Treasured Penguin

Wow! Such a lovely day it is. I’m still lying in my bed and expecting the alarm to ring in a moment so that I could sleep for couple of minutes more by dismissing it. All of a sudden my wife screams! I jump out of the bed and run to her. “What is it?” I asked in shock trying to recover my conscious. “It’s your birthday week!” shouts the mad woman in hot shorts with crop tops, throwing her arms around my shoulder and jumping and kissing my cheeks. “Thank you so much baby.” So what are you thinking for tonight? As if wanting to say that ‘I am not leaving you anywhere.’ Well but I had my plan laid out, tonight was the boys all nighters where we would launch ourselves into the stratosphere by getting high. She gets out a cake from the oven, oh and I can’t wait to have it all. A ‘birthday week’ cake prepared for the handsome duke. As I cut the cake she feeds me with her softest hands and again lands her kiss on my cheeks. Why she isn’t moving ahead from the cheeks, I wonder.

Anyway I get ready and call up my friends; to get a confirmation of the list to be fulfilled for tonight’s all nighters. I spend the rest of the day laying on the couch and waiting for the clock to tick 7pm. As it ticks 7 I’m up like a roly-poly toy my mind fluctuating to make a decision. On one side my beautiful one and only and on the other the hungry dysfunctional friends. Ready to jump off the cliffs of their not so perfect lives filled with hurdles, I want to jump off this cliff too. So I get ready and drive off in a pickup truck to meet my suppliers of liquid gold and collect the medicinal herbs that will transport us in a completely different dimension.

As I’m on the way to my friend’s house I see a man running like it’s the apocalypse with a dustbin shaped like penguin in his hands and I just couldn’t figure out why he was jumping in between the traffic. As I pass by him he throws the dustbin in my pick-up truck’s cargo bay. “Thud” a sound clear enough as the dustbin lands in my cargo bay, is that dustbin made of something else? I think he is trying to escape in my truck with something stolen on his shoulders. Screeeeehhh. It takes some time for trucks to halt right? I jumped out of my pick-up and saw the guy was already dead. I look up here and there to spot the culprit and I see a few men dressed in all black running in my direction with guns. I took a quick glance in the cargo bay and the penguin was puking, okay, I think I probably saw too quickly and I look back again only to my surprise I see a penguin puking jewels. I’m rich but umm I think I have to pay some price for it.

In a second my wife flashed in my mind, my wife is as beautiful as Hera, the wife of Zeus; her nose pierced with a small crystal stud and her curly short hair tucked behind her ears looking straight in my eyes as she balances on her left leg leaning on the door and as if calling me back soon. All I wished was that I would have not got out for this all nighters and I need to get home safe so I run back in the truck and drive, yes it was like the apocalypse if I didn’t return home safe. I’m a normal working class employee in an IT firm and I cannot afford to get killed and leave my precious wife alone.

Within no time I expect black cars chasing me with huge guns as an extension limb of these notorious men. I drive with my eyes looking forward but my mind still curious to look behind just like Orpheus, as he had lost his love too soon and when he went to the underworld to get her his beloved back the only condition put forth was that Eurydice will follow him as they walk out to the light from the caves of the underworld but if he looked out before coming in light he would lose her forever. I would never look back I have total faith in the almighty at least not when I had to bring my beloved back from the dead. Who was telling the story? And whose story was it anyway? The words fluttered and flew away in the wind. As I drive off. All at once and I remembered I was being chased. I wished this was a dream and had all my faith in the gods watching me thus I didn’t take the chance to turn back and look out for the men with guns chasing me but as I was closing in to a turn signal I lost my patience and looked back, damn! Now who is the Orpheus? As I turn back to confirm, instead I see no one. Really? Is that for real?

I pull over and hop out of the truck, perplexed! All my life I have been good to everyone, I have been following the traffic rules, I have been feeding the stray dogs, building bird houses, helping older people cross the road, always gave pedestrian more importance while driving, never been doing any kind of substance abuse okay that one is not the truth but come on didn’t Jesus too drank the wine? No shit! I did let millions of mosquitoes suck my blood and let them live without asking them to pay me with their lives and yet he lets me watch this doomsday of my own life. Wow!

I drive to my friend’s place and crash land on a couch while my friends make a pot for me with utmost dedication and patience. The key to make a lit pot is teamwork and we have it in our blood. You see bossing around would not be of any good. As my friends pull a deep in from the pot I could see them releasing off their worries and not thinking of anything else but the present. We barely live in the present all we do is worry about our future make contingency plans and build blue prints in our mind or we loosen ourselves in the desert of the past. I quickly snatch a pot from my friend sucking on it like a baby to the nipple and take a deep in collecting all my worries, agitation, mood swings and watch it perish as I exhale. Now I know for sure that we launched ourselves higher into stratosphere. The next day I wake up in a pile of diamonds. Wow I am rich already!

I call my Hera; the most beautiful wife of Zeus, also happens to mean ‘diamond’ in the language of Hindi and it was ten minutes to seven in the morning and I knew I would ruin her beauty sleep yet I was already on the call with her “Hey sweetheart, Good Morning.” says the beauty queen. “Didn’t I ruin your sleep?” I ask her confirming my guilt.

“I was already awake and your little kitten didn’t have a good night sleep either.” says the pretty woman. “In addition yesterday was an exception and today I’m expecting you soon, so better you have time all the for me.” confirms my dictator.

Oh! Boy my perfect little girls I can’t thank god for giving me the best thing ever. I’m going to get back to them as soon as I finish this penguin case once and for all.

“Baby I can’t stay away for long either I’m going to come back to you and Tiara as soon as possible.” I didn’t tell them anything about the penguin and its mess because that would make my girls worry more.

“I will meet you by lunch time, see you soon.”

I start to put this together now; can this happen, a huge dustbin full of diamonds? Where these diamonds could have come from? Who is dealing with this and why didn’t they come looking for me? Is my wife okay? OMG! My parents... Are they coming to hunt me down? En number of questions comes gushing in my head all at once. I pray to god that may the man who put this penguin in my truck die a hundred times again. I collect the diamonds with the penguin shaped horrible dustbin put it in my truck and think why am I worrying when nobody chased me down those streets nor did I receive any calls of those men, probably I won’t have to work again all my life. I would travel to another part of the world with my girls and live the absolute life king size. As I reach my home I’m more than excited to give this news to my Hera.

“Baby… Where are you? I have got you something!” I’m all excited even before entering the house. I can’t hear my baby’s voice. I see Tiara playing alone “Sweetheart, where is mommy?” I enquire. “Mommy is with a black man.” She mutters. Are you kidding me? God you better protect my wife from this man. I run towards the house and push the door open. “You made me wait too long!” mutters the man dressed in black and I couldn’t see my wife.

I quickly look for sharp or heavy things that I can grab if he makes any advancement towards me

“Do I know you?” I ask “You will.” says the man in black as he makes advancement towards me.

“I’m looking for a penguin that was put in a wrong truck by my men and it happened to be yours unfortunately, I’m sorry.” says the man. Sorry? What does he mean by that will he not grant me my life back? Probably I won’t see my daughter again and right now I can’t see my wife, where is she? If anything happens to me who will take care of my daughter. I stay stunned. “You have a lovely daughter.” mutters the man. I’m not letting anyone touch my daughter. I murmur in my mind.

“So…” as I try to be brave and negotiate he puts his hand forward and cuts me saying “The penguin in your truck is one of our film properties.”