Adventures of Mooman: Ep 06 - Return of an Old Friend
A cow that was abducted by aliens returns to earth with superpowers to fight crime and injustice.
In our last episode, The Protest at Jantar Mantar, our beloved Mooman was arrested by the Police for burning down a village.
The acidic milk-squirting superhero had quietly surrendered and was sitting in the back of the Police Van with her hoofs in cuffs. The investigating officer, Mr. Chauhan, was accompanying her in the back.
“Why did you do it Mooman?” Officer Chauhan asked.
“I don’t know,” Mooman replied softly looking down at the floor of the van. “I am not sure if I did it.”
“What do you mean?” Officer Chauhan asked.
“I just haven’t been myself since I returned from Pluto,” Mooman answered.
Officer Chauhan didn’t interrupt this time and looked curiously at Mooman, who started speaking again. “I mean, I know I am different — I am a crime fighting cow for god’s sake. But that is not what I meant. Ever since I returned from Pluto, I haven’t been able to sleep properly. There have been nights where I would wake up screaming and find myself in a completely different room of our house.”
The Police Van jumped on a speed breaker as Mooman finished.
“What exactly did they do to you on Pluto?” Officer Chauhan asked trying to sympathize with the troubled cow.
“Like I have said before, they abducted a bunch of animals from my species. They thought humanity would be troubled by our disappearances and restore the status of Pluto from a dwarf planet to a regular planet.” Mooman explained, still staring at her feet. “But abducting us wasn’t enough. They tortured us for information. They thought we were an intelligent species because humanity worshiped us.”
Mooman took a deep breath before continuing. “No matter how much they tortured me, I always had hope. I kept thinking of returning to Gopalji one day — his love for me kept me going. But the others weren’t so fortunate. One by one, my fellow captives just gave up on life.”
“You were the sole survivor?” asked Officer Chauhan.
“Actually, no,” Mooman replied and for the first time looked up from her feet towards the officer. “There was one more survivor,”
Before Mooman could finish her sentence, the two right wheels of the police van took flight as it toppled off the road into the bushes.
“What the?” Officer Chauhan shouted as he went flying from his seat. Mooman quickly broke free of her cuffs and grabbed the officer to shield him from the impact.
The Police Van tumbled over two times before coming to a rest.
“Is everyone okay?” shouted the driver from the front who was bleeding from his forehead.
“I think so,” Mooman answered looking at Officer Chauhan who she had embraced.
“Thank you,” Officer Chauhan said looking at Mooman, he then got up and looked at the driver, “What was that?”
The doors at the back of the Police Van went flying off.
“That was me,” said the figure standing at the entrance, his face hidden due to the glare of the sun behind him.
Officer Chauhan quickly raised his gun and pointed it in the direction of the entrance. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“All I want is a word with Beti, or should I say Mooman?” said the figure walking into the van his face clearly visible now.
Officer Chauhan stumbled backward as he looked upon the face of the visitor. From the voice, the officer had guessed the person to be a man, but what was standing in front of him was a buffalo wearing a dhoti.
“How?” Mooman managed to say with a look of utter disbelief on her long face.
“I missed you too,” mocked the Buffalo, “How have you been old friend?”
Mooman smiled back nervously but didn’t say anything.
“What’s going on Mooman?” asked Officer Chauhan looking worried, “Do you know this…?” the Officer stopped short of finishing his sentence, as he looked anxiously at the intruder, he had not lowered his gun yet.
“Yes, I know him,” Mooman replied. “I was just going to tell you about him. He was the other survivor. But I thought he was still on Pluto.”
“Well isn’t the world full of surprises, or should I say the Solar System is full of surprises.” The buffalo laughed loudly, making the hair on the neck of both the Officer Chauhan and Mooman stand up.
“The hatred kept me going, the hatred for my master, the master who treated me like a slave. Nothing the Plutonians did could break my resolve to get back to my master and return the favor,” The buffalo said as he laughed again.
Mooman looked horrified by the Buffalo’s statement. She quickly turned to the officer, “What was the name of the village that you have accused me of burning?”
“Rambha,” The Officer replied still looking at the Buffalo. “A small village near Mysore in the south.”
“That is the same village he was abducted from,” said Mooman pointing at the Buffalo.
The Buffalo just grinned back at them.
To be continued…
