HANABI

CHAPTER- 1: GOOD MORNING MASTER

2002, TOKYO JAPAN

The cuckoo started its day, singing at 5:30 am sharp. It knows, the master will wake up now, will turn off the button and will sit on the bed for 5 minutes. After that she will get down from bed to start her day. The cuckoo has become a significant part of the master's life. It is the beholder of many episodes which have occurred from time to time from last so many years. The cuckoo loves and respects the promptness and restraint of its master. By the way the master is called "HANABI".

Hanabi is ready for her morning walk. Its 6:00 am sharp. She will walk to the park. By 6:30 she will start her exercise and will walk back home by 7:00 sharp. Then she will cuddle her kitty NEMO, make breakfast for both and then she will be ready for her office by 8:30 am sharp. She will cycle to her office and reach by 9:30 am sharp. Yes you are right sharp. Every second, every minute of her life counts.

Hanabi is a young beautiful girl in her thirties. Still without a husband and has no boyfriend. She has been working as an accountant in a small private company from last 4 years in Tokyo. It pays her well. Hanabi is satisfied with whatever she has. She is a girl who has never ever complained about anything in her life. Hanabi never runs out of time but she runs out of emotions sometimes. But she is pragmatic and beneficial at quite some times. She upholds something deep inside. A thick glass wall from which she can see through but she's afraid to break.

CHAPTER-2: MOMMY ANDGRANNY ARE THE WORLD

"Hanabi.......Hanabi.........where are you? I can't find you darling. Come out." Granny said with her eyes closed. "PIKA- BOOO GRANNY!!!!" shouted 5 year old Hanabi from behind the persimmon tree. She jumped into her granny's lap and hid her face. She loves the way her granny smells. Sometimes she smells like pancakes, sometimes like bean jam buns, sometimes like those orange roses in the garden, whatever it is; it's very warm and pure.

"Enough. Both of you come in and have your dinner." Sakura said in a straight voice. Sakura is Hanabi's mother. She is a tough lady. She speaks less and hardly smiles. Hanabi has always seen her in the same manner. She lives with her mother. Hanabi has never seen her own father. Nobody talks about him in the house.

Every night after dinner Hanabi loves to gaze at the stars sitting at the backyard with her granny. "Granny, why doesn't mommy love me? She never talks to me." Granny said in a soft tone "no my love. Mommy loves you a lot. She can't express her feelings like you and me; she has to work hard for us. She gets tired and that's why she talks less." Hanabi rests her head on her granny's lap in silence. Granny starts telling stories. Her fairy tales and the drones of the beetles created a magical aura all around. Granny broke the silence and said "darling I have something for you." Hanabi's eyes sparkled at once. Granny put a carved wooden box on Hanabi's lap. She opened it with great empathy. There it was the cuckoo clock. "Hanabi darling tomorrow is the first day of your school. This cuckoo will sing for you to wake you up every morning." Granny said with a supple smile. "It is a magical clock. Once you wind it up, it never stops ticking." Hanabi didn't understand much but she was over the moon with the gift.

Few years passed. Hanabi got into the habit of waking up with the cuckoo's sugary voice every day. She was 12 when Sakura was diagnosed with cancer. Sakura died few months later after that. Her demise didn't move Hanabi much, as from childhood she has stayed aloof from her mother. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years rapidly. The old lady started to shed like the vermillion leaves of the fall, while the young lady started to bloom like the pink cherry blossoms of winter. That was when Hanabi got the job in Tokyo. She insisted granny to move with her; apparently she refused to leave her ancestral home in Kasukabe. Hanabi visited her granny every Friday and returned back on Sunday. Granny bothered a lot for Hanabi these days. She asked her once "Honey, you should bring some friends home along with you or a boyfriend .....May be?" Granny looked at her from the corner of her eyes and waited for the reply. "Granny, the same question again? I told you I don't need anyone. I love you and I have you. That's it." Hanabi replied. Granny opened her mouth to say something but Hanabi stopped her by putting a finger on her granny's lips. Few more moments passed with the sound of the whistling crickets.