the daughter flushed with exertion and exasperation. "What is the meaning of this father? Don't you know what day it is? Can't you wait a little. It wasn't our fault if you weren't up at 7. The servants are busy. I'll send your tea when they are free." He toddled back and stretched himself in his easy chair. He felt faint without his morning cup of tea. At 10 O'clock his daughter brought his breakfast. "I didn't send in your bed tea. Here you can have your breakfast and tea at once and don't you holler for any of us. We're busy. Fred's friends are coming tonight to usher in Christmas", "But..." he faltered. Don't you usher in Christmas at the midnight service. Isn't that our practice?" "Oh' we can go tomorrow. There are plenty of masses in various churches. His friends don't get a chance of getting together often. By the way father you just keep to your room. Don't come out on any pretence till the party is over. You are so feeble now and you will go around touching everything and messing around. Please keep to your room and don't holler. Your meals will come when we are ready. Don't disturb us." Noise Mr. Perera kept to his room. The noises around were, to say the least irritating. He lay in his easy chair and took up a book, dozing off from time to time. By evening he was bored stiff. How he longed to get a glimpse of the drawing room this 24th night. A lit up crib in one corner, a sparkling Christmas tree in the other, the lacy gauzy curtains adding an ethereal look, the cosy Christmassy atmosphere that he so loved reminiscent of the past. But orders were orders! Who'd care for an old man's idiosyncrasies. Revelry There was revelry in the air. The smell of cooking pervaded the house, a miscellany of aromatic flavours. There were sporadic bursts of crackers. Sky rockets whizzed through the air against the midnight blue of the sky. Mr. Perera sat there in his pyjamas relegated to the limbo of his room. He heard the guests arriving. The raucous laughter, the hail-fellow-well-met thumps on the back. A smile quivered at the corners of his lips. These were, once upon a time his own pupils at his and their Alma Mater. His own son-in-low was a pupil of his and so were these chaps whose loud guffaws brought a reminiscent smile and lit up his face in the darkness. He attempted to recognize a voice or two. That deep bass tone was unmistakably Neil, that high-pitched tone would be Elmo and that chirpy voice should belong to that inimitable bully Gune as he was called. They did not know that he was here perhaps. He reclined with the memories rushing it. One-time-pupils He heard footsteps, chuckles, loud guffaws approaching and in trooped his one-time pupils. They had just by an inadvertent remark heard he was in. His daughter her face livid looked on. They crowded at the door awaiting his permission to enter. One a lawyer, the other a high ranking naval officer, another a Chairman of a prestigious company, an up and coming businessman and a Planter and he, their now senile mentor, sans everything, "Sir!" they all echoed "Can you recognize us?" "By your voices" he said. And seated around him on his bed they forget the revelry they had come for. Memories came gushing on every side and they kept their old master company till it was 12. At 12 they wished him singing "He's a jolly good fellow." The daughter came in to invite them to her well-planned dinner and exotic drinks. They preferred to dish out and sit with their master and enjoy the dinner with him. The daughter was compelled to invite the father to the dinner table and so he got the opportunity to experience the snug cosy atmosphere of the Christmas drawing room. Out of respect for the old master they refrained from drinks as he was a teetotaller. It was a totally unexpected Christmas and a rewarding one for the old man. The soft music in the background played on... "This comes to pass when a child is born" |
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A
stream of sunlight shone in, almost dazzling him. He looked at the table
for his morning cup of tea but the cup stood stubbornly in its inverted
position on the saucer. He peered at the quaint time piece a relict of
better days when its piercing ring dutifully reminded him of his call to
duty. He stared at it and it stared back imperturably pointing its hands
to 9 O'clock. 
