Got my eyes on you

Dressed in a cute half dungaree with a white tee shirt and a lovely high pony on her head, she yelled out “Maa, i am going to play!”

“Hang on” Maa replied and ran after her. She quickly scanned her from top to bottom while carefully tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as her daughter rolled her eyes impatiently. 

“May i leave now?” She asked.

“Yes, be careful” her mother replied with a faint smile and looked at her attentively as she opened the gate and frolicked to greet her friends at the crossroads on the left.

She knew each and every friend’s name and the fact that they belonged to well meaning families was an assurance to her. 

No boys allowed - she was firm on this rule since day one. 

No speaking to strangers - rule 2. 

Be home by 6 - rule 3

There was nothing else which was missed out on conveying. She reassured herself and headed to the kitchen.

Inform unsolicited attention to us. Is this something she missed out on? Perhaps.

The girls giggled, played hopscotch and skipped on a rope throughout the evening completely oblivious of the fact that a watchman belonging to an abandoned house in the vicinity had an eye on them. The girls belonged to the same age group. Aanya aged 8, Sunaina aged 8 and a half and Mira aged 11, the comparatively older one amongst the three of them. Needless to mention, the one entrusted with an implicit responsibility of looking after the other two girls. Over the years i have noticed that we girls often have this implicit power to sense trouble - like a gut feeling. When something feels wrong there’s a high probability that it is and the sooner we learn not to rubbish off this gut feeling, the better it is for everyone concerned.

This is not something which Mira sensed overnight but one day she saw the watchman hover around the main gate of his bungalow like a dog strapped to his leash with restricted motion - from left to right until the end of the gate from where he could get an unobstructed view devoid of oncoming vehicular traffic. 

The same watchman who was otherwise always noticed dozing off in the wee hours of the day or comfortably slouching on a plastic chair in the verandah suddenly showed a heightened sense of activity in the evenings when the girls ventured out to play.

Like all girls who sense threat but dismiss it off with reasoning, Mira too convinced herself that if he had any motive to harm he would have tried to approach them or gesture, which he hasn’t so far. Perhaps she was overreacting? With this thought, she returned to play with the girls in full zest. 

It was almost 6 pm and she neared her curfew time. She waved a goodbye to the girls, got onto her ladybird and had a last look at the playground to ensure all her play-things were collected.

Just as she placed her foot on the peddle to cycle, she heard a rattling sound, as if two pebbles were scrapped against each other. It was unusual. She quickly checked if the chain of the cycle was out of place or needed oiling - nope, all was good there. There was a wave of wind which came along and the rattling got louder. She looked on top abruptly to notice that the coconut tree under which she played entire evening had a weak palm leaf which was now dangling under the pressure of the wind. 

With very less time left to react, she starred at the palm with horror as it broke off from the trunk. She was overwhelmed and shocked to move, her face white as a ghost with fear. The other too girls who had managed to take cover under a shelter nearby now starred at her with disbelief while nibbling on their nails.

This was it, she was the victim of that fall.

In a split second, someone pushed her from behind. This threw her onto a heap of sand on the opposite side of the road. All of it happened at the same time - the fall of the palm leaf to the ground and she hitting the sand dune safely. She got up to realise a stream of blood trickling from her forehead. With hazy vision she recollected the course of events.The girls ran to comfort her.

But how did this happen?

Who pushed her to safety? 

She looked around anxiously to notice a man panting furiously on the other side of the road.

The one who kept a watch on her. Not with a mal intention whatsoever.

The constant stares over the past few days were not with an intention to harass but to warn regarding the implications of playing under a coconut tree. Vigilance par excellence - just what a watchman ought to do.