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Chapter 1: Plan A

It’s 8 on a Saturday evening as they get together in front of their house, sitting on an old iron cot, trying to come up with a plan. It’s been days since they last saw us walk out of our house. They are “Concerned.” There must be a way to find out what’s going on inside. “This uncertainty is killing me,” said the woman. At first, it was curiosity, but now it has turned into an uproar. They couldn’t live without knowing the truth. They had to fight this uncertainty, for their home, for their freedom, and the God damn truth. So, the woman takes charge, gathers her troops, discusses her plan, and they all agree it is a good plan. She walks in front of my house to get a glimpse of what’s going on inside. Her son and daughter follow her lead. They walk back and forth for a while, but the tainted glass window blocks their view. They look to their mother for guidance, and their mother signals them to go a bit further. Still no luck. Tired of walking back and forth, the son and daughter take some time out. But the woman forges on because she knows that without pain, there is no gain. She needs to carry on. She cannot be a loser. One day she will have to look back at this moment, and there cannot be any regrets. She must be able to say with pride that she did her best and never gave up. Meanwhile, her husband thinks to himself, “Why do I put up with this monster. I need to get out of here”. An hour goes by, and the woman feels tired, she cannot go on any longer, so she stops to take a breath.

Chapter 2: Plan B

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She sits on her cot, out of breath and angry. Giving up is not her thing, but right now, she looked defeated. I was at ease, thinking if this is all they can do, then I’m ok with it. But, a few happy breaths later, I hear water pouring outside. I look out with curiosity. The woman is washing the tires of their mini truck. That was nothing to be concerned about, or so I thought. After she has cleaned the tires, she grabs a broom and gives one to her daughter. She instructs her daughter to sweep the muddy water in front of my house; what a cruel woman. The woman is certain that this is the only way to get back her freedom. So she sweeps and sweeps. But halfway through, the daughter has second thoughts. “This doesn’t feel right,” she mutters to herself. Her brother notices the look on her face. He knows Mother would be furious with such disobedience. So he takes the broom from his sister and follows in his mother’s footsteps. His father looking up at the sky, questions the Almighty, “Why God, why? Have I not been thine humble servant since the day mine mother bore me? Have I not toiled for thine glory? Then why does thou bring upon me such shame and suffering.” If the Almighty replied or not, we’ll never know.

Now, back to the main event. Once the task was complete, the woman and her son walked back to their base with pride. It was a job well done. Now all they had to do is wait for someone to open the door and say, “WTF.” There is no way anyone would sit there without being angry, seeing that horrible sight.

Mortals, how foolish of them to think I would take the trouble of getting out of my comfort zone on a weekend. And also, there are people who sweep our streets every Sunday, why should I even bother. Thus, their plans had gone in vain they had exhausted their time and energy with nothing to show. The son could no longer face the embarrassment. He sank into his miserable house while his sister followed him. The woman was furious. Anger filled her lungs. She needed an explanation or someone to blame. Right then, her eyes set on a distorted figure of a man in the background, the so-called ‘Man of the house,’ ‘Her Husband.’

Chapter 3: The Fury

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He sits in his chair with no care of tomorrow,
Deep in his thoughts, with no sign of sorrow.
Little did he know about the monster lurking beside him, losing its breath,
Large eyes and an oversized belly that could squeeze him to death.

The woman looked at him with anger. She wanted to snap his neck with a stare. Oh, how she wished she could do that. Meanwhile, the man said to himself, “Bananas, there are some bananas in the fridge. Wait a minute, why is that monster looking at me like that? What did I do? Was I staring at a woman? Was there a woman in the sky, on the footpath, maybe behind me?… I don’t see anyone.” The man was oblivious to the situation and got caught off guard. But he was hungry and couldn’t give a flying shit. So he went inside to fetch himself something to eat. Now the woman was furious. Her own family abandoned her, ‘Her Flesh and Blood.’ Huffing and Puffing, she stepped into her home to teach her husband a lesson, to give him some of her wisdom.

A few silent minutes later, the man came out with a banana in his hand; he looked jolly, like a kid with a banana in his hand. He had somehow avoided the ball of fury, or he didn’t notice it. Whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about it. And boy, was I right. A few banana bites later, the woman came pounding like a gorilla. She sat down beside him and started to say something. She said something, and he said something, she responded with something, and so did he, and then they both said something with fury. A couple of something something later, the woman walked back to her miserable house. While the man sat there with a half-eaten banana in his hand, contemplating his existence. He knew there was nothing anyone could do about it. This terrible decision was on him.

On the flip side, I slept like a baby that night. I knew that the woman would stay up all night trying to hatch a new plan while cursing her family. As for the man, I felt terrible, but there was nothing I could do.