Spooky Tales 2

Recap

Binto, a seven year old kid, suddenly found his cakes and pastries were going missing at night. He, along with his doggie, Dopie, managed to find the spooky thief, Bishnu, who had entered their house and was enjoying the desserts from Thelma’s Sugar Pod.  Bishnu was invisible to the naked eye except as a dot of light at night. All seemed good till Binto’s father informed that there was a burglary at the cake shop and the culprits had run away with Thelma’s recipe book that her daughter Philomina used to refer to while baking the cakes that everyone loved. That day onwards, Bishnu refused to eat any other cake and it was now seventy two hours since he had eaten anything and the dot that was possibly the indicator of his health and life was getting dull by the day. Binto was determined to save his friend, Bishnu. Now the story continues.

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Dopie, we need to tell Mom and Dad about Bishnu and the problem we face because you and I cannot find a way out of this situation.

Whuff Whuff….said Dopie in agreement as the two went to the master bedroom where his parents were resting.

Hello Binto…why are you not sleeping? Is there any problem?

Yes, Dad. I want to tell you and Mom something… and he told them all about Bishnu and his love for cakes and the problem at hand now… Dad, we have to do something for Bishnu.

Whaaaat! We now have a ghost in the house, shrieked the terrified mother. We cannot do anything about it. You will have to ask your friend to go to any place but he cannot stay here.

Mom, Bishnu is a good friend. He quickly switched off the light in the room….See he’s here….the fluorescent light came out of his pocket and started playing with Dopie around the bed.

Relax Mabel….If Binto and Dopie are happy with Bishnu, what problem can we have, said a reassuring father.

Dad, I have thought of some plans for this rescue operation. Plan A is that you write a story tomorrow that Thelma’s recipe book is safe. The thieves have picked the wrong book. The original one with the magical recipes is with Thelma’s daughter, Philomina ,at her home. You then share the story in the social media and make it go viral. Surely the thieves will also get to read about it.

Plan B is that, Mom, you will go to Philomina who was your friend at school. You have to convince her that she should also give out a statement that the real book is still with her. She can possibly show an old notebook and share a picture with it. This will convince the thieves that what they have is a fake and they will plan to raid Philomina’s house to steal the original book and when they attempt at the second robbery, the police will be waiting there to nab them.

Plan C is more complex. We do not know in how many days the thieves will make their bid to steal which means we do not know for how long Bishnu will go without food and whether his light will keep shining till then. The only way out of this is to take him to his people in the jungle tonight. I am sure they will be able to take care of him somehow and once the cakes are back, he can re-join us at home.

I am impressed, son, at your intelligence. I quite like the plans and I will quickly pen my story and make it go viral now. Then you and I will go to the National Park and see if Bishnu’s folks are around and if they can help us. Mabel, you must go to Philo’s place early in the morning and do as Binto has said. I am sure we will be able to not only catch the thieves and get back the book but save Bishnu as well.

Let us all do it for Bishnu….For Bishnu!

The father quickly wrote a short piece for the next morning’s newspaper but posted a shorter version of the same in advance over his social media accounts. Soon the phone started showing tons of notifications…. the story was going from one group to another and the lovers of Thelma’s cakes re-circulated the story among all their known people. He showed Binto some of the responses and the kid knew, Plan A had been executed with precision and there was no way it would not reach the intended people.

Mabel, we are now going to the National Park. I will be in touch with you constantly over phone. You don’t worry. I am sure everything will be fine.

Binto, with Bishnu in his pocket, along with Dopie jumped into the car and they moved swiftly to the gates of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

The main gates are shut at this hour, so how do we plan to enter?

Dad, Dopie knows the way. His earlier master was from this area and he knows about everything here. Come on Dopie, show your mettle.

Dopie started running towards the right and after a short while jumped over a drain. Others followed suit.  After a while, Dopie stopped and found a gap under the boundary wall. He squeezed inside…. Don’t tell me Binto you and I are going to crawl through that small hole beneath the wall.

Look Dad, the boundary wall is not very high on this side. You can lift me up and I can go over the same. You can then climb over and get to the other side.

The father and son duo went over the wall and Dopie was waiting for them. It was pitch dark there and not a soul was to be seen. Now Bisnu crept out of Binto’s pocket and started moving fast towards the interior of the National Park. As they walked slowly, they could hear sounds of animals and Dopie tucked his tail between his hind legs, Binto looked at his dad who readily picked him up and put him on his shoulders. After a while, Bishnu stopped moving but Binto could now feel a rush of cold air swirling around where they stood. He looked around and could see nothing, yet feel the chill in the air in the pitch-dark night and he could sense that they were not the only souls around.

Suddenly, the place became illuminated with hundreds of fluorescent lights that surrounded them, lights small and big, bright and dull and hanging high and low. Binto, Dopie and Daddy were all amazed at the sight and were filled with a sense of fear and awe. They stood still when a hoarse loud voice, incomprehensible to Binto and the others, boomed….

Who are you and what brings you humans here?

It’s me Bishnu and I have got them over. We need your help.

Oh one of us is with them…. Who Bishnu…. The cake eater?

Yes…yes…that’s me.

Then Bishnu was surrounded by the lights in a huddle and it appeared he was telling his folks about his new-found friends and family and what had befallen to the cake shop he loved. Bishnu then came over to Binto….. I have told them that we need their help. They want me to come back and stay with them but I have refused. I have a way to call them at short notice.

But we came here not for their help in catching the burglars but to feed you and keep you well till we found a way to get your favourite cakes. We have our police ready to trap the burglar, said Binto.

Bishnu said nothing but simply dived into daddy’s front shirt pocket. The lights vanished and they turned back to the car and, finally, reached home where Mommy dear was anxiously waiting.

Daddy just put his thumbs up and Mabel understood the meaning but then Bishnu popped out of the pocket…. I thought he would stay back and remain with his folks!

No mommy. Bishnu wants to stay with us only.

By the time Binto woke up next morning, the city was abuzz with the news…. The World is Safe with Thelma’s Cake…. The newspaper headlines read. And the social media had gone crazy… some people had started a chain mail and while Daddy’s story was being circulated, a picture of Philomina with an old notebook in hand saying that her mother’s secrets were still with her and that she would start making the best cakes and pastries in a few days, once more caught the attention of the people. Mabel had done her part around the same time when Binto and Bishnu had gone to the forest. The family seemed very pleased that Plans A and B had been a complete success. Now they waited for the evening to come.

By six in the evening, Daddy took Binto, Dopie and Bishnu to a friend’s house close to Philomina’s house on Carter Road and looked out from the window to catch any movement. The police had also been informed to come in at short notice. Everything seemed in place but where were the burglars… they were no where in sight. Dopie went off to sleep early and in some time Binto also dozed off. Then around four in the morning, Daddy saw a van stop outside Philo’s house…. Binto wake up…. they are here finally. Three people with masks over their head came out of the van while one waited in the car. In no time, they were able to walk into the house through the front door.

Daddy dialed Philo’s number but it kept on ringing. She must have fallen asleep. He then dialed the police…. Hello Inspector Patole…. The thieves are here. Please send your team to Philomina’s house immediately before they hurt the lady to force her to give away the notebook. Ok Sir, we were coming but it will take us some time, after all we have other duties as well. Bishnu flew out of the window and went towards the Philo’s house and suddenly Binto and his father saw the house completely illuminated and loud noises coming from inside. They quickly went towards the house to see what was happening. As they got close, they realized that it was not the electrical light but hundreds of fluorescent lights that had descended from nowhere and were in the rescue act…. Bishnu’s friends had arrived.

Seeing Binto’s Dad walking, the fellow in the getaway car quickly drove off. Binto entered the Philo residence and saw a sight he would never ever forget. Three masked men were sitting in a huddle and the lights were all over them…. the thieves were shouting…. Stop beating us…. We will bring back the stolen recipe book and will never ever commit such a crime. Bishnu was able to convince all his folks to stop the thrashing except one… this one was very aggressive. She had a big broom in her hand and was merciless in beating the trio. The thieves were shouting… please stop…can’t take it any more…we are sorry and will return the book now….Bishnu whispered in Binto’s ears… That’s Thelma and she is furious.

Finally, one of the burglars was allowed to go with Binto’s father to bring back the stolen treasure. It was then that Daddy realized that the thieves were none other than sons of a rival cake shop whose business had fallen into bad days due to loss of customers who thronged to Thelma’s Sugar Pod. The note book was handed over to Philomina and as the police arrived at the scene, the lights vanished. Philo was delighted and promised to start baking again and promised Binto lifelong free cakes. All seemed happy except that Bishnu’s light had become completely dull and dim and his movements slow and sluggish. The heroes retuned to their home and Mabel was there to receive them at the gate. She expected happy and excited people but saw Daddy and Binto with a worried looks. She knew something was wrong but kept quiet.

As they got together for breakfast, mommy announced… here’s a surprise for you….she opened the fridge and took out a box which had the logo of TSP printed….call Bishnu now. An excited Binto went to his room and got the little dot to the table. The family looked on as they saw the spoon move, then a scoop of the cake was taken and the spoon went towards the dot and vanished…..the spoon now moved with great speed and the cake got smaller with every passing minute and the light brighter. Now the light was totally shinning and it went towards Mabel’s cheeks and then all Binto saw was a piece of cake stuck on Mommy’s cheek. They all clapped and started dancing around the table. The dot now darted towards Binto’s room for a good morning well-earned sleep with a belly filled with Thelma’s cake.

Mommy, we have just found the recipe book. How come you got this cake at night.

Binto, this cake was baked by your mommy. She only put it in the TSB box to make Bishnu feel that it is the real thing.

But what about the taste? Bishnu has been refusing cakes from other cake shops, so how did he agree to eat this one?

Binto, your mommy bakes the best cakes. She too wanted to open a cake shop but we did not have enough money for it. While you were making plan A, B and C, she was making…sorry baking Plan D of which even I had no clue.

Binto rushed to his mother, hugged her tight and shouted… Go East, Go West… My Mommy’s cakes are the best.

SS 

PS. This is a tribute to mothers who bake and cook with all their love, always.