C for Crayons

Eight year old Arun was on his hospital bed. He was in his pale green hospital gown and was fast asleep, his uniform gentle breaths blending with the soft whirring noise of the air conditioner. His mother sat on a chair next to him, her gaunt face focussed on him and devoid of any expression. 

The test results would be out today . The past two months had been pure hell. Arun had suddenly become unconscious in the playground one day .They had discovered a tiny tumour in his brain.

As if meant to be in unison with their despair,the room seemed colourless to a great extent. The bed, the sheets , the walls , the windows were all white. Even the sky outside visible to the eye was full of white clouds without a trace of the usual blue.

Her mind took turns to go from analysis of the past to anxieties of the future with breaks of blank exhaustion in between. The door opened and her husband entered holding a small packet in his arms .

Arun stirred and gently opened his eyes . "Daddy!" He smiled and the man realized that no matter how hard the day at the hospital had been for him , the child never let go of that mirth on seeing him.

"Hey buddy" the father remarked and gave him a friendly punch on his arm ."Look what I have got" . The child curiously looked at what the father took out from the packet and his eyes lit up with delight. " Crayons!" . He quickly pulled himself to a sitting position and enthusiastically grabbed the drawing book and the 36 pack crayons.

There was another knock on the door and the doctor entered. "Mrs and Mr Gopal, we have some updates " . The parents gathered every ounce of strength that they had managed to save and stepped out on the corridor with him.

Ten minutes later , tears were streaming down both their eyes. The mother collapsed on her husband's arms , unable to hold on to the ebbing  emotions and he held her tightly , his own sobs coming out uncontrollably.

They got back into the room and Arun was busy at work with his art. They moved near his bed and looked at his drawing . There was the bright sun, lot of pretty flowers in different colours and what looked like the three of them riding bicycles at the park. Their crayon representations wore colourful clothes and they were green trees all around.

"It was benign. Arun will soon be perfectly alright" the doctors words echoed in their minds.


This was written as part of the A to Z April blogging challenge.