Mr. Grand Daddy

I'm Arya, and I've only told this story to a few people. Everyone who heard it thought it was a good imagination that could be turned into a feel-good movie. For nearly two decades, I believed it was true because it was true, but then I began to doubt myself. I don't have any evidence that the situation actually took place. Maybe I was having a hallucination. I remember every detail of that day, and the only person who knew everything was Mr. Grand Daddy. That's why I'm making the trip from Bangalore to Yercaud to meet him.

I'm sure it was a mathematics period, me and my friend Nagesh were dying of hunger. So, we stole Lavanya's lunch and ate it without Vanaja Miss' knowledge. Normally, Lavanya would not respond to this, but that day was different. She turned into a bomb and burst into tears. That's when I discovered my story was over. Celin, my class teacher, escorted me to Mr. Raymond, the headmaster. I was terrified and began crying when he beat me with his favorite stick. But then a phone call came to my rescue. Yeah! It came from my grand daddy. Mr. Raymond lowered the stick and fell silent. I have no idea what was actually going on.

"Kiddo, this is your final warning. "No matter how hungry you are, never steal, especially when you have your own food," the Headmaster instructed, adding, "Now go to your classroom and pick your bag, your grandfather is waiting outside, go home with him."

I love my grandfather because he tells stories with happy endings, which is how I became a dreamer. Mr. Raymond didn't explain why I was being sent home, so I assumed it was a punishment for stealing Lavanya's lunch. I noticed Lavanya sitting alone when I went to get my bag. She was lonely all the time. We actually became friends on that day. I was saddened to see her sitting alone and sad. So I took my lunch box and handed it over to her. She was initially silent and angry, but after hearing my apology, she smiled slightly.

As I approached the entrance gate, I noticed grand daddy standing under a tree. I ran up to him, and he hugged and lifted me up. He used to have a smile on his face, but not that day. He carried me to the car, and from there we began our journey. We had to turn left to get to the house, but he took right.

"Why are we taking the right instead of the left, Mr. Grand daddy?" I asked.

"Your father is in the hospital, we're going there," he said as he turned to face me.

Mr. Granddaddy enjoys pranks, so I assumed it was his until we arrived at the hospital. I noticed my mother crying in the reception area. Previously, when I was sad, I would cry and my father would console me. But now he won't be able to console me if I cry. That was the first time in my life that I felt sad but was unable to cry. Because of the long-ago accident, doctors say he will never be able to recover. The odds are 99-1, and that is if God helps. They assumed I couldn't understand what was going on because I didn't react. I went to the car.

When I stepped outside the hospital, I noticed a puppy running around. It made me think of a story my father used to tell me. My friend Shyam has a puppy at home. We had a fight one day, we didn't talk for a week, and I missed him. When I asked if he missed me, he said he was too busy playing with his puppy. So I asked my father for a puppy that day, and he said he had a puppy when he was a kid, but he lost it because it ran away. He became ill and missed more than a month of school. From what he learned, you should always have something when you are brave enough to live without it. So if I ask for something very adamantly, he will never buy it for me. But I felt like helping that puppy, so I ran up to it and picked it up, but it slipped out of my grasp and ran away. I chased the puppy because holding it in my hands for a short while felt so good. It dashed down the narrow street and jumped into an extremely weird building.

It was strange and dark, with water all around, and the puppy kept running. I thought it was a small structure, but it just keeps going and going. I kept running after the puppy. While running, I noticed something strange: there were children chained to a pillar. At the time, they were all my age. I was scared, so I ran faster than usual to the other end of the building.

When I got to the other end, it turned out to be the strangest place I'd ever been to. The puppy has vanished. I don't want to go inside the building and return to the entrance from which I came. Seeing the kids tied to the pillar made me hesitant to make that choice. It looked like a vintage film that my father used to watch. I took a few steps and it felt like I was in the movie. I recall seeing a poster for 'Varumayin niram sigappu' on a roadside wall. It was Dad's favorite, and as I grew up, it became my favorite as well. I thought it had been re-released.

I didn't know how to get home after wandering for hours in the street, so I asked a rickshaw driver. He was a good man because he took me to the correct address. I noticed my father walking. I dashed towards him, hugged him, and sobbed. He drew back and wiped my tears.

"Why are you sobbing, son?"

"What is your name?" He inquired. "Come on, daddy, enough," I said.

He gave me a strange look and said, "Kiddo, just because I call you son doesn't mean I'm your father."

I took a step back and observed him from head to toe. He was also dressed like a movie character; I thought everything was strange, but I was the odd one out.

"By the way, where did you get your shoes?" "I'll get one for my son because he likes that," he said.

"What is the name of your son?" I inquired.

"Rohit," he replied with a smile.

"I want to see him," I said.

"He's in school, kiddo; I see you're in uniform; what were you doing here if you weren't going to school?" He inquired.

"Would you mind driving me there?" Sobbing, I inquired.

He felt sorry for me and rushed to get the car out of the house. We took the car to school. He dropped me off and spoke with security. They let me in, I assumed it was a social science period, and I was sleeping normally, thinking it was a bad dream. And it appears that I will awaken. But when I walked in, my school looked like something out of a movie. I was taken to a random class that I had never attended before. Surprisingly, I noticed my father standing on the table.My granddaddy used to show me pictures of my father when he was a child.

Yeah! My father's name is Rohit, and it was my granddaddy who informed the security to take me to this class. Perhaps he mistook me for one of his son's friends. I couldn't believe it, but it was definitely not a dream. In comparison to me, it appears that my father is the most deviant. Because the teacher mistook me for a new student, I was able to stay in that class for the day. When the teacher allowed my father to sit at the end of the period, he approached me and introduced himself. I had no idea he was such a cool kid. I don't want to tell him anything, especially that I'm his son. So I addressed him as if he were a friend.

My father is a talkative boy; I don't recall one minute of silence or paying attention to the class. So we talked all day, and it was the best day of my life up to this point. When we got to the last period, I decided to tell Granddaddy everything because that's what I used to do. When I can't say something to my parents, I tell him, and he is an expert at helping me get through any situation. But since I had to go home for that, I simply asked my father,

"Rohit, can I stay in your home for today? Because my parents left today for their native land, I am not comfortable staying at home alone."

My father didn't even hesitate to say, "you became my best friend today, so of course you can."

My father took me to the house, as we had agreed. It was lovely, but they will soon make minor changes to keep up with the times. I had never seen my grandmother before, but that day I had the opportunity to do so. She was stunning. She kissed me on the cheeks and hugged me. The problem with growing older is that lustless kisses become less common. She made the most delicious tea I'd ever had. In addition, I noticed that my grandfather had escaped the situation. I looked for him and found him in the garden. I want to tell him what happened, and at that age, I'm not worried about whether or not he'll believe me. I smelled something strange when I got close to him. I couldn't believe he was smoking. So this is what he does every day: he flees from us.

He turned back when he heard someone approaching because he knew I had him. He persuaded me not to tell anyone, especially his son. I agreed, and in exchange, I asked for a favour by telling him everything that had happened. He gave me an odd look.

"You're saying you're my grandson and you're from 2022?" he inquired.

I simply nodded.

IAside from that, I reminded him of the stories he used to tell me all the time. His expression had changed slightly. But I think he's beginning to believe me. He requested that I take him to that building. I pointed him in the right direction, and he drove me there.

"So, my son is going to die in 2022?" he asked while driving.

"That's what they said, granddaddy," I replied.

"Did they say anything else?"

"They claimed it was the result of a long-ago accident."

"However, nothing like that has happened so far."

"Wait, what is his age, and what is the date?"

"He turns eight on December 23."

"Then it's tomorrow, yeah, tomorrow it'll happen."

Hearing this, he abruptly came to a halt and got out of the car. He snuffed out a cigarette and lit it. A person behind me had placed a cloth on my face as I exited the car. I went black for a few seconds. When I opened my eyes, I was in my bedroom in the year 2022. I went into the living room, where my father was happily watching TV. Mom was working on her next novel, and I looked everywhere for Granddaddy, but I finally found him in a picture that had been hung on the wall.

When I asked my father about Granddaddy, he said he died in an accident. I'll be at his grave in a few minutes. But what actually occurred? I recall a few kids tied inside the building's pillar and that was it. This is a story that no one believes. But….