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...