040 Fertilizer

In the morning, I was peacefully sleeping when the incessant cry of Anu ruined my sleep.

I woke up and looked around.

It was Anu's room.

The cry of the new babies was ruining my sleep. So mom started keeping my crib in Anu's room every morning. That way, I can sleep peacefully even if the babies throw a tantrum. Unfortunately, mom never considered the possibility of Anu crying and ruining my sleep.

She came into the room and stood beside my crib.

Why? I asked her with my hands.

"Mom.... mom didn't give me onion..." She replied between sobbing.

"Why do you want onion?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Huh? That... that..." Anu scratched her head and started thinking.

I controlled my urge to punch her in the face. What is a five year old kid going to do with onion in this early morning?

"Ahh... A big uncle has come. He is the guy in the posters. Very big." Anu pointed her hand upwards and excitedly shared a piece of news. Fortunately, she had a very short memory and had already forgotten about the onion.

I understood the situation instantly. It was the day of the election result. So dad's boss, Johny Varghese joined us in the morning. He was nervous and wanted to avoid the media. So he came to our home to hide.

I got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Mom happily greeted me and gave my toothbrush to Anu. Brushing me was Anu's duty. I had just three teeth. Still, Anu considered it an honour and brushed me carefully. They didn't use toothpaste as I was too young for that.

After brushing me, Anu went to brush Doodu. This is a habit they started recently. It's very cute to watch Doodu sitting obediently with his teeth showing and Anu playing the dentist.

I also peed and pooped. A few weeks ago, dad bought a potty for me. So pooping suddenly became a bit more 'cultured'. Once the morning routine was finished, mom fed me and talked with me a bit. I wanted to play with her. But she was a bit nervous and she went to our dining room with me.

Dad was sitting at the table with his computer open and many charts on the table. Our new television was displaying a news channel. And most importantly, the giant uncle Anu mentioned was rubbing his palms and walking around nervously.

"Sir please sit down. Being nervous won't be of any help." Dad tried to calm him down.

"Yes uncle, please calm down." Anu also consoled the old man.

He reluctantly sat down and looked at Anu. Anu was also looking at him curiously.

"Why are you so big?" Anu asked.

"I... ate a lot." He replied as he sighed.

"The first votes to be counted are postal votes. Those are cast by those who were in election duty. Those votes won't be in favour of us. But their numbers are low. So don't worry." Dad consoled the old man.

"You can say that. I don't know how I will face my children if I fail." Johny Varghese replied.

"I wouldn't have contested if I had known it would be this nerve-racking." He added.

"Sir, according to all my calculations, we will definitely win." Dad consoled the old man again.

I could see that everyone were nervous. So I decided to go and give my daily dose of bite to dad. Recently, I had developed a habit of giving a bite to dad in the morning. He would then pretend to be hurt and I would laugh.

"Ouuchh..." He cried out naturally. Unlike usual days, he was distracted and my bite did hurt him a bit.

"Hihihi..." I laughed.

"Alex, Anu, go out and play. Dad is busy." Mom ordered us.

Anu was bothering dad's boss and I was bothering dad.

"But we don't have anything to play." Anu protested.

"Then water the plants. I have taught you how to do it." Mom ordered again as she kicked us out.

"Nowadays amma is always with the babies or in the kitchen. She rarely plays with me." Anu complained aloud.

"Wuu woo..."

"You can say that. You are the one who became mom's favourite." Anu kicked Doodu. She was intentionally talking aloud so that mom and dad would hear it.

Doodu had prepared a good welcome for mom when she returned from the hospital. The competitiveness and jealousy of Anu could never accept Doodu doing a better job than her. So she was looking for a way to make it up to mom and return to being her favourite. As for me, I had long since given up on becoming her favourite. Instead, I have started trying to be Anu's favourite.

"Anu, stop fighting and water the garden before the sun's up." Mom ignored Anu's words.

"Uhh? Yes." Anu replied.

Mom has a small garden. It is a small collection of rare plants she gathered through many methods. Even dad didn't dare to pluck a flower from the garden. So mom allowing Anu to water it was indeed a great honour for her.

Anu went to the water tap on the side of our home and returned with a mug full of water. Buckets were banned because of safety issues. In the past few years, there were some incidents of toddlers drowning in buckets. So in our home, we kids didn't have access to buckets. Also, Anu wasn't strong enough to carry a bucket full of water.

"One mug of water for Rose. One mug for jasmine. Two for..." Anu recited rules as she ran back and forth. Then suddenly froze thinking something.

"Alex, come here." She suddenly dragged me away.

"I have an idea." She excitedly started explaining.

"Wuu wuu..." Doodu immediately protested. He wanted to stop Anu even before she explained the idea. But I was quick and blocked his mouth.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember how mom wanted to get cow dung for fertilizing her plants?"

"Yes?"

"She still hasn't gotten cow dung. So if I help her fertilize her garden, she will be very happy."

I and Doodu were confused. Even mom failed to get cow dung. How is this dumb girl going to get it? So I asked. "But where will you get the cow dung from?"

"Hahaha... That's where my intelligence comes into play. I found a good alternative for cow dung."

We looked at her suspiciously.

"Remember the hole dad made on the ground for Doodu to poop in it?" She lowered her voice as she explained her bright idea.

I was dumbstruck.

Dad had made a small pit outside our courtyard for Doodu to poop. Every week, dad would cover it and make a new pit. Since I started using the potty, dad used this same pit to dump my poop also.

According to dad, using flush to get rid of my poop was wasting water. Also, he believed that my poop was 'innocent'. I don't understand any of his reasoning.

"So... What are you going to do?" I asked despite knowing the answer.

"I am going to take the poop in the pit and use it as a fertilizer for mom's plants." She proudly explained her ingenious idea.

I and Doodu stared at her without knowing what to say.

"Just wait. I will get the spoon." Anu ran to our tool shed.

Mom had a gardening trowel. Anu didn't know the name of it. So she named it 'big spoon'.

"Listen. We cannot always protect her. We have to let her make the mistakes so that she will learn and grow up." I turned towards Doodu and said.

He passed a judging look at me.

"Come on... We have to help her to let some of her stupidity out. If it accumulates for a long time, it might explode." I tried my best to convince Doodu.

In the end, Doodu sighed and laid down.

Anu soon returned with the garden trowel. She then simply made some noises before running off to collect the 'fertilizer'. If Anu stays silent for a few minutes, mom would come looking for her. She learned this lesson recently. So she kept singing or talking even when she was going to do something mischievous.

"Both of you please come and help me," Anu requested.

"I can't. My hands are small."

"Wuu.. wuwuwu..."

We both denied Anu's request. She was a bit disappointed to hear it. Still, she ran with the trowel and returned within seconds.

She was pinching her nose. Apparently, the smell of the mix of our poops was not pleasant.

"Eeww... eww... eewww..." She cried in disgust as she dropped the poop in mom's garden and ran for more.

Within seconds, she returned with another scoop.

Once she dropped more 'fertilizer in the garden, she started working quickly. She used the trowel to mix it with the soil and then even poured water on it.

"Finally, let's add some water to the mix. This makes it soft and... and gives a good smell. And the roots will be able to eat the food in the soil very quickly." She explained the steps as if it was a cookery show.

"Anu... What are you doing?" Just when Anu had finished her preparations, mom came to check upon us. She instantly got worried after seeing Anu with the trowel.

"Hihihi... Guess what? I have put fertilizer in your garden." Anu proudly declared her good deed.

I and Doodu immediately got up and hid behind the pillar. We both absolutely didn't want to come in front of mom when she was angry. If elder sister Priya was here, she would have also hidden with us while struggling to cover her giggle.

I suddenly missed her.

"How... how... What?" Mom was shivering as she inspected the garden.

"See... You may be older. But your intelligence does not even compare to mine. I used Alex's and Doodu's poop to fertilize your garden." Anu proudly declared her achievement as she patted herself.

I started feeling guilty. Maybe I should have stopped her before it went too far. But now it was too late.

Mom covered her face with her hands and stayed still for a few moments.

I tried to signal Anu to run. Running away from mom was not an option. But running to dad was a good idea. But Anu was so proud of her contribution that she didn't even pay attention to what we were signalling.

"Anu - baby, why does mom make a garden?" Mom asked Anu.

"huh? To get flowers." Anu answered confusedly.

"Why do we need flowers?"

"Because they have colour and... and good smell."

"Does our garden smell good now?"

"... No." Anu's sound became faint as she realized the issue.

"Can anyone enjoy the flowers when the garden smells like poop?"

Anu shook her head. Her lips started shivering signalling that she was about to cry.

"Don't cry. Just think about this. What does a cow eat?"

"... milk?"

"Cow eats milk?"

"No. Grass."

"Yes. A cow eats grass. So cow poop does not smell bad. So we can use cow poop for fertilizing, not Doodu's or Alex's poop." Mom calmly explained.

Anu's nose had turned red. Her eyes were teary. Contrary to what I expected, mom didn't scold her. Mom controlled her anger and explained Anu's mistake calmly.

"Don't cry. You didn't do anything bad. You were trying to help me. So it's fine. Next time, just tell me when you have a new idea."

"Waaaa..... aaaaa...." Despite mom consoling, Anu started crying loudly.

I might have mentioned this before, her cry wasn't a bit cute. She made loud noise and booger came out of her nose.

Mom continued consoling her and picked her up.

"Ahh... My little girl has grown up a lot. You are very heavy." Mom complained as she carried Anu. Anu hugged her neck and continued crying incessantly.

Mom turned towards us who were hiding behind the pillar.

"Both of you, get inside." She ordered.

We both ran inside in relief. Recently, mom had started group punishments. If any of us make any mischief, we all would get punished. So I was a bit worried about getting punished.

Once inside, mom took Anu to the bathroom to give her a bath and I went to check the latest news. Since we made enough trouble for one day, I can spend the rest of the day calmly watching the news.

______________________

[Will continue in the next chapter]

Please vote and comment.

Thank you