Memory Intrigues – Chapter 5

Our Team logo done by Ruchita

This is the Fifth chapter of Memory Intrigues , a mystery series in the “Game of Blogs” for the team “ Dynamic Word Weavers” as a part of # CelebrateBlogging campaign by Blogadda.

 You can read the previous chapter here , or check out all the chapters on our FB page here

 A bubbling laughter directs his attention to the door where he sees swinging ponies, and brown eyes peeking into the kitchen, and he chuckles. The burnt smell must have drawn Roohi and her teddy. He wonders how long it has been since he heard her laugh.

 A monotonous ringing cuts through the house, and Shekhar dashes to the phone; he has to know that Jen is safe.

“Bloody call centre!” He exclaims, as he tosses the mobile back on the table.

 ***************

Gazing at his daughter’s laughter Shekhar lazily walks into the kitchen to clean the messed up “Maggi”. He knows Tara would freak out to see the kitchen in this state and it would invariably end up as an argument. As he struggles to clean up, his mind still keeps wandering around  ‘Kerala? Chennai?  Bangalore? or did she reach Mumbai? Where is she? Is she safe? What could the mystery be which put her life in danger?’

His mind is a jumble of dubious impressions caused by scores of disturbing thoughts. Unable to control the whirlwind in his mind, he leaves the kitchen half way through and goes back to his chair scratching his french beard, waiting for the mobile to ring. He desperately wants to talk to Jennifer and confirm that she is safe.

The doorbell screeches as the clock strikes 9:00 P.M. Shekhar sitting on his chair wonders why Tara cannot open the door with her own set of keys and looks for Roohi to open the door. Roohi is preparing for her upcoming Maths exam trying to understand the logic of multiplication, wondering if it will ever help her in her life. She knows how mom would get irked if she notices cartoon dancing yet again. 

At school Roohi has always been an industrious girl. Though she makes diligent efforts she fails to make it to the top of her class. She feels an emotional void at home. Like all her friends, Roohi too wants to share the pranks her parents play, the memorable weekends, but she is deprived of all these. Though she never openly confronts her parents with these issues, she waits for such happy days in her life.

**********

Lost in thoughts of Jennifer, Shekhar ambles along to open the door. Struggling to manage a laptop bag, a handbag, a lunch bag while searching for her ringing phone she enters the house. Shekhar comfortably ignores her grumpy look and gets back to his chair wondering if he has missed any calls in between.

Tara changes to comfortable tees and night pyjamas and starts thinking about preparations for dinner.  Roohi pipes in quizzically, asking

 “ Mom!!  Did you ever eat black noodles??” 

“No dear, so in our house noodles are made in black colour as well!! Strange!! That’s what happens when we have people who only think and do nothing”

Tara fumes on seeing the kitchen top and tries not to start a fight again as Shekhar has been deeply worried about something which he has not shared with her for the past two days. She wonders if he is working on any new spooky script!! 

Roohi, trying to balance a maths book and her teddy bear, goes running from her room to the kitchen to ask her mother about a  multiplication she is trying to comprehend for an hour now. 

“Roohi, why don’t you ask your dad the same question? He has been home all through the day and I am sure he does not have anything better to answer!!

Overhearing the conversations  Shekhar pretends to be oblivious, acting as if he were really busy with an upcoming project, all the while waiting eagerly for his mobile to ring. Curious, Roohi runs from the kitchen to the hall with her book and Teddy, expecting that her father will answer her queries.

“Roohi, I would not be right person to answer your query dear. After all, I know only to write and can never go beyond that!!! Wait for your mom to answer your questions”

Dismayed Roohi returns to her study room trying to solve the problem herself and slowly falls asleep with the Teddy and book in her hands.

Tara and Shekhar are dramatically opposite personalities and of late find it very hard to live with each other. Tara has always been a career oriented woman while Shekhar is more laid back and tries to define his own life. The only bond between them is Roohi, their innocent growing daughter.

After dinner, Tara is busy replying to her e-mails. She wonders about Shekhar’s low spirits and decides to get to the bottom of his melancholy.

“Shekhar, what’s wrong with you? Is every thing ok? For the past two days, I find you perturbed, Is anything important bothering you?”

Shekhar cannot deal with his anxiety any more. He feels like a small baby in his mother’s lap and does not try to hide it from Tara anymore . He narrates what has happened to Jennifer and how he has been eagerly awaiting the phone call from her for the past two days .

You can read the next chapter here

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Me and my team ” Dynamic Word Weavers” Sulaiman Sait, Purba Chakraborthy,Kiran Acharya, Shetall Ramsinghani,Ruchita Shah,Rajesh K, Ganga Bharani, Satchitananda, Aditi Kasuhiva are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

P.S : This post is a part of a fiction series and does not bear any resemblance with any one dead or alive.