“What happened to it then?”
“It got stolen and I think I know who did it.”
“Didn't you charge him?”
“No, I had my fill of it by then and as I always say, better to get cheated than to cheat on someone.....I have always believed in divine justice”.
“What happened?” she prompted.
“That boy had a book by Mark Twain which we all envied…..” He was laughing, his slight frame quivering against her arm.
“And…?” she asked impatiently.
“A cow chewed up most of the book, but the boy refused to give up what was left of it. And his anger at the cow......” now she also joined him in his laughter.
“And to make matters worse for him, we named the cow Mark Twain!”
Her mind drifted at the familiar drone of his voice as he talked. She nuzzled against his arm and felt secure at the familiar, comforting smell of Pond's cream and Johnsons' baby oil on Daddy. She tried to match her stride with his slower ones as they walked along, blanketed by an overwhelming sense of peace.
“........still feel the spool rolling between my thumbs and forefingers........”
She realized he was still lost in his kite flying days as he continued “.......the tug of the string......the direction of the wind blowing......You know what? At one stage you feel at one with the kite, as if it is you who is up there in the sky.....free and far away.”
“Tell me, Daddy. If I were a boy, would you have taught me how to fly a kite?”
“Have I ever stopped you from doing anything because you were born a girl?” he asked with a half-smile, turning and looking at Shaila.
“Of course, you did, Daddy, many times.” She was quick to reply.
“That's not true and you know it. I think I have always tried to provide you with as many options as possible to choose from, and that is as liberal as any father can be with his child.”
“But you didn't answer my question.....”
“Of course, I would have taught you to fly a kite. But I can't think of any girl being an ardent kite flyer!”
“That's because we are groomed to play indoor games only.”
“But then kites are bordering on extinction today”, he put in sadly.
“Yes, the sky has no longer the same horizon. One would have to stand on a very tall building to see a kite flying these days”, she added.
As they walked side by side they almost missed a pothole in which her Daddy was about to step in, and she pulled on his arm reflexively saying, “Watch out!”
Then there was silence. Suddenly she could only hear her own breathing. She woke up with a jolt. Her eyes squinted against the sun as if in protest. She found herself in that state of denial that one finds oneself in when something good comes to an end.
At a loss, she glanced sideward and there it was, her very own composition of Daddy's epitaph, mocking her to full wakefulness.
I see the beacon that beckoned us to the right side,
I hear the voice that we always sought as a guide,
I treasure the gifts of your fatherhood that are never to be lost,
I feel the love that was always there no matter what,
And yet I struggle to find the words,
That will tell you you’re true worth.
A sense of unutterable void overcame her as she lay still under the clear blue sky, trapped in the feeling of being alone all of a sudden. The here and now seemed still and confined, reminding her of the narrow horizon of the sky she was referring to earlier. A sense of rebellion gripped her as if the sublime peace she enjoyed only some moments ago could not be lost just like that. But then something in the horizon caught her eye and she stared in disbelief. There it was......flying high........free and far away.......no, it couldn't be.......but yes, there it was..........a white kite with a blue fluttering tail.
