The Man of the house

Dipro Chatterjee
Aug 24, 2017 · 3 min read

The following story was conceived in the above meetup where writers from various countries met to socialize and converse about their works. The theme was an animal and I penned a short story which seems promising to me to be the plot of a novel I always wanted to write. If you want to write on amazing themes, do check the meetup group above. This is a story in progress. If you want to give me feedback or edit or collaborate on this story, do email me at diprochatt91@gmail.com. It revolves around a young boy who is the man of the house by virtue of misfortune. Have fun reading it ;)

Chapter 1. The cat’s paw

The boy’s head was heavy and spinning when he woke up reluctantly to the sound of morning prayers at the mosque nearby. The table, next to his bed, stood firmly underneath the big furry cat’s paw. Their eyes met like strangers in the subway full of avoidance and obscene curiosity. Startled by the sudden acquaintance, the boy wanted to cuddle and pet his new guest but ended up driving her away.

‘Why do I always drive them away? I just wanted to feel her tenderness and maybe, feed her bread with haring in exchange for company over breakfast.’, the boy wondered to himself with his constant greed for company over meals. People like him usually have company but not meals. He must count himself lucky that he has food on his plate. However, the human heart is never content with what they have. Even if they have what they need, they throw them away for what lies outside, like the cat’s furry tenderness attracted him more than delicious fish in the folds of warm soft bread, right beside on the table. The cat moved and soiled the food while the boy watched it drop on the floor.

The boy, with the pain of rejection in his heart, and without the care of losing his breakfast which he so dearly loved, chose instead to spread his eyes wide in admiration. He was enjoying the movement of the elegant creature and her calm poise while his little bubble was intruded upon by his annoying sister. They were two years apart and shared a deep bond beyond friends could fathom. However, she was ever omnipresent in his life and that irritated him. He wanted his little bubble to keep rising endlessly. The cat belonged to the sister. She had just adopted her that morning from the kitchen and before it could steal their milk, she thought it best to leave it in her brother’s bedroom. “He would be woken up and would bring sweets along with breakfast food’’, she thought to herself.

“Can you get us some food? You are always sleeping. Get up and please bring me the Jilipis, you know I love them!”, the boy heard his sister mumble constantly standing next to his ears. Pretending to be the man of the house, the boy sprang out of his bed, landed his feet on the ground and rushed out to get his shopping trousers. The cat’s paw still relaxed on the carpet, yawning and flexing in oblivion and narcissistic glory that only suits her. Another day passed in the orphan’s little room. Another month was spent for the paw.

If you want to know how the boy fared at negotiating in the fish market, and how the cat warmed up to the orphan siblings, stay tuned and keep following!

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Dipro Chatterjee

Written by

Smiles, Hugs and warm vibes.

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