Still don’t believe me? Well, I’ll tell you everything I saw that night. Divi, Rash and I were on our way to Chandigarh from Noida. It was past mid-night on the long lonely highway with barely any cars in sight. And, not a single soul around on the roads. We were happily driving on, singing songs to ourselves, when suddenly half-way through the distance; we saw a trolley moving slowly in front of us. The trolley seemed to be full of something brown and seemed to have a lot of dry straw. As we moved closer, I saw what it was. It was a little house with a thick thatched roof and small little windows which were like an unhappy pair of eyes. And the door which was shut closed in a sad grimace. I looked at the others to ask what they thought of the whole thing. But they seemed to not see the house at all. They just saw a lot of mud and dried straw. I was astonished at this, but then I figured it was probably because they did not really believe in fairies and any little people living on trees and dreams that float in clouds. Well, I do.
And so I decided to investigate the whole matter. Since I was the only one who could see the poor sad little house, I felt it as my duty to help. Luckily we were stopping for a break and some refreshments and the same place where the trolley stopped. So when everyone was busy eating, I went to the back of the trolley where the poor house sat quite forlorn. Gently I tapped the door to see if anyone was inside. However, no one answered but the house gave a start. It shut its eyes and mouth tightly pretending to be just a house. Then I said “Why do you look so sad, house?” The house opened its window just a wee bit to look at me, then when satisfied that I looked kind enough opened its sad window eyes fully and the door creaked open for it to speak. “I am running away from the family that lived in me,” said the house. I started laughing. I mean, honestly, wasn’t this the first? I mean, we do hear people leaving there houses all the time, but a house, leaving its people?? I had never heard that before. Had you?
But jokes aside (the house did look mighty sad, you see). I repeated my question, as politely as I could. The house said in a sad creaky voice that it was tired of the new people who had come to live in it. The people were mean and did not love the house at all. They were fighting all the time and seemed almost like they hated each other as well as the house. The father was cross all the time and the mother was forever complaining that the house was too small and ugly. And the children were forever cribbing and fighting over tiny things. The kids kept throwing things at each other and the walls of the house. The family was rich but they were spoilt and did not seem to value any thing and each other. When the children were bored with a new expensive toy their father had bought for them they’d simply smash it against the walls.
The house missed its previous owners. They were a nice little happy family who seemed content with the little they owned and glad to have each other to spend their wonderful days with each other. Forever trying to help each other and the others living in the area. Who kept the house warm and cosy with their love and laughter. The happy family had to move away from the locality as they did not have enough money to keep the house and had to move to a smaller cheaper house. And now the house had run-away from the mean new family to look for its previous owners and bring them back to live in it.
Now I was in a fix. I wanted to help the house but I did not know how. The house said, that the last he had heard was that the happy family had moved to some foreign land, where the happy father had got a new job, and that he (the house), intended to go there and stay there with them. But there was a snag in this plan. Can you guess? The house did not have a Passport, let alone Visa for the foreign land. We all know that they don’t allow people to travel to foreign places without these two things, lesser still the house. I pointed this little hitch to the house. The house was heart broken. “What can I do now? Oh! What can I do now?” cried the poor thing. Huge tear drops fell from the window eyes. It was the saddest sight I had ever seen. You would also have cried watching the sad weepy house.
Then I had a brilliant idea. “Why don’t you look for a nice happy family here itself? A brand new family, who needs a nice house to keep it safe and warm. I am sure we can find such a family in a jiffy. ” The house cheered up at this idea at once. To put the idea into action the house and I crept out of the parking area as quietly as possible (which was very difficult as you might have guessed, as one, the house was heavy and made noise, second, the house no, was excited and happy, so it just wouldn’t try to tip toe). We crept out of the place into the fields on the other side of the road. We walked and walked till we came to a small family who were sleeping together in one rag looking sheet, peacefully with soft smiles on their lips, in the tiniest shack imaginable. The house looked at me and gave me a tiny sparkly window eye wink. Then it actually tip toed towards the sleeping family, stood on its toes and went and settled over the family, such that now the family was inside the house. How surprised and happy the family will be, when it wakes up, I thought to myself excitedly. As I was going to say this out loudly, the house gave me another window eye wink and asked me to hush. It did not want them to wake up. So I said adieu to the little happy window eyed house and started to make my way back to my friends. The house door creaked ever so lightly and said “thank you!! I am happy now” in its soft creaking voice. I waved my hands and joined my friends who obviously thought I had spent way too much time in the loo. :O)
I know for a fact that the house is happy now, because on our way back from Chandigarh to Noida, I looked out for the single tiny house in the fields, which again winked at me with its merry twinkling window eyes.
Look out for the merry house next time you are on the highway. If you spot a lone house with merry window eyes twinkling in the dark night, know that it is the happy house, with the happy family in it.
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