He caught sight of it as he was closing the compound gate. An earth worm. Well-fed during the last month’s rain and fat, it had managed to come to the surface somehow or other. Now wriggling… If it had encountered any ants or birds…? Ravi shuddered and felt sorry for the worm.As he bent to toss it away with a stick to a safer place, the idea struck him suddenly. It would make a wonderful plaything for his nephew.
Ravi went again in to the house and returned with a sheet of paper. He took the worm, carefully placed it on the paper, folded it gently and put it in to the bicycle basket.
When he reached his sister’s place, he called out his nephew.
“Come and see what I have for you…”
Kunchu came running on his small feet and couldn’t control his amusement when he looked in to the parcel.
“Amma, uncle has brought a small snake.. .” he shouted excitedly to his mother and repeated it to his grandmother, too.
“No, dear, it is not a small snake.. it is and earth worm..” said Ravi.
Granny came there and looked in to the parcel. “Your uncle is such a care-free man that he has time to play with worms”.. she told Kunchu, blaming her son. Sunchu’s mother came there and told her brother:
“Thambi your brother-in-law, who left for Vavuniya last Monday, promised to return yesterday and hasn’t come yet…Could you please go to his mother’s house and find out if there is any news?” her eyes brimmed with tears.
“He will be back today, don’t worry…”he tried to console her.
“…Yesterday paper spoke of some trouble in Vavuniya, the day before………..”
“Uncle, uncle, the earthworm is going to fall….”
“Wait here and have a look…” Ravi told his nephew and went to the store room. Fetching an empty jam jar, he washed and filled it with earth from the backyard.
“What is it for, uncle?”… Kunchu asked when he returned with the bottle.
“For the earth worm to live…”
“Where does it live?”
“In the earth…..”
“Then how did you catch this?”
“When it came out…”
“Why did it come out?”
“May be because of the rains…..” Ravi said and put the worm in to the bottle.
“Look, it will bore its way in…”
“How? Has it got any legs or hands?”
“It will bore with its head…”
“Wouldn’t the earth get in to its eyes, then?”
“It doesn’t have any eyes…”
Kunchu, unable to believe the things his uncle told him, kept the bottle and squatted by its side. Sister came again.
“In case you are going, better start before the sun is up…. ” she said.
“Yes….”
“If he hasn’t returned yet, ask if they had received any message from him…”
“Uncle, it is boring….”
“Wait, have a cup of tea and go…”
“Hurrah, it is going uncle…”
“Don’t disturb the bottle….”
While drinking the tea, Kunchu asked him:
“Uncle how does it cry?”
“It doesn’t cry…..”
“What does it eat?”
“The earth…”
“Look, how deep it has gone…more than half its length.”
Ravi told them he was off and started towards his brother-in-laws mother’s place. When pushing the bicycle out, the thud-thud of a motor bicycle was heard at the gate.
It was the brother-in-law himself,
Sister too much have heard the noise and came out running.
“Why? Was there any trouble? Why were you late?...” she poured out the questions, her face gleaming.
“Appa…” Kunchu, too shouted at his father who was getting down from his motor bike:
“….the earthworm has got in completely.”
- A. Santhan -
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