Tales from the Walauwa
by Cat O' Logge
The other day I was having a good sleep (and a snore, Rudolphus wants
me to add) and I was rudely awakened by the walauwa household returning
from the wedding they had gone to.
The daughter looked quite good in her sari (Rudolphus snorts at
this...), but even the site of her in a sari wasn't enough compensation
for being woken up in the middle of the night with a loud racket (they
never could keep quiet though). To add to it all, it seemed that they
weren't planning to go to sleep at all.
Magilin had woken up to see everyone in, but even she had been sent
back to bed and I could already hear hamunona humming about in the
kitchen, plugging in the kettle for a late night cup of tea. Oh dear,
make that cups of tea.
Everyone was waiting up for tea. Daughter of the house was fooling
around with a sleepy Rudolphus in the living room, but I bet she didn't
notice any difference because the poor idiot always looks as if someone
had drugged him with a rather strong sedative.
Lokuhamu was leaning back in his favourite hansiputuwa and the eldest
son could be heard singing loudly in the bathroom while the other was
heard asking him very loudly whether he would mind coming out in the
near future (the amateur singer stopped long enough to say that yes, he
would indeed mind).
Hamunona came in soon with the tea and after the initial cries of too
much milk followed by then go make it yourself everyone settled down to
an interesting analysis of the wedding they had just come from.
"The food was good" said the daughter in an attempt to start things
off. "Well, yes... but I do wish they wouldn't cook cashew nuts with
green peas" said hamunona ever the purist. "And what is all this
nonsense of seer fish with champagne and such..." contributed Lokuhamu
who will never try any of those dishes that daughter of the house has
been trying since lately.
They don't taste all that bad. I should know, she ends up giving me
half the stuff (which has me convinced that we definitely have a future
together). "But it was pretty good Thaththa " said the son who had at
last decided to let his sibling continue with his bath in peace.
"What would you know..." scoffed his father. "Goodness did anyone see
that girl dressed in..." started daughter of the house. "Well, if it was
okay for her..." replied her still unbathed sibling. "Oh, get a life!
That colour? On the dance floor? In the dead of night?" "Duva..." cut in
her mother, anxious to forestall anything which might end in
unpleasantness. "Amma.
I didn't say anything!" "Well, you won't say more either. Go to bed
now. All of you... otherwise you'll still be asleep when the sun comes
up..." continued Hamunona as Lokuhamu and she started in the direction
of their bedroom.
A little later, while the argument about the girl was going strong,
The Bather emerged from the bathroom and decided to join in on the
merriment. "Forget it Nangi " advised he "I think this one likes her".
There were screams preceded by cushions flying about, the clatter of
feet and the sharp appearance of hamunona back to inspect the rumpus.
"How can anyone sleep with this noise? Duva wash the cups and go to
sleep now" and serenely she walked back to the bedroom. And she yawned
and got up, still giggling. Any other time I too would have joined in,
but a cat has to have his quota of sleep for after all the Egyptians
didn't worship my ancestors for nothing...
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