056 Egg

It was a perfect Sunday. Dad was home with us. The state elections were drawing closer. So dad wanted to spend one more day with us before he got busy with the election work.

We first played together. First, we played football.

"Take that... Hahaha... You snot-nosed kids don't stand a chance in front of me." Dad scored another goal and started making fun of us. Sometimes he would intentionally lose to us. But sometimes he would just enjoy beating us in the games.

"No... Appa is... big legs." Priya wasn't happy. She protested.

"So what? If you think it is unfair, then eat more and grow big." Dad replied.

Appa is a local term for dad. Anuchi had been using different forms of the word dad to call dad. Sometimes she even calls him 'Kariyachan'. That is dad's baptism name and his pet name. Only mom, Jeemma and some close friends call him that. Dad loved it when Anuchi called him that. Anyway, Priya started calling him 'appa' and we all settled for that.

"No. I don't like you." Priya was angry. She grabbed dad's leg and started kicking his shin.

"Pichu too." Prince joined her.

It was more fun than playing football. So we all joined the fight. Dad was soon on the floor. He loved to wrestle with us. We loved it too.

Except for Doodu. He didn't enjoy wrestling with dad. He was so huge and strong that even dad might not be able to beat him in wrestling. But we other kids wrestle with him. He loves that.

We all made a lot of noise and fought a lot.

"It's so peaceful here without you all here. I won't get stuff done with you all here. Get out and don't return before that time for lunch." In the end, mom was annoyed and kicked us out.

"Woowu wuu..." Doodu protested. He was telling mom that he didn't fight.

"You are coming with us." Anuchi wrapped her hand around Doodu's neck and dragged him with us.

With no other choice, we started walking around our plantation. Then, dad proposed exploring our small river. Recently, our river had dried up because of the lack of rain. So it was the perfect time for us to explore it.

We walked around a bit. The river was full of stones. So walking was pretty difficult. Still, it was fun.

That's we found a stone that looked like an egg.

When water flows over rocks, stones would get stuck between the rock crevices. The flowing water would move the stones inside the rock. Over time, the stones would become smooth and spherical. I was sure that it was one such stone.

"What egg do you think it is?" I asked innocently.

"There is a high chance it is an elephant egg. If not, it is definitely a dragon egg." Anuchi explained with a serious face while struggling to hide her laughter.

"Elephant... with big ears?" Prince asked.

"Yes. The one that flies." Anuchi answered. I hope you remember the flying elephant from mom's stories. The kids also grew up hearing the same stories. I also told my version of the story. They loved the story.

"We... take it home," Priya suggested.

"Yes yes..." Prince agreed.

I was sure that it was just a stone. But I had no plans to tell the truth. Why would I knowingly give up a chance for some fun.

"I can help you get it out of the river." A sound came from the riverside.

Arjun's dad was crouching on the roadside and smiling widely.

"Elder brother! When did you come?" Dad greeted him.

"I was just coming for lunch and saw the kids." He climbed down to the river.

Dad and Arjun's dad struggled a bit to lift the egg out of the river. Once it was on the road, it became our problem.

We five kids worked hard to roll the egg on the road. Fortunately, the egg had smoother outside and it rolled easily. With a lot of difficulties, we brought home the egg.

"Now what?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"Omelette."

"Boiled." Priya and Prince answered right away. I was proud of the kids. They were the kind of people who would have dinosaur meat for dinner if Jurassic Park was to become a reality.

"No! Now we keep it warm so that we can hatch it." Anuchi answered with a serious face.

"Hach?" Prince asked confusedly.

"That's how kids are born. Mom's will keep eggs warm for 21 days and then babies will come out breaking the shell." Anuchi shared her wisdom of baby birth.

"Piya came out of egg?" Priya asked curiously.

"Pichu omelette?" Prince asked worriedly.

"No. no... Pichu is not omelette. Both of you were in an egg. Then mom kept you two warm for 21 days... no. Ten months. I also helped. After ten months, you two came out." Anuchi explained.

"Ohh..." Prince patted his chest in relief.

"But appa wanted to make boiled eggs. It was I who stopped him." Anuchi added with an evil grin.

Prince and Priya turned towards dad angrily. They ran to him and started kicking his shin. It was a cute scene.

"Ouch..." Dad cried and playfully ran away. He didn't want to be kicked out by mom again.

"Listen... We will take turns keeping the egg warm. First, it's Doodu's turn." Anuchi turned to Doodu.

"Woowuu..." Doodu protested. He was intelligent and didn't want to be tricked.

"What do you mean dogs don't lay eggs?"

"Wowowuu..."

"Doesn't matter. You can still keep the egg warm." Anu and Doodu bickered a bit and in the end, managed to make Doodu warm the egg.

We took turns.

Prince and Priya were excited about the egg. But the kids didn't have enough patience to stay still for more than two minutes.

"Achu... Don't sit on the egg. Use your belly to keep it warm." Anuchi instructed me when it was my turn.

"My ass is hot too." I rejected. Keeping my belly on the egg was no easy task.

"Don't say that word. Say 'butt' or 'bum'." Anuchi kicked me. According to our family, 'ass' was a bad word.

"Kids, time for lunch," Dad called us all in for lunch.

We had a good lunch. Dad had bought a shorter table. It was for us kids including Doodu. It was Anuchi's duty to make Prince and Priya eat. She loved that job.

After lunch, we all laid down on the verandah.

"Woowu..." Doodu said something

"What do you mean sound inside the egg? It's just a stone." Anuchi replied.

"Stone?" Priya asked.

"No. no. It's an egg." Anuchi corrected herself.

"Ummm..." Doodu murmured something and laid down.

We all slept for some time and then woke up to watch the Sunday movie.

It was a normal and good day.

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