Mysore Mayhem- Part 9

With the tumultuous trip behind me, I reached the doorstep of my home 7 hours later. All I wanted to do was give my parents the tightest hug I could before running up for a nice long relaxing warm shower following it with an equally long or perhaps longer chat with my parents. The very thought made me relax.

I rang the doorbell.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.

Why couldn't they open the door?
I decided I should give them a call. Maybe there was a current cut and our UPS had failed as usual and hence the calling bell didnt ring.

I first called my mom. She always keeps her phone with her.
No response.

I tried my father's number and surprisingly it was switched off.
This is when I got nervous. When it rains,it pours. The difference being I love the rain but I definitely do not love whats happening now!

I banged the door as hard as I could.
Finally a response!

I could see the candle light but couldnt see through the fogged windows who it was opening the door.

When the door opened,I could feel the ground slip from under me.

The face above the candle wick was neither my father's nor my mother's.
It was that face.

My first and last and all the instincts in between ordered me to scream or faint or maybe pinch myself and figure its all a nightmare or that im hallucinating. Most probably I would have had I not heard my parents laughing and coming from behind him-whoever he was.

From relief and relaxation to fear to shock to confusion would probably best describe the change of emotions in the span of a few minutes.

I skipped the hugging bit of the plan and rushed to the shower. Clearly this person was well known to my parents. The chances of me knowing him but not recognising is also high. After a good twenty minutes in the shower with no answer, I walk down to dinner keeping my eyes trained on my mother who was beaming as usual.

“Recognise who this is?” My mom asks in her style of oh-i-know-you-know-the-answer-just-tell-me.
True. I felt like shooting her glares questioning if I knew, would I have freaked so much?

I guess the thought sort of leaked on to my face considering the smiles on their faces. My expression of bewilderment melted into a sheepish smile as realisation began to dawn.

The stranger was an old family friend of ours whom we hadnt met in over a decade.Thats all.
Not any murderer with motive.
Not a stalker
No one dangerous.

Just an old family friend whose face I had forgotten.

I guess that brought a lot of things to perspective except for the pillow pressing and silent escape. Unable to resist the temptation, the first minute I got out of my parent's earshot I questioned him about to come to know that it was indeed my cousins who were waking me up so lovingly and he had merely come to visit after coming to know from my parents that I was in Mysore but saw the sight and came to help them off me but then walked off later feeling it may not be the most appropriate way to say hi after a decade.

Pah! So much for nothing.

Sigh..How can I possibly wait till the next time I have a pillow fight with these lovable wicked rascals called cousins? ;)

Author's Note: This is the last part of Mysore Mayhem. Tune in pretty soon to read 'Once upon a time'