Oh, Mother! Come back from Moon!

Mark Sebastian lifted himself from the dining and slapped little Arnie, his seven-year-old son. It was a cold Sunday evening of December. 

‘Disappear from my life and don’t come back,’ Mark held little Arnie by the arm and pushed him away from the main door, and out of their one-room flat. Little Arnie, a fair-skinned young boy with rosy cheeks, could not believe it. Arnie was small but he would grow. His father had been a caring father since his mother left and Sebastian hardly put down a hand on him. 

‘Please Daddy, where would I go?’ Little Arnie pleaded with tears in his dark black eyes.

‘Do you want some more? Wasn’t one enough for you? I don’t care where you go. It doesn’t matter to me. I have enough issues to deal with,’ flashing his big red eyes, 

‘Do you want some more? I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me,’ Sebastian warned Little Arnie flashing his big red eyes. Sebastian warned little Arnie.

The handsome face of Sebastian, his Daddy, was now pale and wrinkled. Once, a pleasant gentleman, now he hardly smiled. Mark and Aaria married because they fell in love. The trend of ‘love marriage’ started in the nineteen sixties. However, it was still not accepted in the seventies. Sebastian and Aaria had an unhappy marriage, after the birth of Arnie. Sebastian’s wife left him for reasons unknown to their son, little Arnie. He was only four when she left Sebastian. Aaria expected a comfortable life after marriage. She was very much ambitious and enthusiastic to change her lifestyle. However, Sebastian had an easy approach to life and he was happy with his small-time job. Aaria was not happy with stagnancy in her life and soon financial disputes erupted between her and Sebastian. Despite love marriage, they had very less communication and gradually they grew apart. After Aaria left, Sebastian and Arnie shifted to a cheap one-room rented flat of C3A, Janakpuri. 

‘No, please. Don’t throw me out, Daddy. I will be a good son. I promise. I will eat whatever you make,’ little Arnie promised obedience as he cried. He was a lonely, sensitive and an isolated child who formed images in his ‘mind’s eye.’ He felt helpless without his mother. No doubt, he missed her. 

‘You can’t. How could you be? Even your mother wasn’t. You look like her and talk like her. You have the same black hair and black eyes. She fancied luxury and delicious food.’ Sebastian taunted him. Little Arnie had only asked for a bread roll for lunch instead of a loaf of bread.

Little Arnie had no clear memory of his mother. However, he believed that she existed somewhere. Her face had faded from his memory in all these years. But he was curious about her. How she would have looked now, he thought? Maybe she was like Ritu’s mother or maybe Rahul’s mother. She could be prettier than their neighbor Mrs. Khan. He had no idea. He only imagined her face. It was getting dark as he walked a few steps to the secluded lane of C3A. Not a soul on the street, little Arnie tried to comfort himself on the staircase which was next to his friend Rahul’s house. He sat there and lowered his head between his knees. Arnie, a seven-year-old boy was afraid of the dark. Young boys are afraid of the dark and little Arnie was frightened. He was afraid of the creepy faces he had seen in the horror comics. Did they exist? Would they find him here sitting alone and hungry? He wondered. He thought about his safety. Nobody cared that he only had a loaf of bread in the lunch. Where could he go? He thought. Christmas was around the corner, but there was no Santa to comfort him. He loved his grandparents whom he called Daddu and Daadee lovingly. He had seen Rahul and Ritu calling their grandparents as Daddu and Daadee. Little Arnie’s grandparents did not live with them. They would have never left him alone. He was cold and hungry as clock touched eight. He missed the kindness of a mother. She would not have let him go hungry for hours. 

Little Arnie did not like sweaters and he never had a jacket. He wore a light knitted full sleeve shirt with track pants. Some neighbors passed him on their routine walk, but they didn’t notice him. Nobody was interested in little Arnie. Nobody cared for a seven-year-old boy, whose mother was away and he was now thrown out by his Daddy! 

‘Any trouble Arnie?’ He heard a familiar voice as he lifted his face. It was Mrs. Sharma, mother of Rahul, his best friend. She rolled her fingers into his curly hair. Little Arnie cried and embraced her. She was thin and fair, and her face was bright. She occasionally looked after little Arnie when his Daddy went to work and arrived late at night. Streets are a dangerous place for lonely kids. Kids like him could be kidnapped or taken advantage of. Nobody cares for them these days. However, God comes in all forms! 

‘Daddy asked me to leave the house. He is furious,’ little Arnie said in a low voice.

‘Did you annoy him?’ she asked. ‘No. I asked for a bread roll. I was hungry. I only had a loaf of bread in the lunch,’ 

‘Don’t worry. You can stay here. I’ll be back in a moment.’ She went hurriedly and came back within a minute. Sebastian was not at home. 

‘Your Daddy is not at home. Maybe he will be back in a few minutes. You can come inside.’ Mrs. Sharma invited him and he followed her. She fed him a warm soup and comforted him with kind words like a mother. Without soup and a loaf of bread, he would have fallen sick. 

‘Have no fear Arnie? You are a good boy. Maybe your Daddy was upset for some reason,’ Mrs. Sharma comforted him. Arnie looked at her lovingly. If his mother was here, she would be like Mrs. Sharma, he thought. 

‘Where is my mother, aunty? I know that she lives somewhere. I have seen Daddy discussing her with grandpa.’ little Arnie asked. 

Mrs. Sharma looked at him. She had been kind to him. She did not want to upset the little boy. She cooked up a childlike reason to comfort little Arnie. 

‘Your mother is alive. She is there! She lives there and she watches you from there,’ she pointed towards the moon as she said. 

‘On the moon! Are you sure? Why is she there?’ Little Arnie asked in disbelief. 

‘I don’t know why she is there. It must be urgent that she had to go. But she will come back for you. You need to wait for her, Arnie,’ 

‘Do all mothers go there, to the moon?’

‘Yes, all mothers go to the moon,’ ‘Have you been there?’ ‘Yes. But I am already back,’ Mrs. Sharma said as she smiled. She smiled at his innocent questions. Between all this, she gently touched his rosy cheeks. The night fell and the moon got bigger. Perhaps several mothers went there today, he thought. Little Arnie expected his mother to come back soon. He stared at the moon deeply. 

Mrs. Sharma comforted her kids into the warmth of the bed for a good night’s sleep. Mr. Sharma was out on an official tour. It was tough for Mrs. Sharma. She could not allow little Arnie to roam alone in the dark of night. She stood at the door in silence. She asked him to sleep with her kids. She slept on the sofa. She had a one-room flat, but her heart was much bigger.

Little Arnie had a rough night. He slept with folded hands and prayed to all the Gods. He prayed to Jesus, Baba Nanak and to Krishna. He had been to church a few times with his Daddu and Sebastian. He had seen Mrs. Sharma praying to Baba Nanak and the driver of his school bus prayed to a tiny frame of Krishna which he kept near the steering wheel. He had heard that Santa gives gifts to children on Christmas. However, on this Christmas, he only wanted his mother as a gift from Santa. He had seen pictures of Santa with stars and moon in the background. Little Arnie was sure that Santa could bring her back from the moon. He also prayed to all the gods with a hope that they would take care of his mother who had gone to the moon. ‘What if his Daddy also decides to go to the moon?’ He slept thinking.

‘Oh! Mother, come back from the moon. Please come back Mother. I miss you so much.’ little Arnie repeated in sleep. The next morning he woke up with folded hands. Little Arnie was in the comfort of his home and in the warmth of his bed. He rubbed his eyes to see his Daddy sitting on the couch. Sebastian was reading the newspaper. Little Arnie embraced him tightly using his tiny hands and cried for joy. He would never displease him, he promised to him. He would readily accept whatever would be offered to eat; even if his mother didn’t come back from the moon to look after him. But inside, the hope floated and his heart still yearned, ‘Oh Mother! Come back from Moon!’