Iobserved father as he deftly cleaned the table belonging to Mr Shah, the owner of the museum father worked in. We had shifted from our village Madoki to Gangal, after mother’s death so that we could start a new life and leave behind the sorrowful memories.

Father dusted the painting hanging next to the door as I sat on the floor and I placidly completed my homework. Life in Gangal was serene and cordial, except for Pappu who was no less than a nightmare in our lives. He was always after father and wanted him to get fired. I believed he was looking forward to having the cleaner’s job, but instead father was hired that this clearly infuriated him.

I was about to get up when Pappu entered the room. A red tattered cloth rested on his shoulder and his bulging tummy was visible under his brown shirt.

It was clear that he hadn’t bothered to brush his hair in in the morning and the stubble on his chin added to his dirty image. He went to the far end of the room and picked up the blue willow pattern vase and walked out of the room. He returned moments later and kept the vase on the coffee table.

“Clean it very cautiously, Shahid. This is a very rare piece of art,” spat Pappu.

Father nodded in response but I couldn’t bear this insult for my father, “Please, talk to him with respect. He’s never done anything bad to you…” I exclaimed as Pappu gave me an agitated look and left in a huff. I looked at father, who simply laughed it off.

Papa proceeded to clean the vase. As soon as his veiny hands picked up the vase, it slipped from his hands and broke into countless pieces. Both of us were in utter shock when Pappu came running.

“Both broke? Oh, my God! You broke this, Mr Shah will kill you. I will give you an idea,” said Pappu. He guardedly looked all around and whispered, “Run away!”

Father was trembling, “Where will we go Pappu? Help us Pappu,” stuttered Father.

Just then Pappu took out two chits from his pocketed handed them to father.

“The bus will depart tomorrow at six. Leave before Mr Shah comes back. My friend, I won’t tell anyone,” whispered Pappu and walked out whistling.

Father looked at me and then grabbed my tiny hand and hastily walked out of the room and into our quarters.

“Hurry up, Guriya. Pack up, we need to leave tomorrow,” said Father. I complied to his command and started stuffing my things into my school bag.

Night soon engulfed the whole village in its silence and father went to bed without eating. The day’s happenings were still vivid and forbade me to slumber. I sat up and wore my slippers. My feet led me outside and I stood in the corridor of the quarters I shared with father.

All of a sudden, I saw a shadow pass our doorway. It was weird to find someone awake this late at night in Gangal, so I decided to follow this night owl. The man tiptoed to the storehouse and disappeared inside.

Curiosity killed a cat, but it was worth it that’s why I silently crept to the storeroom and peeked inside from the window. Pappu’s face was palpable in the dim lamp light. He opened the cupboard and took out an article wrapped in a cloth. He untied the cloth and to my surprise, another vase, exactly similar to the willow pattern vase appeared from inside. A gasp mistakenly escaped from my lips and a frightened Pappu’s attention turned towards the window. Before he could catch me red-handed viewing his sin, I silently ran towards the quarter

I lay on my bed with a wide grin plastered on my face. Initially worry did not permit me to sleep and now giddiness, but soon I was lost in the valley of dreams.

In the morning father shook me to senses, “Get up, girl! We have to leave!” said father.

“No need, father,” I said and took his cold hands and led him outside and into the storeroom and showed him where the real vase was hidden by Pappu. Father was astonished to see this and I then explained what I saw last night to him. He picked up the real vase and we went to the museum that was surprisingly unlocked this early in the morning. We went to Mr Shah’s office and he kept the vase back on its place.

“Sir they both left early this morning. I think they stole something that’s why Shahid was in such a haste,” came Pappu’s voice as he entered the office along with Mr Shah. Shock was evident on Pappu’s face as his eyes when he saw father standing in front of him.

“How…? Why didn’t you leave?” stuttered Pappu.

“I won’t leave, but soon you will be leaving, Pappu,” replied father. Soon father explained everything to Mr Shah and Mr Shah, being an intelligent man, made a firm decision that day.

A week earlier Mr Shah had suspected Pappu was up to something and spied on him and found out that he was stealing money from the fund box. He was just waiting for the right time to come. Pappu was fired from his job as the gatekeeper. Everything came back to normal and father became Mr Shah’s most trusted employee.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 8th, 2021