The sound of laziness (Short Story)

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“Unni… go get the blankets from the terrace,” said my Mom.

“Me? No… I am busy, mom,” replied I, who was busy browsing internet and listening to latest music on youtube.

How would my mother know about my virtual world? She is a simple Indian housewife who knows only the real world. She spends her whole day doing household chores and prayer. As she is afraid of heights and the narrow staircase in the backyard of our home, she never visits the terrace.

I am not just a famous busy blogger with more than 60 followers. I am also an epitome of how a son should be. I help my mom a lot by eating food. I love my mom so much that I never apply for a job and I rarely go outside. Some days I help my mom to wash clothes by pressing the power button and wash button of a fully automatic washing machine. Mom always thinks I am doing something big on my laptop, like Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Even my neighbourhood thinks the same. Despite my demolished career, this fake impression about me is a blessing. So my mom rarely calls me for help and calls my dad instead. Yesterday, dad was away from home to attend a marriage.

After getting a big NO from me, my mom resumed her works — cleaning dishes, preparing lunch etc. Both of us forgot about the blankets on the terrace.

It was night and I turned on the fan, I turned off the lights and went to bed.

“What a beautiful repetitive boring day,” I thought.
At midnight, mosquitoes, the flying vampires, arrived and interrupted my sleep. My hands began to search for a blanket— the shield that protects me from such attacks. It was then I realised that the blankets are on the terrace.

Like a blind man on a battlefield, I clapped my hands in the air, in the dark room. I may have killed a few mosquitoes, who knows. Again I am back to sleep mode. Ahh… finally, a good night sleep.

Yay… I woke up this morning, which I have been successfully doing since 1992.

“Oh wow! It is raining in the morning,” I thought.

I checked for my glasses which is always found on the edge of my bed. But my hand felt weak and I am not feeling well. I was shivering like I had ice bucket challenge. I understood that I have cold and fever because I didn’t cover myself with a blanket last night. Now I pay the price for my laziness.

“Haaachu… Haachuuu…” the sound of my non-stop sneezing reached everywhere.

“Ha ha ha…” chuckled mom and dad, and said, “That is the sound of laziness.”(and they came to my room and covered me with their old blankets).

—- The end —-