As David opened the door in the morning, he was taken by surprise to discover raindrops that were falling quietly on the deep brown painted railings.
The journey of these droplets seems happy as they spread and moistened the newly constructed concrete walls within the vicinity of his tiny eyes.
Wind is soft and often unnoticed, as there was no significant motion of any tree leaves. Crisp regular but louder, the rain gathered its strength flourishing mother nature.
As an observer, David looked around and saw the high beams, the boundary of cement acting as a horizon over the gray clouds. He took some calculated deep breath to smell the fragrance coming from freshly wet earth.
David had a pleasurable sleep last night and in that fresh morning he found himself engrossed in rain.
He went inside his bedroom to relax a bit. But, some old thoughts stormed his mind.
He was comfortable and he does not wish old thoughts to perturb him anymore.
Then he closed his eyes for a while and in another few moments could not keep it closed.
He blinked and realized that he was the only person living with his thoughts during that fresh rain outside.
"Shooooo, whisssss, hisss…..", whispered the rain.
"Oh! Nay" said David.
Rain poured continuously. Droplets at a stiff acute angle. Thin but very rapidly reflected like a silver line against a dark background.
The continuity of these silver lining was drifted by strong wind.
As David stood on the balcony, he witnessed a tall mango tree on his right side, with many small branches gathered around the main branch.
Clusters of green leaves hide the dark branches.
"Housse...…", said the penetrating cool wind from the south.
Yes it was monsoon time.
Small birds gripped these tiny branches hidden from direct rain.
David has his own share of experience to witness these changes happening around.
"I have to insist on a change", said he and then he went down stairs, took his left to enter the kitchen.
Inside it had a strong unpredictable smell of last night food left unattended perhaps due to a closed door and a window.
"I must open the door to let in some fresh air", he muttered softly.
Still the rain was dropping in.
"Tap... Tap….", said the leaking tap just outside at the right side of the balcony of the kitchen.
This tap was broken. Drinking water was flowing through the tap.
This unwilling flow had some sense of guilt about its being wasted.
David could sense this remorse.
He pushed the available plastic bucket near with a mild stretch of his right leg so as to let the water collect properly inside the bucket.
Now the water flow is happy to satisfy the empty bucket.
The kitchen seems to be a library for David. He could justify hidden stories on each ingredient by watching carefully within the library called "The Kitchen".
Suddenly, a tiny cockroach moved instantly over the rim of an utensil.
David could see the shine of the outer coat of that insect.
The tiny cockroach moved in calculated small steps from one utensil to another. "Nay noise, so calm", thought David who would track it from a distance.
It appeared that there was no much required loss of sight in between. As if the cockroach seems to be unaware of David's next move.
"Direct line of sight, only you and me", David realigned.
By the time he grabbed an insect killer spray from the next room and came back, it vanished from the pre-designated position.
Without much estimation, he unknowingly aimed the long narrow nozzle of the insect killer spray at the nearest hole from where the pipe of the gas cylinder was peeping out.
"Kill....wooseee", the nozzle alarmed.
Suddenly, the same tiny cockroach appeared from that hole. Surely, it had heavily smelled the obnoxious forced liquid. Its random Brownian movement was predictly less demanding and he got recollected to fire another shot pointing the nozzle on it and fire again.
"This moment see you in my father's mansion", claimed David.
Once fired with a heavy dose, the liquid emerged like a small island occupying the insect from all available directions. The insect now upside down laid flat on its back while the belly part pointed towards the sky. Its crawling legs cycling to the last breath.
"Merciless killing done", choked David.
David was the creator of this death. After replacing the killer liquid back at its destined location, he returned. A strong smell of death floated in the air.
He found a thick folded white paper napkin from the cupboard which he used to clear off the death scene. The napkin absorbed the entire island collecting on its way the dead corpse.
Suspecting some adjoining utensils might have been trapped by the deadly liquid that eliminated the insect, he cleaned the utensils thoroughly under running water from the kitchen sink.
The plastic bucket was now filled with water and the rain was still pouring.
He moved upstairs.
The next morning he woke up. The infection that he received from the insecticide made him suffer.
"Chest infection, I presume", he muttered. He thought that normally in a healthy individual, the infection lasts for a few days by some medication controls.
But, he thought it was not that severe.
Upstairs, David opened the door of a room, a mosque he says sometimes. It leads to a narrow long balcony outside.
He walked that narrow balcony to reach another balcony to his right. The top edges of these balconies had a heavy flat structure, "Melting Horse", some local civil contractors would call by that name.
Long edges that would help rest his arms and lean a little bit occasionally.
Suddenly, David saw a squirrel running at a top speed over the top edge of the balcony, heading straight towards him.
He didn't move but the squirrel did.
This part of the balcony was seldom used by the family members and it had become a natural path for this squirrel to move with perfect freedom.
Now, the squirrel took a 180 degree turn and began to run faster than his normal move away from David.
He followed the small mammal constantly, tuning his eyes on the radar. It had jumped to a large but closed bathroom window. Its tiny paws now hold the narrow iron rod of the outer window frame.
The squirrel continuously adjusted almost parallel on the rods, facing gravity below. It tried to match the strength of the rod so as to pretend and project motionless. Being standstill, the mammal now repeatedly aligned itself on the black rod so as to appear invisible.
David's presence so close to that mammal was an unwelcome situation now. After a while when the squirrel realized that its standstill position did not work, it strategically took shelter behind the old hanging curtain of the window.
An additional curtain was outside the closed window and there was no alternate path available for the squirrel to crawl or run away.
"Trapped, you see!", frightened David.
"People could identify your motion and presence inside the bathroom especially in the nights. Put a curtain rather…", was what neighbor Madavi's daughter Pinki would say to him earlier.
Therefore, this long piece of curtain was effectively placed outside the window that allowed restricted vision for outsiders to see beyond the glass panel of the closed window.
Through the gap created between the outside curtain and the iron frame of the window, the squirrel's movement was keenly contested by David.
Meanwhile, he tried to reach the mammal. So, he extended one of his arms, spread the fingers wide, reaching close to catch it.
The squirrel kept on its brownian movement behind the moving cloth.
He was unable to reach the squirrel, making David a little bit desperate.
He went inside the room and returned with a broom long enough to fetch his catch now. Still the squirrel laid hidden behind the cloth.
The presence of David with an armored boom awakened the mammal to fight back and survive. It jumped suddenly in the air and made a solo flight about 10-15 feet away and made a loud noise on the dark leaves of sapodilla tree below to escape its death.
"Now, catch me, if you may...", thrilled the mighty squirrel.
It survived the fall. He witnessed the dramatic escape as it landed safe holding a tiny branch to hang its weight.
Ultimately David retarded with his armored tools back to his room.