Happily Ever After

      'And then, they lived happily ever after', I've been searching for this sentence in stories over a long time but in vain. Authors say that they reflect the society in their writings and that might be why we don't find any 'lived happily' kinda endings in stories these days. Theju was shaken by the marked hit of the basket ball behind his back. His four year old daughter was laughing at her piteous dad who was a victim to her bullseye.

      "What are you thinking daddy..?", Chaithu asked in her sweet babbling voice.

       "Nothing baby, by the way it was a nice throw", Theju made her sit on his lap which brightened her smile. "I love basket ball Thej" –at times she calls her dad 'Thej' just as her mom does–saying so Chaithu kissed him on his cheek. Theju's heart was shaken a bit. His long term fear has come to life and is playing with his beard now.
  
     "But why do you love it baby?.. You could barely hold it tight with your lil hands.."

    "Still I could hit the ball at the mark.." Chaithu giggled as she caressed his back.

     "No baby, you shouldn't play anymore", it was hard for him to utter this, despite knowing that it would rob her smile off her face..

  Chaithu didn't reply anything but had tears brimming over her eyes. He carried her in his arms and placed her in the front seat of their car. Neither Theju nor Chaithu did utter a single word. Only silence screamed louder on their way home. Chaithu dozzed off even before they reached home. Theju removed her seat belt with utmost care lest her sleep be disturbed. The dried up patches of tears on Chaithu's sweet face worried him more than her silence.

   "Is she asleep..?" Adhithi came to get their child off Thej's shoulder. Unlike most ladies she does not prick him with a series of questions. That cool attitude and her maturity made him bound to her during their college days.

   "Yeah.. She has started throwing the ball with certain accuracy..", Thej sighed.

  "That's great Thej, you should be happy for that, right?..After all she's just like you , my dear Basket Ball player", saying so she blew a  kiss to Thej and planted a faint lil kiss on either of Chaithu's chubby cheeks.

    Chaithu has woken up from her short sleep and was hugging Adhithi in response to her feather-touch kisses.

"Time for dinner honeybunch" said Adhithi, tickling Chaithu's nape. The sight of Chaithu wiggling and running to the dining table comforted Theju a bit. "We shall talk about this Thej", Adhithi made him walk towards the dining hall.

     "Daddddddyyyy, tomorrow is Saturday, take me to the play area sooner, so we can get more play time", said Chaithu half gobbling and half babbling in her own way.
 
     He acknowledged her with a faint smile.

     "Has she fallen asleep Adhithi..?"

      "Ya Thej, why do you worry about her..?"

      "Don't you know baby.. After all the agony and sleepless nights, I've almost overcome that thing which I had left behind..

      "You still sleeptalk about your game Thej", interrupted Adhithi and  kissed his hand.

      "I don't want our little girl to suffer the same fate which I went through"

      "What made you think so..? Thingshavechangedbabe, Insteadofworrying, you could be a good mentor to her Thej".

      "Being in a game is like swimming into a vast ocean without any life support.. Like allowing it to engulf you completely.. Surrendering yourself to it's might..' Theju's eyes glittered with his once upheld passion.

     He was a sportsman, a basketball player. The 'shooting guard' of any team he had played since his schooling. District, state and National level prizes and medals filled his house. His parents never did mind about his sports activities because he scored good in the academics too. He had a perk of being an athlete in all the institutions he chose to pursue his studies.

    Adhithi and Theju met at college. It was an incredible 'Love at first sight'. That moment was one of the rarest of times he had missed a 3-pointer shot. Though the writer-sportsman combo didn't go well, they made it work by the Verses written for Him and the Trophies dedicated to Her.

    Love has its own ethics. It wants the Valentines to be happy, yet it would present them with the most distressful trials to test their desire to be together.

   Though they haven't faced much objection from either of their parents, they faced an impediment in their way to see through the future. Even when Theju got employed by the gift of his game, he could no longer pursue the job as it didn't provide enough fortune to run the family. Neither of them proposed to seek the help of their parents. They were determined to be on their own. "I'd like to work Thej, I'm too bored to be homebound", Adhithi came forward to resolve his conflict within his own mind.

      "Work on the content of  your Story, dear.. We'll get through this.."

      "I'm on it Thej.. But I need a change of mind to be productive.." somehow she managed to convince him and joined an irrelevant job to run the family.

      Meanwhile Theju got a government job which didn't have any relevance to his game. Though he was happy for his family, his heart ached whenever he happened to see a poster or an advertisement or even his own trophies. Every night he was woken up by the dream in which a ball hit him right onto his face. Nor did Adhithi suffer any less, the verses that she used to gift him for their Anniversaries has now been replaced by useless material gifts.

         Both of them lost tracks of their passion and Chaithu's arrival showered some hail onto their life's desert. Adhithi's draft works had gone to the shelves and all his trophies and medals had gone into their stockroom. Chaithu was brought up without the knowledge of her parent's history. Both of them were sure that they should never let her suffer the pain of abandoning her passion for something else.

   "You aren't stuffing your dreams onto her, she just needs to be inspired.. Think about it Thej.." Adhithi planted a kiss on his shoulder. As thoughts clouded their mind sleep showered it's love upon them..

     "Daddddddddyyyyy.. Wake up.. You've become too lazy these days" Chaithu was sitting over him trying to wake him up with light-punches. Adhithi chuckled and accompanied them to the play area.

    Chaithu aimed at Theju expecting to hit him like she did the previous day. To her surprise, he caught the ball with utmost ease and showed her the ball-tricks that he has learnt over years. Chaithu was awestruck by this and Adhithi too was excited on the happiness in his eyes after several months.

    "Thej, what should I do if someone tries to snatch the ball from me..? Should I run back daddy..?"

    "No baby girl.. You shouldn't. You should shoot the ball to the ring past those who come to snatch the ball..", said he and shot the ball into the hoop with his –once lost, now regained– usual elegance.

    "See, you shouldn't run behind.. Shoot past the impediments to score a goal..!" repeated Adhithi to Theju with a meaningful smile. He nodded at her with a smirk.

     "May be you should resume your story drafts honey..",  Theju proposed on their way back home.

      "I've already started Thej.. It's been a week. I was very much confused about the title.. But then it's resolved now..!"

      Theju was filled with real excitement on the prospect of gaining back their happyselves and the persuasion towards their passion. With a mouthful of laughter he put forth the following questions, "Are you serious..? Why didn't you tell me..? What's the title..?"

     Having Chaithu in her arms and kissing her on both the cheeks, Adhithi exclaimed with heartfelt joy, "Happily Ever After"