A B C-Challenge(Me, My Son And The Fish) -Part-11 Poem by Bharati Nayak

By some error the story about the Cat eating away the fish sneakingly got published halfway while saving the draft.And I thought-Let it be.Not all things get to see their completion. Sometimes half told sentences carry more meaning than the full sentences.But I must tell the story.I cleaned the fish and fried the pieces in oil.My son relished two or three pieces.I kept the other pieces in the frying pan.Closing the kitchen door my son and me went for an afternoon nap for a while.We woke up to find that the kitchen door was open and there was no sign of any fish in the frying pan.The cat somehow pushed its way through the kitchen door which was loosely locked.My son looked sad knowing that the cat had eaten away all the fish.Perhaps the cat had overheard him while he was talking about fish curry.
Mama, What will Baba eat?
I asked him not to tell Baba about the cat eating all the fish as he would get angry about my carelessness.
When my husband returned from office, asked how was the fish.
'Very Fine—-'I answered hesitantly, not feeling confident to tell the truth'
'But cat—-'My son interrupted, and stopped there realising that father might get angry if he knew the fact.
'What cat—? 'his father asked?
'Oh nothing, I was telling that cat loves to eat fish'replied my son.
'Did you eat fish? '
'Oh Yes.I ate fish.I ate all the fish.'
'YOU ate all the fish? Really? 'His father looked puzzled.
'Was the curry tasty? '
'Oh yes, but the cat ate all the fish'; the truth slipped from his tongue.
I sometimes wonder how innocent a child is! I put a burden on him when I asked him not to tell his father about the fact. While he was trying to save mother out of love his innocence gave way to truth.But in the process he was learning to face innumerable similar situations in life.