037 Injection Police

Midnight.

The sky was covered by clouds.

Not a single star was visible in the sky.

Complete darkness.

Even nocturnal animals are staying in their homes because of the pitch-black scary night.

A rat slowly came out of its den. It crawled between the roots of a giant tree. The little creature was looking for a midnight snack.

Suddenly, the nearby bushes moved. A shadow darted through the silent night. The pitiful cries of the rat died down in seconds and no one ever saw the poor rat again.

In that scary night, Anu was sleeping peacefully in her room. She was hugging Doodu. She was dreaming and there was a happy smile on her face. A slow wind was moving the curtain of the room continuously.

The clouds slowly moved and revealed a full moon.

Through the windows, the blue light of the moon fell on the sleeping kids.

Suddenly, Doodu shivered.

His eyes snapped open.

His breathing quickened and his tail started shivering.

The tiny fingers on his small paws extended. He grunted as his shoulders slowly deformed. The pointed ears curved, legs became thicker, the tail disappeared the fur on his body slowly withdrew into his skin.

Slowly, his entire body changed.

The commotion woke up Anu.

"Ahhh... It's full moon again!" Anu said excitedly.

"Hihihi..." The eerie laughter of a child resounded in the small room.

The moonlight revealed a chubby baby in the place of Doodu. He was sitting upright with a happy smile on his face. He was about six months old and had golden-brown hair on his head.

"Younger brother..." Anu called excitedly and hugged the little boy.

"Elder sister..." He called and hugged her in return.

"Hihihi... My 'dearest' younger brother...."

"My dearest elder sister..."

"Come... I will feed you grilled chicken and wash your butt when you poop." Anu dragged the little boy out of the bed and walked towards the kitchen.

Then she suddenly turned around.

"Not you. You are not my dearest brother." She told me.

"Hihihi... Elder sister..." The chubby boy called again.

"Dearest younger brother..." Anu hugged the boy.

"Eeekkk..." I screamed and woke up.

I was sweating and panting. It was a really scary dream.

"You are awake." Anu appeared right in front of me.

'How dare you call someone else 'dearest brother'!' I was furious. I punched at her face with all my strength.

"Ahh.." She was close to me. So the punch landed right on her face.

"Ughh..." Her face changed instantly. Her lips quivered and nose wrinkled.

I was confused. Those were the signs that she was going to cry. But my punch was never strong enough to hurt her.

I immediately leaned forward and hugged her neck. "Don't cry. It was just a joke."

I consoled her.

"They... They punctured me." She replied as she slowly straightened her arm.

There was a small cotton ball inside of her elbow. I couldn't help but smile. Poor girl got an injection. But I didn't understand why she was crying.

"Stop crying and tell me what happened."

Anu told me everything while sobbing. They checked the records and found that she had to take two booster injections. But the doctor advised not to give her both the injections together. So dad took her to the doctor and got her one injection.

She was a brave girl. But the needle scared her. So every time she was taken to get an injection, dad had to hold her down. After the injection, she was angry and fought with our dad. Then she went to mom to complain. Unfortunately, mom already had her hands full with the two newborns. She tried to console Anu. But Anu insisted on punishing dad. In the end, mom got angry and scolded her.

She was sad and came to me. This was her usual routine. Every time she gets scolded by mom and dad, she would come to me.

I was asleep. So she waited for me to wake up. Unfortunately, the moment I woke up, I punched her in the face. She felt that everyone was against her and she started crying.

I felt bad after listening to her. The poor little girl waited a long time for me to wake up. And I betrayed her expectations. Also, it wasn't her fault that I saw such a dream. If anyone had to be blamed, it should be mom for making up the weird idea of 'werehuman'. If it wasn't for her ridiculous idea, I would have never seen such a dream.

"Stop crying. These injections are important for your health. Remember how you have to eat all the vegetables even if you don't like it? The injections are just like that. It is for your good health I too will have to get the injections." I consoled the little girl.

"But I want to punish dad."

"We will. But not now. Now, we are at the hospital. Once we reach home, we will teach him a lesson." I promised Anu.

I was in a crib, which was inside Lakshmi aunty's office. I wasn't here when I fell asleep. They might have moved me here as it was free from the usual disturbances and safe.

"Ok." Anu calmed down a lot. She wiped her running nose on my clothes when she was crying. I was angry but decided to ignore it.

"Who is your dearest brother?" I asked just to be sure.

"Huh?... You." Anu was taken back by the sudden question. Still, she gave me the answer I wanted to hear.

"Wait. You turned one year old today. Right?" Anu suddenly remembered something and asked me excitedly.

"Yes. I am still waiting for my gift." I answered expectantly.

"Hehehe... Just wait." Anu laughed and ran out.

Finally! Someone was finally thinking about me. I felt blessed to have a sister like her.

I didn't have to wait a lot. Anu returned within a few minutes with Lakshmi Aunty in tow.

I smiled widely on seeing her. But she had a very serious face.

"I heard someone turned one. Is that true?" Lakshmi aunty asked with a serious face.

I nodded. I was happier. It looked like Lakshmi aunty also brought a gift. I was really looking forward to her gift.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you poop can be used against you in the injection room." She said with a stern face.

'What? Miranda warning? But we are in India. And... what injection?' I was truly confused.

"We are injection police. We find kids who turned one year old and give them an injection." Anu announced loudly.

My mouth fell agape.

'This backstabber!' I never expected to be betrayed like this. Once Anu realized that injections were given depending on age, she went and asked Lakshmi aunty. Lakshmi aunty asked the doctor and it turned out there was indeed an injection for me.

They didn't bring me gifts! They were going to get me an injection.

Despite my protests, I was soon taken to a doctor and then a nurse. Two minutes later, I got an injection on my tiny bum. It was a bit embarrassing as it was done in front of Lakshmy aunty. On top of that, the injection did hurt a lot.

I cried a bit and tried to get revenge on Anu. My punches wouldn't hurt her. So I was going to pull her hair or bite her. But the little girl was cunning and she knew what was going to happen. So she never came anywhere near me. Even when I chased her, she ran away.

I just wanted a birthday gift.

They took me to mom. She had already woken up. Auty was sitting beside her and dad was nowhere to be seen.

"Little rascal. You ruined my birthday cake. How does it feel now?" Mom asked me with a playful face while feeding me.

I wanted to bite her. But decided not to. After all, there were two little ones who were going to make her life miserable. I decided not to drink a lot as my younger ones also drank from the same mom.

"Don't worry. Dad is bringing a cake. We can celebrate your birthday in the evening." Mom added.

I felt a lot better. Finally, something good was happening to me today.

At least, I was getting a cake.

I happily waited for the cake with absolutely no idea that everything was going to be far worse.

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Just one more chapter in the hospital.

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