A mother and her son hide their emotions on the morning after he moves out to his college hostel

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At 6.04 am, the alarm went off.

“Mummy,” he howled from under the blanket. There was no response. He pulled the blanket doubly over his face so that the sound of the alarm doesn’t disturb him. It kept ringing.

“Mummy…. Mummy,” he yelled again at the top of his voice after a minute. He turned over to the other side. He wrapped the pillow over his ears. He kicked his legs in despair. The alarm continued.

“Why isn’t she switching off the alarm? Why does she do this to me every morning?” he complained within his mind. “Mummy,” he shouted again. But the alarm continued.

Finally he pushed the blanket aside.

With his eyes still closed, he stretched his hand and reached his mobile phone on his desk to switch off the alarm. It was pitch dark and cold. The humming of the fan exaggerated the silence. He stretched to the other side and tried to switch on the light of his room. But the switch wasn’t there.

He sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes sleepily with his hand. He saw the silhouette of his roommate sleeping in his bed opposite him. He realised where he was.

A wave of despair enveloped him. A tear fell on his cheek. He wiped it and thought of calling her.

“She must be sleeping,” he thought and got up from his bed. He walked a couple of steps and switched on the tube light.

“Or maybe she is having tea,” he revisited his thought in a flicker of doubt checking the time. He sat lazily on his bed wondering whether he should go back to sleep. Sleep wasn’t a reliable friend, it evaded him. He scratched his back in laziness and stretched his hands.

“Maybe I will call later, it is just the first day today,” he told himself.

Then he got up and went straight to his hostel bathroom to freshen up.

Meanwhile, at 6.04 am, the alarm went off at home too.

Mummy was already up, eyes wide awake on her bed. She didn’t need the alarm. She switched it off in a second. She cast off her blanket to the side. She saw her husband still sleeping.

She tiptoed along the corridor to her son’s room adjacent to theirs. There was pin drop silence. It was pitch dark. The fan was off. The door was open. There was no one in the room.

She rubbed her eyes drearily. The blanket was neatly folded. The pillow was in its place. No wrinkles were seen on the mattress. Her mind went back to this time every day for the past fifteen years.

“He must be yelling my name on hearing the alarm and disturbing everyone else,” she thought. “Maybe I should call him and wake him up,” she felt.

But she put off that thought. She walked to the kitchen and put some water in a vessel to boil for her cup of tea. “I hope he switches the alarm off and gets up,” she revisited the alarm, worried.

Finally she decided that she should call him. She got her phone but stopped short of dialling his number.

“Maybe later, it is just the first day in the hostel today for him,” she told herself.

“If he has switched off the alarm, he must be in the bathroom just now,” she reconciled.

She put tea and milk in the boiling water and had her morning cup. Then she walked again to the empty room. A tear fell on her cheek. She wiped it and decided to call him after a few minutes.

“After my tea,” she told herself. “He will be out of the bathroom by then,” she guessed. She knew.

At 6.45 am, as he stepped out of the bathroom, all freshened up, his phone rang. It was Mummy.

“Good morning, Mummy,” he said with a wide grin, seeing her on the video call.

“Good morning, dear,” she said, with a smile, seeing him awake. “You are awake?”

He took a deep breath and replied, “Yes, of course. I was up in a jiffy, due to your alarm.”

“Very good,” she replied. She knew this can’t be entirely true.

“I knew you would wake up on your own,” she said. “Did you sleep well?” she asked him.

He stared at his new bed, mattress, and blanket. His roommate was still snoring.

“Yes, mummy, it’s a nice room. No problem at all,” he replied in a haughty tone. “And you?”

“Very good,” she said. “Yes, I slept like a log too. No morning alarms to wake me up now! It’s such a relief,” she added with a fake smile and a twinkle in her eye.

“Ahhh…,” he said. He knew she was lying.

“Did you switch the alarm off yourself?” she asked.

“Right away. After two rings. Who else will switch it off then?” he asked, with a hint of irritation.

“Yes, of course, good. Who else, isn’t it?” she replied, with a sigh.

There was a momentary silence in which both of them just watched each other.

“Is it cold there?” she asked.

“A little bit. It must be hot at home?” he said.

“Yes…, somewhat,” she said.

After a few moments, she asked, “Umm… so how are you feeling..? made any new friends?”

“It’s been just one day since I have been here, Mom,” he said.

“Yeah, true. You will adjust. Don’t worry,” she said.

“I have to go Mummy,” he then said. “To have breakfast. And after that, to college.”

“Ok dear,” she said. “Wear good clothes. And make sure you wash your socks,” she added.

“Yeah, Mommy. I got to get ready now,” he said.

“Yes, dear. Have a good day and take care of yourself. Hope everything else is fine.”

“Yes, Mom, everything else is fine,” he said and disconnected.

He went to his cupboard in his hostel room and stared blankly at his clothes, shedding a silent tear.

She went to his room at home and stared blankly at his bed, but not so silently.

It was 7.04 am.

The alarm went off again at both home and hostel. “Aaah, the backup alarm,” both of them thought. Just in case both of them kept sleeping and missed the earlier one. Both of them picked up their mobiles and switched the alarm off.

It was time to wake up.

By Ranjit Kulkarni

From: India

Website: https://www.ranjitkulkarni.com/

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