Chapter 10: Night Seven (Blue)
The next morning, before she left for the bank, Mummy knocked on my door.
She had something small in her hand. A pair of blue earrings. Little jhumkas, old and a little faded, with tiny bells at the bottom.
“Today is blue,” she said. “These were mine. Your ears have healed now.”
She put them on my desk. At the door, she turned around and smiled.
In the evening, I took out my leaf studs and put in her jhumkas. They were heavier than the studs. When I turned my head, they swung, and the tiny bells made a sound so small that only I could hear it. Ananya had said it once, at the earring shop: something that moves a little.
I wore them while I rolled the rotis for dinner. Every time I bent over the board, they swung against my neck.
I looked up. Mummy was standing at the kitchen door, watching. She was smiling, and this time she didn’t hide it.
That night, I slept with them on. I didn’t want to take them off.
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