by Hetaf Khan

Created on: May 22, 2010   Last Updated: December 13, 2010

"Mummmyyyyy!" I called when I saw a small slimy earthworm making it's way from the mud puddles just a cm away from my feet. How horrifying these small creatures seemed who scared me while removing weeds from my Grandfather's garden. My mother still busy removing weeds meticulously,  tells me not to annoy her and gives me a easier task of plucking fruits hoping I'd find it amusing and let her spend her quality time in contributing to her father's garden.  I’d always been waiting to come here and do all the incredible things which I could just fantasize at my home. My home was in a highly inhabited city where I could only team up with my friends and play with plastic dolls or with games confined to a small four cornered room.  But now I was where I have been waiting to be from past 9months. I was here to spend my summer break.

The rich green topography , the tall coconut trees swaying with wind “whishhhhh wooshhhhh “,  delicate,  graceful  and vividly colored flowers around the veranda, the huge white farmhouse, all of this overjoyed me. I could run on the fertile green grass with wind hitting against my cheeks and no one who would yell at me and detach me from my fairy-like world. These days were so perfect with all my family members present except dad. Dad got holidays only on weekends. Today was a weekend. Like always me and Talha excitedly rushed to the bridge a few yards away from the house to welcome dad on the expected time, for arrival of the bus. Talha is my brother, a year younger to me.  “Wow checkout that frog Baji. It’s so huge “, shocked and excitedly said Talha peeping in the pond while leaning over the railings of the bridge with sparkling wide eyes.  Baji is the title given to elder sister in Urdu.  “Yes, it is”, I reply unsatisfied since the frog  wasn't the kind I anticipated. I had an image of a frog green in color which is seen in our texts of school. Instead he had grayish black skin and his croak wasn't much appealing to my ears. Talha still spellbound as he was an animal lover, watching each and every detail of this grey amphibian with eagerness. He would spend hours watching documentaries on animals back home, how could he not take the benefit of watching these creatures live.

Lomuuu! Manguu!” a voice with excitement and longing comes from the pavement while we were hovering over the bridge.  We turn back to see our father and

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