There is this nostalgia that comes with memories of the old times. It brings this smile to your face that sometimes you just can't contain it.
That was how I felt a few years back, seeing my mum give out one of my most prized toys to a kid in our neighbourhood. The punishment I got from her because I wanted to play with it on a rainy day still sticks fresh in my memory.
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"It's about to rain" my brother announced.
"I better go get my toy car. I want to drive them on those puddles of water" I replied joyfully pointing at the exact point I meant.
There was nothing I yearned for so much as a child more than wanting to experience what it felt like driving a car on rainy days.
I've always been spellbound by the sound of raindrops dancing against the body of the car and it's dripping onto the windscreen. Then watching as the rhythmic swish of the wipers brushes them away. There's this feeling of protection and peace listening to that sound gives me.
I guess that explains my fascination with cars. It didn't start today, It has always been deep rooted from my childhood days. I can proudly tell you that all my toys as a child were all car themed. Sad thing I have no pictures of them to reminisce on.
So on that day, as the sky gradually began to paint itself in dark shades of grey, announcing of an incoming rain, I felt a yearning within me for adventure.
Running out of the house, I had my small black car toy, my favourite amongst my collections at that time of my life clenched tightly in my hands. Anticipating and craving for the thrill of driving it through puddles of water could be seen all over me
Like I always say, fate had other plans. Because that particular day, my mum was at home, sewing clothes, and It seemed like she had overhead our plans and had no intention of letting us play in the rain. As we heard her yell from her room
"Marriott, get your brother inside the house now before it starts to rain."
"But mummy we want to play in the rain", I replied
"And who will take care of you when you catch a cold. Or you want your dad to get angry at me for letting you kids play in the rain and catching cold" she yelled.
"But mummy we won't .." I tried to negotiate a deal with her but she cut me short.
I could hear her stand up from her sewing machine and make her way to the verandah where I was with my brother, waiting for the rain. "Don't make me repeat myself or get angry with you, I said get inside with your brother! I think it's even time for your afternoon sleep. Oya, get inside!" She commanded as she got to the door, pointing inside with one hand and motioning with the other.
Grumpily but obedient, we walked into the house and Immediately, the rain began.
Lying there in the room, we could see the gentle sounds of the rain against the window panes, the thought of the adventure we were missing filled our minds. We grumbled and kicked the bed hard wondering why our mum would want to deny us such happiness.
Immediately, my brother came up with a plan.
"I have a plan " my brother said, his eyes lit up.
"To make mummy allow us to play?" I asked ready to hear whatever he was up with.
"No, but something similar. We can trick her into believing we slept " I could sense he was feeling like a genius. It was written all over the expression on his face.
"Okay" I sat up as if to hear him well. "I'm all ears"
He took a deep breath "Let's just remain quiet and pretend to be asleep for some minutes, that will make mummy think we're sleeping. Then Stealthily, we make our way outside, one person at a time, because if we walk out at the same time she'll suspect something. Also don't forget to stretch yourself like someone who just woke up from sleep."
I bought the idea, infact I found his idea brilliant, and we agreed that we would execute it.
Just as he said, we feigned sleeping for a few minutes. With exchanged glances, one after the other, we walked out of the room, stretching and yawning ostentatiously, as though we just woke from a deep slumber. In our minds, we were smart. Out on the verandah we smiled, convinced that we had outsmarted our mother.
Little did we know that what we thought was a clever trick did not go as planned. Turns out our mother didn't fall for our trick. In Fact she had her own plans to teach us a lesson for our disobedience.
As we frolicked in the rain, ignorant of the incoming punishment, our mother suddenly appeared from the house. We watched as she approached us in the rain with a stern expression on her face. And before we would understand what was going on, we felt strong lashes of her cane on our backs.
The stings, the pain, we cried as she yelled
"I brought you kids into this world but you kids think you can outsmart me!. What did I say about the rain? What did I say about your siesta?" She shouted as she punished us. "Now get back inside and don't play smart again!"
With that we ran into the room and this time we found it easy to doze off as the weakness from our cries served as a sedative. We slept soundly all through the afternoon, not waking until the evening, and just in time for dinner.
I can't contain the nostalgia and smiles on my face as I punched this story on my writing pad. Time, they say flies but beautiful memories are one thing that can never die.