Can I tell you a story? 1/2

Part 1 – Kevin’s Story

Yesterday evening my friends from across the globe forced me to end our three and a half hour long skype call, recommending me to go and doze off, reminding that I had to attend work the next day. I am sure they did that just because they wanted me to go away and let them free for their much awaited weekend siesta.

Since I had woken up only past noon that day and since I had already exceeded my quota of snoozing for the week, I was taken wide eyed and awake. After I had failed to induce sleep by forcing myself through all my known means, finally to kill time, I logged on to blogger and posted one of my first works in Malayalam, yet I was still undone.

Back in the Master Bedroom (Where I am otherwise banned entry), I lied down still, breathing heavily and staring into the Cimmerian emptiness of the room with my wide open eyes. This exercise transported me away, not to Slumberland, but back in time, some two weeks ago and just a couple of days before my wife and kids left for India.

I lied down straight on my back and on my right laid my seven year old lad Kevin, sideways facing me and resting his head on to my biceps. His right leg and arm over my tummy and chest respectively.

He asked “Papa, are you feeling sleepy?”

I replied “Yes. It is already two thirty in the night”.

That night we were busy packing our carton full of gifts and souvenirs for our many friends and relatives in India.

“But I am not sleepy Papa” he came back.

“Kevin, it is already five o’ clock in India right now. If you don’t sleep in time, you’ll be all the time sleepy sleepy when you are in Thrissur and will not be able to go and play with your friends at all. Do you want it to be like that?” I asked back.

“No papa” He answered, and further enquired ”Do I have school tomorrow?”

“No you don’t. But I have to go to office, and I am tired so lets just go to sleep” I replied and I closed my eyes.

“I am not sleepy Papa. Can I go and watch TV? Yohan is watching TV” (Yohan is his three year old brother)

“No” I said with my eyes closed and added “Yohan was sleeping since evening. He just woke up now”

“Then Papa, can you tell me a story?”

“Kevin, I am so tired…. No story telling… please” I said in a tired tone and added “Just close your eyes and sleep. Remember how Special agent OSO helped that girl sleep today. Just close your eyes, take a deep breath and slowly you’ll fall asleep. Try that”

Listening to my latest advice, he went into that attention mode, lying on his back with his arms straight on his sides and started breathing heavily with his eyes closed, as if he were meditating.

A moment later he recoiled back to his original position and said “I am not sleepy. Can I tell you a story, Papa?”

I said “Okay” and thus began his story telling. Knowing Kevin very well, I knew what to expect, but this one was a bit different. The experience was akin to being caught in the eye of a tornado.

He started “There is a boy. He has special powers. His name is Ben Tennyson. And he has a sister. Her name is Gwen and his friend’s name is Kevin Levin. Kevin Levin has a green colour car. That is a super car, like a super super car. It can shoot and go fast like zoooo zooo zooo” as he said this, his arms and legs fidgeted rapidly over my body almost crushing my balls and breaking my bones. Little did I know that this was just the tip of the iceberg? The big hitting was yet to come.

He continued “You know Vilgax. He is the biggest enemy of Ben10 and he captured Gwen and Kevin Levin and put them in prison. And you know he wants the omnitrix so he wants to catch Ben10 and kill him and be most powerful. But Ben10 has the omnitrix and he can become aliens and attack him. And they fight” With that I started receiving blows from all the sides.

He continued with blows, and kicks. I just lied there still, with my eyes closed and my hand protecting my cullions, lest they’d break like walnuts under a hammer

“Doo ddaaa doom dahshh ….omnitrix…. fight … attack …. Boom disshhh …. Humungasaur ….. smash….. spider monkey…. Bhoom dash  dooo daa doo diiiii …. Echo echo …. Kooooo…. Attack attack…. Doodda dooda doom doom…..and then Vilgax falls into the fire and they come back to earth and they meet grandpa”

I knew that the story had just ended, but I had no clue of what happened to me or how the climax went about. I did feel a few blows amidst all that din and yelling.  It was like I had gone for a massage and the guy at the parlour put me into a washing machine drum and rolled me till I was all mixed up and vibrated. My head was still resonating like tongs and everything around was blurred for a few seconds even after he had finished the final act of the story.  I had lost my sleep.

He finally told “That was the end” and asked “How’s my story?”

I just replied back “I was good” with a silent “Aaahhhh” and “ouch, it hurt”

“Do you know what is the moral of this story?” Kevin asked.

I didn’t want to get into the complications and so just replied to him “You tell?”

“Ben10 always saves the day. Good guys always win. Bad guys always lose” he concluded and asked me “Can you tell me a story, Papa?”

I thought, ’this was my chance to give back a little piece of advice to this lad’ and so I started.