THUD-ALL : A Balderdash Burphy Story

Chapter Twenty-One

"For the umpteenth time, please call me Sara. I am not four anymore," Sara had thrown a fit once.

"Saraswati," Pramila said, equally raged. "You may not be four, but you are still Saraswati. Don't talk to your mother like that and stop being uppish around here. I am your mother and I will decide what to call you."

"But Sara is stylish, ma," Sara protested, and Pramila looked on unimpressed. "If you love me, ma, call me Sara. Even Kiran calls me that," she said and bit her lips. Her eyeballs went from side to side and she turned away from Pramila. The cat was out of the bag, and with a louder than desirable meow.

"Who is Kiran?" Pramila asked in a grave voice and then the usual drama that unfolds in every household after an affair is revealed unfolded. All hell broke loose and after days and weeks of negotiation, Pramila and Kich's grouse narrowed from a general objection to their daughter's falling in love to a specific dislike for Kiran; the reason – he had turned their beloved Saraswati into his beloved Sara. And they hated him with all their heart, despite his having ticked every other box that mattered.

I hope I can make an impression today, Kiran wondered if his role in tracing Sara would help him win her parents' trust.

Unaware of all this, Cleopatra sniggered. "Excellent Services Complex. The boy told you so, Burphy," she taunted him from within her storage pouch. Burphy winced before sliding his hand into the pouch so he could turn her off.

Barely a second later, Burphy heard a crackling sound and made a crackling sound of his own. His hand straightened at the elbow, his eyes became stuck in their sockets and the man froze. It took half a minute and a lot of patting and shaking from Kiran to help Burphy regain his senses.

"Hehe. Cleopatra tased me," Burphy said to an anxious Kiran, wearing a sheepish smile.