The Punishment
She could not believe her eyes.
The rooms were in a such a mess, that she could not believe what she saw before her. The door open ajar, she stood there for a second, staring at the rooms.
The bed sheet was crumpled in the centre, with pillows, some on the floor. some spread across the bed. The water bottles lay astray across the room, without any drop of water within them to drink. The newspapers lay all over the room in different shapes and sizes as if some one had practised origami with them. The deoderant and the powder lay below some pillow on the bed itself. The bed also showed signs of a cake to have been consumed on it. The shoes, slippers, all across the floor, with stinking socks in them.
The kitchen was worse. It looked as if a havoc had occurred last night. And the heap of unclean dishes looked like as if 50 people had dined at a time. The water jug's cover had burning signs of a candle. The cooking oil's container was wide open. The dustbin was full, and filthy. The oven was coated with oil and other curries. The tea pot was black with the hue of the remaining tea. A tea cup was also discovered in the bathroom.
And the bathroom was not an exception, too. The buckets were all filled with lathered water. And the mugs submerged in them. The soaps were lying on the floor of the bathroom.
Seeing everything, she did not know where to start from, and what to start with. She was seething with anger. She had been away just for a night, and she could not even imagine how could one possibly turn a house into no less than a dustbin, that too in such a short time.
Load shedding being a frequent problem in her area, she picked up the water bottles and filled them up quickly. And also refilled the buckets with fresh water. And that was the only two tasks that she did.
She took the chair to their roof terrace. Sat with her mobile phone and called up her husband. She just screamed on the top of her voice, "What the hell have you done to the house? What are these all about? How could you just do it? You arrive here, and then just see what happens to you tonight!"
With that she quietly tuned into the FM. Several thoughts of vengeance crossed her mind. She started planning. She swore to herself that she was never going to forgive him, and going to teach him a proper lesson tonight, so that he does not forget throughout his life. After all enough was enough. She had bore enough of all these, and she could not tolerate this any more.
By each passing moment waiting for him to arrive, her anger was increasing even more.
Her forehead had started paining by now. She could feel her pressure already soaring high. Screaming would only make it worse, she thought to herself. No she will not shout at him tonight - she decided that she will be in fact as soft as possible.
It was then she saw him from the roof terrace, hurrying up in a brisk pace towards their house.
She went to the gate, and stood there, beforehand.
He was shocked to see her already standing at the gate. Already she had scared the life out of him on the phone and he was too afraid to knock on the door itself. But even then, he did not expect her to be standing at the gate beforehand.
Why does not she understand, that he does not feel like tidying things up, once she is not at home, he mused to himself.
He was expecting her to shout at the top of her voice like she does, when every time she gets angry. He had also brought her sweets to please her. But to offer her seemed so formidable to him now.
She smiled, a warm and sweet one. He was like more awestruck, not knowing what was following next. She took the sweets from him, had some and offered him some, with the utmost gentleness. He was now baffled more than ever. What was she up to ? An unknown fear crept inside him. It would have been thousand times better if she had screamed and gave away her anger. But this ultra gentle attitude, it did not gave him any peace of mind. On the contrary, it increased his unrest.
She took him by hand to which he trembled a bit, first to the shoe rack and said in the sweetest of all voices, "Darling, do you know what is this called? Its called a shoe rack, people put their shoes in this rack once they take off from their feet."
She then started taking him to all the rooms, and introducing the amenities and their usefulness to him as if to a 3 year old babe. He was like a statue, not uttering anything, until she asked him "Now that you are acquainted with all the features of the house, would you mind if you put all the stuff back to their places and tidy the rooms back?"
Of course he did not mind. It was such a relief for him, and as if he was long waiting for this punishment.
The rooms were in a such a mess, that she could not believe what she saw before her. The door open ajar, she stood there for a second, staring at the rooms.
The bed sheet was crumpled in the centre, with pillows, some on the floor. some spread across the bed. The water bottles lay astray across the room, without any drop of water within them to drink. The newspapers lay all over the room in different shapes and sizes as if some one had practised origami with them. The deoderant and the powder lay below some pillow on the bed itself. The bed also showed signs of a cake to have been consumed on it. The shoes, slippers, all across the floor, with stinking socks in them.
The kitchen was worse. It looked as if a havoc had occurred last night. And the heap of unclean dishes looked like as if 50 people had dined at a time. The water jug's cover had burning signs of a candle. The cooking oil's container was wide open. The dustbin was full, and filthy. The oven was coated with oil and other curries. The tea pot was black with the hue of the remaining tea. A tea cup was also discovered in the bathroom.
And the bathroom was not an exception, too. The buckets were all filled with lathered water. And the mugs submerged in them. The soaps were lying on the floor of the bathroom.
Seeing everything, she did not know where to start from, and what to start with. She was seething with anger. She had been away just for a night, and she could not even imagine how could one possibly turn a house into no less than a dustbin, that too in such a short time.
Load shedding being a frequent problem in her area, she picked up the water bottles and filled them up quickly. And also refilled the buckets with fresh water. And that was the only two tasks that she did.
She took the chair to their roof terrace. Sat with her mobile phone and called up her husband. She just screamed on the top of her voice, "What the hell have you done to the house? What are these all about? How could you just do it? You arrive here, and then just see what happens to you tonight!"
With that she quietly tuned into the FM. Several thoughts of vengeance crossed her mind. She started planning. She swore to herself that she was never going to forgive him, and going to teach him a proper lesson tonight, so that he does not forget throughout his life. After all enough was enough. She had bore enough of all these, and she could not tolerate this any more.
By each passing moment waiting for him to arrive, her anger was increasing even more.
Her forehead had started paining by now. She could feel her pressure already soaring high. Screaming would only make it worse, she thought to herself. No she will not shout at him tonight - she decided that she will be in fact as soft as possible.
It was then she saw him from the roof terrace, hurrying up in a brisk pace towards their house.
She went to the gate, and stood there, beforehand.
He was shocked to see her already standing at the gate. Already she had scared the life out of him on the phone and he was too afraid to knock on the door itself. But even then, he did not expect her to be standing at the gate beforehand.
Why does not she understand, that he does not feel like tidying things up, once she is not at home, he mused to himself.
He was expecting her to shout at the top of her voice like she does, when every time she gets angry. He had also brought her sweets to please her. But to offer her seemed so formidable to him now.
She smiled, a warm and sweet one. He was like more awestruck, not knowing what was following next. She took the sweets from him, had some and offered him some, with the utmost gentleness. He was now baffled more than ever. What was she up to ? An unknown fear crept inside him. It would have been thousand times better if she had screamed and gave away her anger. But this ultra gentle attitude, it did not gave him any peace of mind. On the contrary, it increased his unrest.
She took him by hand to which he trembled a bit, first to the shoe rack and said in the sweetest of all voices, "Darling, do you know what is this called? Its called a shoe rack, people put their shoes in this rack once they take off from their feet."
She then started taking him to all the rooms, and introducing the amenities and their usefulness to him as if to a 3 year old babe. He was like a statue, not uttering anything, until she asked him "Now that you are acquainted with all the features of the house, would you mind if you put all the stuff back to their places and tidy the rooms back?"
Of course he did not mind. It was such a relief for him, and as if he was long waiting for this punishment.
