The black knight.

Wondering what to write.The wordsmith decided...another story.

She dropped her son, Ryan to school everyday. She drove ,he watched, she sat silent ,he asked questions. She didn’t answer ,he persisted. For six, he was a very determined child. A stream of questions, ‘ why ,how ,who, where…’’.Every query in a good reporters’ textbook! She smiled, he was a curious child, so had she been ,so still was she. She had no answers to his questions, she hurt ,he wondered, a dead end ……Again he asked ‘Mummy, why wont you tell me where is my Dad? All my friends have Dads, why don’t I? ‘’ She soothed him with lollipop words ‘Do they have a nana, nani?’. It didn’t help.

She made a decision. She told her son ‘After school, in the evening ,I will tell you about your Dad ‘’.H e smiled ,sunshine thru clouds, ‘Promise ‘’.She nodded ‘Promise ‘’. And evening came. She sat with her son on the swing in her parents old house in a small hill station in the far away land of the East. Autumn was falling, so were leaves, a chill wind froze her ,she hugged the mug of hot tea, and curled snugly under her shawl. Ryan tugged her shawl ‘Where is my Dad ?’’
She wondered ,but started ‘Once upon a time..’. Ryan interrupted ‘Fairy stories start like that ,not real stories..’. She saw his aggrieved face ,said a ‘sorry ‘and continued ‘ When I was very young, I took a trip to England. I enjoyed it ,had fun, and then one day I met a handsome young man. He was tall, dark, green eyed ,red haired, and we fell in love. He asked me to marry him, and I said ‘yes’, I loved him so much, he was the most dashing, exciting man I had ever met. ‘’.Ryan interrupted ‘And he was my Dad? ‘’.She nodded ‘Yes he was. My aunt and uncle were not too happy, and I wondered why. Ian was an aristocrat, wealthy, educated ,handsome, charming, pedigreed……I asked them, and got evasive replies. All I knew that my mother was coming here ‘’.Ryan interrupted ‘Nani came to England! ‘’. I decided to keep it simple ‘She did. And she approved of Ian. My aunt and uncle told her several stories, [they loved gossip]she disregarded them. ‘’.’What stories ?’asked Ryan. She shrugged. ‘Some stupid tales about dragons ,and spells, but mum and I were 20th century people, we refused to listen. We got married in his castle’s beautiful cathedral. ’’.

She paused ,he asked ‘And then? She took a deep breath, continued ‘Ian told me his family secret ,his family curse. He was a man in the day ,and a dragon at night .He went to his lair at night, breathed fire ,had to kill damsels, and fight the brave knights. He hated this mundane existence ,but he had no choice ,it was a family curse.’ Ryan, a frightened Ryan said ‘Will I become a dragon also?’’. She soothed him. ‘No, that was only for the second sons of the family. And you are the first ‘’He waited, she continued ‘I got used to it, it didn’t bother me, though I felt bad ,sad for the damsels and knights, but we were happy, in love ,and soon I was going to have a baby. Ian felt I should go home to my parents ,in case he couldn’t look after me. But ,I refused. Until the night it happened ‘’. ‘What happened ?’said a very anxious Ryan.

‘A brave knight came to save his damsel, hurt the dragon almost mortally, and went away .Morning dawned, his personal magician examined him, very grimly, very somberly, and said ‘Sire ,the lady must leave now. You are grievously wounded, and it will take me a long time to create my magical elixir to revive you. From now on you will be a dragon all day, all night. The lady and her to- be- born child must flee. And not return until I give you the elixir. So I left, came here ,you were born, and we lived here..’

Ryan interrupted ‘The stupid magician hasn’t yet cured my father ?’She nodded sadly. Ryan looked dejected. ‘I don’t care if my father is a dragon, I want to meet him .’.She imitated a sad smile. ‘No, you cant. The dragon hates children.’ .Ryan was astounded and saddened by this story, but being a clever little boy, he realized the benefits of telling this tale to his schoolmates….whoever had a father who was a dragon. He hugged her ,and went in to tell the story to the staff. She said nothing, just held her tea cup tighter. ‘I made him happy, how does it matter ‘’.


She saw her mother come out. She saw the envelope in her hands, she saw her mothers face ,she knew. Silently she opened the envelope, silently she read it ,silently she returned it to her mother. It was the wedding card of Inder Kapoor, Ryans’ father ,her ex –husband. She laughed ‘The dragon is fine, cured, just forgotten us…’.Her mother stared ‘What are you babbling about? This is a wedding card, the bastard invites us to his wedding, and you are laughing, why ? ‘’.No replies were given, none were acceptable. Role reversal. She was the dragon, he was the little boy…..she sang off key ‘Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea…’