“You’re the most boring parents!” said Nisha, while slamming the door and throwing herself on the bed.

A tear slid down her nose and disappeared on the brand new teddy bear she was clutching in her hands — a present from her parents for her remarkable performance at school.

“They never listen to me,” she burst out as she punched the mattress and kicked her feet.

“Who?” a small voice asked.

Nisha sat up straight. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and froze. There, right behind her, was a little firefly.

She turned around and realised that it was not a firefly; it had the shape of a human being — a tiny glowing human, almost the size of her thumb.

“Wh-what are you?” she stammered.

“I am the fairy of the teddy bear. I appear on the first teardrop that falls on the teddy,” the fairy shook her hands and floated around as she introduced herself. “Now, why are you upset? Is it because of that ridiculous dress you are wearing?”

“What? No! This is my favourite dress,” Nisha crossed her arms. “And it is way better than your ghost-white maxi with weird glowing stuff around it. I won’t be caught dead in that dress.”

They both fumed.

“So much for trying to help,” the fairy said.

“How can you help?”

“By getting you a brand new dress!” sang the fairy as she swirled around.

Nisha threw up her hands, “For the last time, it’s not the dress I’m upset about!”

The room fell silent for a while. Then Nisha sighed, “My parents won’t let me go to the Twister with my friends.”

“Twister?” the fairy floated from one side to the other.

Nisha’s gaze followed her, “It’s the coolest ride ever! It has just opened up in our city.”

“Then why won’t your parents let you go on the coolest ride ever?”

“Because,” Nisha buried her head in the teddy and mumbled, “My parents are not cool.”

“What?”

She lifted her head, “I said, because we will possibly have thunderstorm today and they said it would be risky to go out in such weather.”

“Well, you have one wish,” said the fairy. “But be careful, because one wish is all you get.”

“Hey, I know! I want cool and fun parents, parents who would let me go anywhere and won’t be serious or boring.”

“Okay, but be sure …”

“I’m sure,” Nisha punched the air, “I want brand new parents!”

No sooner had Nisha said these words that she felt drowsy and collapsed on her bed. She floated and fell, then she woke up.

“Phew! What a weird dream!” She went out the door, shaking her head. Everything was the same. Her mum and dad were sitting on the dining table and had a bunch of blocks in front of them.

“Wait a minute. Are you playing Jenga?” Nisha asked.

“Why, yes. This game is super fun!” dad wasn’t wearing his usual glasses.

“Um, okay. I’m feeling hungry, what’s for lunch?” Nisha asked.

Mum giggled, “I’m so sorry,

Nisha, I got so caught up in playing this game that I absolutely forgot

to cook!” Nisha didn’t know what to say.

“That’s hilarious!” Dad laughed. Then he turned to Nisha, “Aren’t you going out with your friends to take that new ride?”

“But you said I couldn’t go because of the weather,” Nisha said.

“Ohh why… how can you miss out on such a fun ride?” Mum said.

“You mean I can go?”

Her parents nodded. Nisha’s eyes widened.

“Well, scoot now! Or you’ll be late!” dad said.

“Okay! Wow! I can’t…. I don’t know what to do! Mum, where are my clothes?”

Mum furrowed her brows. “I think I forgot to take them out from the laundry machine. Maybe they are still in there,” she shrugged.

Nisha noticed her mum was wearing a parrot green shirt and dad had his polka dotted pyjamas on, which she had never seen before. She shook her head and went to get ready. There was no time left!

As she headed outside, she noticed that the weather was really not very welcoming, there was a strong dusty wind blowing. But she shook the worries of the weather from her mind and ran to her friends.

Twister was a huge ride. She had never seen anything like it before. The ride swung in the air like a pendulum — a huge pendulum — rotating in circles, with nothing to hold the rider but a seatbelt.

“Oooh,” Nisha and her friends cried with excitement as they caught a glimpse of it.

There were very few people around when they arrived, so they bought the tickets and got on the ride. Nisha’s heart was beating fast, but she wore a grin on her face.

“Ready to scream your lungs out!” one of her friends yelled.

“Oh, yeah!” they agreed in one voice.

The engine whirred to life and the ride started moving. The pendulum slowly rotated, swinging them higher as it began to pick up speed.

Nisha saw a flash of light in the sky, and then there was a loud thunder. The man in the machine centre started waving to the control room, asking them to stop the ride. Nisha’s heart sank. There was commotion and screaming in the control room. She saw red lights flashing and a siren begun to sound.

But it was too late for any action because the pendulum had already picked up speed. The riders had reached the top and were now hanging upside down. In a matter of moments, she saw the pendulum losing its shackles and then all of them along with the ride, speeding down towards the ground!

“Nooo!” Nisha screamed.

She got up from her bed. “Oh God, it was a nightmare!” she thought. “Was I having a dream inside my dream?” she thought.

She went outside. Everything was the same. Her parents were sitting on the dining table, playing Jenga.

“Nisha! Come sit with us.”

Nisha gasped. “Are you playing Jenga?” Could it be that her dream had turned real?

“Well, you said we weren’t fun parents so we decided to give it a go,” mum said.

“But,” her dad smiled, “this is awfully difficult. Why don’t you help us out?”

“And in the meantime, I will get lunch. It’s your favourite, chicken Manchurian!”

Nisha looked at them closely. Then she took the seat next to her dad.

“I hope you are still not upset about cancelling your plans,” he said.

“Oh, no, no! Not at all!” Nisha shivered remembering her dream.

“We may not be as fun as your friends,” Dad smiled, “But we do want the best for our little girl.”

“You are the best parents and I will never wish to have any other parents,” she blurted out. “Never, ever.” she repeated, pursing her lips.

The next day, when she met her friends, Nisha asked them how their trip had gone.

“It was a disaster, Nisha!” one friend said in a trembling voice.

“Yes, Twister got stuck just when we were at the top. And we were hanging from the cables upside down, for about 10 minutes, but it felt like hours! Nisha, can you imagine that? It was a nightmarish experience. Thank God it didn’t break and fell down,” another friend said.

“Your parents were wise to not let you go,” yet another girl added.

“They sure are wise,” Nisha thought to herself as she sighed with relief.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 20th, 2023