Father-Son Chronicles (Complete Series - 7 Episodes)

Episode #1 - Life Tastes Sweet

"Dad?" 
"Yes?"
"Why do people fail? son asked. 
"Simple," father replied. "Because they attempt." 
"And why do they succeed?"
Father smiled. "Because they attempt." 
Son scratched his head. "I don't understand." 
"Let me explain with an example," father said. "Few days back your mother made some ladoos for puja. I checked the kitchen, but no avail. She knows my love toward ladoo and so she hid them. I attempted, I failed. Then I checked our room and found them. Again I attempted, and this time I succeeded. Success tastes sweet."
"Got it," said son. "The key to success is persistence, right?" 
Father nodded.
"Dad, you are terrible with examples, and Maa is still furious."
"Sssh", Father hushed him. "This is our secret, a father-son secret. Do you get it?" 
"Sorry, it cannot remain secret anymore."
Father frowned. 
"Because Maa is right behind you, listening to our talk."
Father swallowed. "I am so dead now."

Episode #2 - Finding Rainbow

"Dad?“
“Yes?" 
"Why are you washing utensils?"
Father smiled, scrubbing a cup. The sink was filled with foam, and the air smelled of lime. "Just to improve your Maa's mood. She is still angry with me for those ladoos."
"Okay, I'll come later then."
"Speak it up, son. I sense a question in you."
Son said, "Why is happiness temporary?" 
Father stopped scrubbing. "Well, it is not. Happiness is something you can create." 
"How?"
Father took a handful of foam and blew. Bubbles danced in the air, morning rays from the window dispersing through them. "Look."
Son noticed the seven colors of light dancing in each bubble."Wow."
"See, son. People often wait for the monsoon, for the perfect moment to enjoy the rainbow. Completely forgetting that we can make our own, hundreds of little rainbows." Bubbles burst. "Same way happiness can be created. Now it depends on you how to do it."
"Cool."
Something cracked. "Did I just scrub it too hard or the material was brittle?“
"Dad, that is, I mean, that was Maa's favorite cup."
"Oops. Listen, this is between us. You haven't seen anything. Got it?"
"I have seen everything," Maa said from behind. "And that cup was my mother's gift." 
"Son, I am dead. Again."

Episode #3 - Being Good

"You really don't want me to pick you up."
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"To whom you are talking on the phone?“
Father blinked in surprise. "Is that your question of the day?" 
"No."
"Then?"
Son asked, "Why do good people suffer more?" 
Father took a thoughtful moment. "As you know, I am a good person."
Son coughed mockingly. 
Father frowned."You doubt that?“
Son bend his grin to a straight line."If I ignore the fact that you stole ladoos, broke Maa's cup, then you are just great. Now, will you provide my answer?"
"Sure. On every Sunday your Maa and her friends organize this kitty party. Last time the place was our home. And at that time I was watching a movie. They all babbled and disturbed me. I have no idea what were the last words of the dying villain! I wanted to shout at them, and tell them to leave the house. But didn't. See, son, good people have high tolerance power. We suffer because we don't want to hurt anyone else, not even to those whom we hate."
"Okay," son said, "that means you hate Maa's friends."
"Few are beautiful...I mean few have beautiful hearts. For the rest, I just pretend to be a civilized person." 
"Dad, you should really not say that for Maa's friends."
Father laughed. "And from whom should I fear now? Your Maa is not at home."
"Yeah, but you forgot to end the call on your phone, and Maa just listened to what you said."
"Son?"
“Yes?“
“Save me."

Episode #4 - Dad's Luck

"Son, I think your Maa is a Ninja."
"What?"
"Yeah," father said. "Every time she just pops up behind me from nowhere, at the wrong time." 
Son laughed. "Bad luck." 
"There is nothing called Luck."
"Come on, Dad. You can't be right everytime."
"I can prove it," father said with confidence."Luck is a terrible term. It always shadows one's efforts for success. Think of yourself preparing for exams, and getting good marks, and then I say it is because of your good luck. How will you feel?" 
"Furious," son muttered. "What about bad luck?"
Father smiled. "Bad luck is defined by us. When we fail to catch an opportunity, or when we fail because of our low contribution, we label it as bad luck."
"You mean Bad Luck is a result of our low alertness of surrounding, right?“
"That's true. Now tell me, isn't your Maa a Ninja? Sometimes I wonder her parents trained her to stealth and eavesdrop my words."
"Dad?"
"Please, don't say she is behind me."
"Your bad luck, dad."

Episode #5 -  Silence

Silence was a ghostly killer. It seeped inside him, and strangled every bit of his confidence.

His tired eyes searched the room, but found no one. He shuddered. Then he noticed a figure materializing from the darkness. His wife. She squatted near him, clutching onto his shoulder. With a solemn voice and fractured hopes, she said, "You have to leave him for now."

Like a kid being pulled away from his favorite toy, he grimaced. "No, I am not going anywhere! He can wake up at any moment, and ask anything. I want to..." A tear rebelled against his emotional hold and escaped."...to answer his questions."

She controlled herself. "Please, I did everything you told me to do. Appeared right behind you. Faked anger, just to bring a smile on his face. Now you have to do what I say. Please, have food. You haven't in the last 2 days."

"No!" He braced himself tightly. Something cracked, prickling his chest.

She let out a scream and shut her eyes, tears wetting her eyelashes. She could not see her family getting devastated. She could not see her husband wailing at her dead son's broken photo frame. She couldn't believe cancer cursed this chronicle.

Episode #6 - Reminder 

"Dad?"
The voice came from nowhere. The man spun his head in every direction, but all he could see was haze. "Son?"
"What is courage?“
The man fell on his knees. "Please, appear. I want to see you."
"I will," came the calm reply. "But only when you answer my question."
Father gathered himself and labored his drained mind. A thought conjured. "A strong force, like a flame within, makes us do things we believe we cannot."
"And yet you aren't doing what I wished for, dad."
No words shared for a while, then the man broke the silence. "You were my courage. Without you, it's the end of my life."
"If it isn't beautiful, it is not the end. Dad, do it for yourself, for Maa...for me. Will you not accomplish your son's last wish? "
The man shuddered but nodded.
And then the surrounding whirled and before it dissolved completely in a quick second, the man noticed a silhouette.

He opened his eyes. The dream was broken, the reminder was delivered.

Episode #7 - Hope

The couple stood at one end of the corridor, waiting patiently. Finally, the moment arrived and the door at the other end creaked open. Glare from the back windows shadowed a little figure that emerged out.

As the couple stepped ahead slowly, their eyes adjusted to the brightness. A little, cute girl in the pink dress was waiting.

The man squatted near her, met her innocent eyes, and greeted with a smile. Bit nervous, bit happy, she too grinned in reply.

The man offered his hand. At first, the girl hesitated. Then gradually, gauging the situation, she too extended her little arm. The moment their fingers met, something rippled across the man's heart. A feeling of being alive, as if her mere touch rekindled his dowsed hope. His eyes became watery, and he saw a blurred image of his son overlapping the girl.

"Dad?" the girl said. "They say you are my father."
The man wiped tears away. "Yes, they are right."

A wide smile stretched her lips, her eyes gleamed with happiness. With her little strides, she hugged the man by his neck. "Dad, I missed you."

The man hugged her back, a relief calming his storm inside.

"Dad," she whispered in his ear. "Can I ask you a question?"

The wife witnessing this reunion, couldn't control herself. She broke into tears. Questions had returned to their lives. Hope had blessed them as an adopted daughter. Their son's last wish was now accomplished.

It wasn't an end, it was a beginning of a new Chronicle.

____

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SEQUEL -  FATHER-DAUGHTER'S CHRONICLES