Happy To Be

- Anju Jain

Bye, see you soon again,” I said as I saw the last guestout and came back into the house.

Exhausted, I just flopped on the sofa. It had been a good birthday party; everyone had enjoyed it, and my son had loved it too! He had turned a year old so soon. Presently, looking around, my mind immediately registered all the things I had to clean up and set right. The glow of the party vanished and as I was preparing mentally to get started, I heard my mother call out to come in and sit with the family to unwrap gifts. Reluctantly, I joined them. My son was really enjoying the tearing up of the wrappers and seeing a new toy emerging out from each one.

In a while, I grew restless and was about to leave when mom pulled me aside and gave me a small box. “This is for you. Don't worry, I have given the eatables away. Everything else can wait till tomorrow. Now you go and catch up on some sleep.” I hugged her and went up to my room. I opened the gift and inside was a neat card saying 'TODAY'. Puzzled, I looked inside and found a note saying, “Your day-out to park tomorrow. Cab will pick you at 7 AM. Read this letter when you are there.” I was surprised and wondered what this was all about, but that was mom - mysterious as always. How could I go tomorrow anyways? It was Sunday but there was so much to do. 'I'll skip the trip' I thought and made a mental note to tell my mom. Before I could do that, I heard my son cry and went to see him.