Come Back Danny.

I filled the saucepan with water, put that on the stove and reached for the pot of tea leaves on the shelf above. The early morning sunrays kissed my right cheek  and I gazed out of the window while the water kept boiling in the saucepan. After daydreaming for a considerable length of time I came back to reality by the gurgling sound of the bubbles. This happened nearly every morning when I made tea. Daydreaming had been my habit since early schooldays and albiet I had put in a lot of effort into overcoming it, it stayed by my side like my shadow. Turning off the stove, I added the tea leaves and waited for the tea to be ready.

“Good morning honey!”, came a voice from the dining room and I saw a figure swiftly pass through towards the living room. The door clicked open and shut in a second and the house was silent once again. I understood that the tea had to be taken out to the garden and he wanted those special handmade cookies I had baked last evening. It was an unsaid rule that whenever morning tea is sipped at sitting on the garden table, it has to be either the home-made cookies or home-made muffins.

Two delicate, peach coloured porceline cups on similar plates, a white teapot and a small dish with the cookies was set on the tray and I carried it outside. “Good morning James!”, I wished him and sat on the chair beside his. Our garden table was a round white table surrounded by four chairs and a huge mango tree towering over it. We enjoyed in it’s shade and during summers, we enjoyed the mango as well. Every time I made mango custard or mango pie or mango jelly, he would always recall how Danny loved mangoes and urged me to visit him. I would always brush that off saying that Danny was busy with his research and we better let him concentrate.

“Ah! Cookies made by dear wifey!!”, he exclaimed.

“Yes. But these are the last few. You won’t get home-made cookies tomorrow.”, I smiled at him.

“Not a problem. Bake some muffins today.”, his smile widened.

“Blueberry again?”, I laughed at him.

“Oh yes!”, he smiled back.

“I’ll bake’em. What does the newspaper have to say today?”.

“Nothing that’ll interest you. But here’s an advertisement for a piano concert that’ll be held tonight at the Star Theatres.”, he showed me the paper, “Should I get the tickets when I get back from work?”

“Oh sure! Please get them.”

“Okay.”

We finished our morning tea and prepared breakfast together like everday. I was a lucky wife that my man helped me around the house with all the work he could without me ever having to ask for it. Done with morning chores he prepared to leave for work.

“Drop me off at the supermarket. Groceries for the week are almost over and also there aren’t any blueberries at home.”

“Come along!”, he motioned his hands towards the car.

Our house was in the county-side and the distance from our house to the supermarket was considerable. But the scenery pleased us every time we traveled and thus, we never complained about it. Green meadows and tall trees slowly disappeared as we approached the city and busy figures rushed past us. The transformation was beautiful. We liked it in the city too, but living in a house in the countryside was romantic!

He dropped me off at the supermarket and kissed me a goodbye gently on my lips. I waited till the car turned around the corner of the street straight ahead and then set about my work. I picked up a whole basket of bluberries and  a pumpkin, brussel sprouts, carrots, Yukon potatoes, red onions and lots of other vegetables along with a rib eye. I summoned a cab home.

Back home, I got busy with cooking. I cooked the largest number of  batches of blueberry muffins because apart from my husband, my little students loved my muffins too. I went around the house cleaning every nook and corner humanly possible and finally it was time for lunch. Except for weekends I always had lunch alone but my company was something I cherished a lot. My solo lunches were usually accompanied by books or sudoku.

Afternoon rolled to evening and my students poured in and filled the house with cheerful childish laughter which sounded as innocent as it looked. There were only four of them, but their visit was something I looked forward to every week. In fact, they were the only visitors I ever had. All of them lived in the houses around ours and being the only childless household in the area, I craved the presence of these little beings near me.

I was their piano teacher and the unofficial cook of all their fancy foodie demands. I found a friend in them as they found in me and on Sundays, my husband would give the other parents a day off by helping them with their homeworks. We often had picnics in our backyard and my little friends would bring candies as contribution.

That evening however, there was no piano tutorial, instead we all sat talking for sometime, nibbling at the muffins. After about an hour, I handed them a box of muffins each and sent them home. Switching on the garden lights and the door lamps, I went in to get dressed to attend the concert. James picked me up at 7:30 p.m. and the next two hours was spent lost in the world of symphonies- Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi. Although James didn’t understand music that much, he enjoyed piano a lot.

While driving home that night, he couldn’t stop nudging me to put up similar concerts, but shy as I was, I just brushed past the thoughts and concentrated more on the stars against the night sky.

“You play so well, one concert woudn’t harm you. I think you should take your talent more seriously…  Della?... Della!!”, he gave me a soft jerk by my shoulder.

“Yeah what?”

“Stop dreaming please!!”, he laughed.

“No. I like dreaming. You dream too.”

“Who’ll drive the car then?”

“Point!”

“By the way, Danny would’ve loved today’s concert you know.”

“Yeah. He would’ve enjoyed it a lot. I really miss him.”

“Then please let’s go meet him.”

“No. I don’t want to bother him during his research. It’s important.”

“Are you really not going to meet him for the next four years?”

“I guess.”

“What?! Seriously?”

“You know what a madcap he is. It’s a blessing on us that he has survived through university and is doing his research now. If we go visit him, he’ll leave everything and come stay with us instead.”

“He has grown up now.”

“I have, he hasn’t. He’s still the frickle-minded college kid.”

“He still continued his studies. You could have too. I never objected.”

“I know but I just didn’t feel the urge to get the degrees. I’m happy with my music and teaching kids. I’m content. Really.”, I looked at him and smiled.

“Danny was your best friend. It would’ve been so great if you both could study together…”

“Danny IS my best friend.”, I corrected him.

“Yeah and mine too. Just imagine. If you both had continued your studies in the field of music, I would have been able to celebrate the success of two of my closest pals.”

“I wouldn’t have survived research. Danny might be crazy but he does have a thing to pursue research.”

“You’re just lazy Della!”

“We’ll call Danny tomorrow on the university hostel number.”, I suggested, changing the topic.

“That’s a good idea.”

Upon reaching home, I checked our landline because we didn’t have cell phones back in those days, and there was a message from Danny.

“Hey there buddies! Guess what? Any guesses? Yeah… yeah… no? Well alright, I’m telling you because I know you both are really dumb people”, he laughs, “ I’m coming to the country side!!! Shocked right?” I’ll land the day after tomorrow at 5 p.m.  and also… I’ve purchased the house just ten minutes away from your villa, right down the street. Ask me questions when we meet! See ya!”

“Jaaaames! Listen up here.”, I called out to my husband.

“What happened lady? Why are you shouting down the house?”

“Come come, come fast. Hurry up!”, I called out in excitement.

“Yeah, what is it?”, he came from the bedroom upstairs, adjusting his T shirt.

“There’s a message from Danny. He’s coming the day after tomorrow and he’s bought the villa right down the street, that’s a ten minutes walk from our house.”

“What?! That’s great news!! I’ll save some blueberry muffins for him too. We can have it together and also oh! The Exorcist will be aired on T.V. that evening. We can watch it together!!”

“All you think about is food and movies!”

“Oh c’mon! My best friend is coming and we’re gonna watch movies together… anyone will be thinking about food and movies when their best friend arrives after one whole year.”

“OUR best friend James.”, I frowned at him.

“Sorry!”, he smiled at me.

“I don’t believe you aren’t concerned about him. He is shifting here. Which means he’s discontinuing his research. Why would he do that?”

“Well I think he needs peace of mind.”

“What? Why would you think like that?”

“I don’t know. Let him come, we’ll find out. Put these thoughts aside and let’s think about what food to make.”, he said getting up from the sofa.

“Food again!”, I sighed getting up too.

That night James could barely sleep out of excitement and every possible dish from all around the globe popped up in his mind, which rendered me a sleepless night, listening to him. The next day, he applied for a leave in his office, saying that his brother was returning and all around the house there was an aura of celebration. Finally on the D-Day, James went to the airport to pick him up and I eagerly waited for them back at home.

After James and I had got married, Danny had never come to visit us at our villa in the countryside. He immediately got busy with his research and we got busy being married to each other. But once I heard the car outside and ran out to greet him, there he was, tall, stout, a perfect beard and the happiest smile on his face. There had never been a pause to the friendship we had shared back in college days.

I remember when we were putting up the name-plate on the front gate bearing the names ‘Mr. James Smith and Mrs. Delilah Smith”, we had missed Danny so much. There was never a day in the last one year that James and I hadn’t reminisced about our good old college days and wished Danny was there with us. When I would play the piano, James would always say, “Only if it was accompanied by Danny’s violin!”. His absence was deeply felt. And now, there he was. I rushed down the garden path and he rushed up it. And he was hugging me firm and tight after a long long time and then came James, hugging the both of us. It was celebration indeed. There were tears of reunion and laughter and smiles followed by tears again until we started getting a bit cold and went in. James suggested that he moves in the next morning and we could all spend the night chatting away, catching up on life after college.

James lighted the fireplace and I brought in the muffins and crisps and warm tea and a whole lot of other food that my foodie husband had asked me to prepare for Danny. Danny was up in the guest room taking a bath and back in the living room James and I couldn’t wait to sit and chat like we used to, sitting in the amphitheatre. Finally he came downstairs.

“You look tired Danny!”, I said.

“Well I haven’t had a peaceful night’s sleep in the last one year.”

“I told you he needed peace of mind.”, James shot back at me, childishly happy at the victory of making a wild correct guess.

“Did you have bed bugs in your hostel bed?”, I laughed looking at Danny.

“Oh no no.”, he laughed too, “Doing research is no piece of cake.”, he reached out for the tea.

“Oh! That’s bad.”, I said.

“The food is worse Della. I’m waiting to have dinner tonight. It’ll be the tastiest meal I’ve had in a while.”, he reached out for a muffin.

“Hey don’t take from this side of the plate, those are mine.”, James announced.

“You can’t be serious James!”, I looked at him surprised.

“Whom are you telling, this foodie won’t ever change.”, Danny laughed.

“By the way, haven’t you been to your uncle’s place in the meanwhile?”, James asked.

“No. First, I hardly get time apart from my research and second, I don’t want to get in touch with them.”

“But Danny, they’re your only family.”, I said.

“No sweetie. They’re not my only family. In fact,”, he said taking another bite at the muffin, “ they’re not family at all.”

“What?”

“You guys are my family. You and James are my only family and trust me when I say this.”

“We trust you but…”

“My uncle and his family have been mean and arrogant and cruel to me for as long as I can remember James. I don’t want to get back to those miserable people again.”

“Won’t you ever need any support from them?”, I asked.

“What kind of support? Emotional? I got you guys. Financial, I got a full scholarship for my research and my parents have left me a huge fortune. And that’s all the support I’ll ever need.”

“Well, he’s got a point.”, said James.

Later that night while having dinner, (I had cooked the rib-eye I’d purchased earlier) I suddenly realised that in the excitement of Danny coming home, I had completely forgotten to ask him about his research. He and James were chatting away about some stock market issue I had no idea about and I interrupted.

“Danny!”

“Yes?”, he looked at me.

“How’s your research going?”

“It was going excellent!”, he smiled.

“Was?”, James questioned

“Yes, this is the second shock for you guys. I’m discontinuing my research.”

“Why?”, James and I were aghast.”

“Research isn’t my type of thing guys, I mean…”

“Rubbish! You’ve always been brilliant.”,  said James.

“Yeah but…”

“But what Danny?”, I asked.

“I don’t want to be bogged down by the pressure of research. I sure love music but I hardly get time to play the violin doing my research work on music. In fact, research on music has left no music in my life and I hate that. I want to practice my music and live in peace, research is not my thing. Sorry guys.”

“I get you. It’s okay that you leave research fellowship.”, said James patting him on the shoulder.

“Yeah. We’re always with you in whatever you decide.”, I smiled at him reassuringly.

“By the way, Dr. Daniel Raymond would’ve sounded so grand and big and…”

“Whatever James. I’m a cool person who is a major crack pot so Danny suits  me better that Dr. Daniel Raymond.”, Danny laughed.

Next morning at the breakfast table Danny couldn’t stop praising James’ skills at making sunny side up eggs when James remembered that he would be moving out when Danny grinned naughtily saying he has a third shock for us.

“And what is that?”, I asked.

“Before all your shocks and surprises Danny, do you really have to move out? Can we not stay together? I mean, we’re a family…”

“Damn it James!”, Danny banged his fist on the table and the cutlery rattled, “that was my shock.”

“What?”, James asked.

“I haven’t bought a house here. I’ve just come here to spend the winter with you guys till I decide I want to live somewhere else. I’m just taking a break from life.”

“That’s wonderful! Let’s get you married and then we can all stay together, all four of us.”, I suggested.

“What an awful idea!”, Danny looked at me.

“Why awful? You’d make a wonderful husband. You’re smart and rich and handsome…”

“And a crack pot.”, Danny completed me.

We laughed. He sure was a crack pot.

Days were happy when James and I lived there by ourselves, but Danny made it cheerful and lively. Back in college days, he was always the life of any party or celebration. He just had to be there and boom! Everyone got energized. And he was a great favourite among my students. Now there were not only piano Wednesdays, but also story telling Fridays. Yes, Danny told them stories each Friday evening and the kids loved him and his eccentric stories. Eccentricity apart, his stories were always layered deep.  I remember a particular one about an alien.

“And then kids, Dan  was summoned back.”, he completed.

“Why?”, Nancy asked, clearly disheartened.

“Dan was an alien right? And how did he land up here in our planet? His king sent him here. Remember?”

“Oh yeah right!”, said Denise.

“And you know what happens when the king sends his people somewhere? He calls them back when he starts missing them. Likewise, Dan’s  king was upset with him and sent him to planet Earth but then he started missing him and his absence was felt very deeply and he called Dan back.”

“But Dan had friends here. Why didn’t he refuse his king?”, asked Nancy.

“We never refuse our King dear. We never refuse our  king. We come when he sends us and go back to him when he calls for us.”

“You mean the aliens, right?”

“Yeah.”, he smiled and then looked at me.

“What was that Danny?”, I asked after the kids left.

“What was what?”

“That story.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Why would you tell such a story to those little babies?”

“Della, they didn’t understand the metaphor today, but they will when they grow up. And didn’t you see how much they loved Dan the alien?”

“Well I loved him too. The best thing about him is the magic he was spreading in the lives of his friends.”

“Isn’t it? I love Dan too.”

“He seems like a known character, someone I know…”

“Don’t be stupid. He’s not real, he’s an alien.”

“Yeah but…”

Just then James burst in like Santa Clause comes  saying “HO HO HO!”.

“Come on, come on, everyone, pack your luggage!!”

“What’s the good news buddy?”, Danny asked him giving him a buddy hug.

“We’re driving up the hills and we’ll be spending the weekend there. You and I can go paragliding.”

“I’ll join too.”, I said excited, although expecting a ‘no’ from my super-protective husband.

“NO!”, came the reply in unison from both of them.

It was a beautiful ride up the hills, a colourful weekend up there and a cheerful ride back home. It had been more than a month now that Danny had moved in with us and our life had not been so beautiful before. Just like Dan the alien, he was the magic in our life. But legend has it that too much happiness is always short lived.

Winter was setting in, and I started noticing changes in Danny. James did too. But we then brushed off all doubts as stupid thoughts crowding our minds. Nonetheless, I still couldn’t help notice how Danny gradually started developing huge dark circles and puffy eyes. When I approached him, he asked me to give him cucumber slices.

One fine evening, James was busy at his desk with his office work so Danny and I decided to hang outside a bit. He rode off in James’ cycle while I took mine. We cycled speedily towards town when Danny stopped abruptly. I wheeled backwards to him and halted. He didn’t look good.

“Danny, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing major. Let’s cycle back home.”

“But, why?”

“I’m just feeling  a bit sick.”, he said starting to cycle homewards.

“What happened Danny? Please tell me, I’m getting scared. Please!”

“Relax! I’ve just developed a little asthma and need my inhaler sometimes. Usually at night but today I need it now…”

“Can you cycle?”

“Oh yeah yeah. Perfectly!”

“Sure?”

“I am cycling already Della!”

“No…”

“It isn’t acute and if we paddle fast, we can get home faster and it won’t hit me hard.”, he said speeding up.

As the evening wore on, his asthma subsided but he lay on his bed unable to move and refusing to call in  a doctor, saying he’d be okay the next day. He was. He claimed to be feeling so well that he baked us a cake, with the words “My Beloved Family” piped on it.

“Why all this suddenly?”, James asked.

“Just… you never know when it’s the last chance for you to do something for the people you love so much!”

“Danny, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”, he smiled wide, “I just wanted to do something for you guys.”

“Haven’t you done enough?”

“What have I done?”, he laughed.

“Dude, you got us to fall in love, you got us married, you hunted down this beautiful house for us…”

“Anyone would do that for their best pals.”, he smiled, “I have done nothing historical.”

“Danny…”, I started.

“I’ve got the camera charged, you both pose as if you’re about to cut the cake and I’ll take a shot.”, he changed the topic.

“Won’t we actually cut the cake? I’m dying to eat it.”, James said.

“You will foodie. Let me take the picture first.”

We posed. He clicked. And then he brought in the stand, adjusted the timer and sat between us. We smiled happily at the camera and that’s the last beautifully happy photo of the three of us I have now. Danny between us, an arm around me, an arm around James, our beautiful villa at the background and Danny’s cake before us on the garden table. Luckily it hadn’t snowed in the past few days and sitting outside the house was bearable.

A day later, Danny came down with fever, very high fever. James almost called in the doctor, when Danny said that it was just the cold weather. But after four days of having him stuck to his bed, with no improvement, we called in the doctor. Danny was asleep when we called Dr. Rector and all hell broke loose when Danny woke up to find a doctor checking him. With the little strength that he had, he pushed the gentleman away. He argued with him and us and refused to talk to us until next morning which was a Sunday. James and I took the tea and breakfast to his room as he was unable to come downstairs for the same.  I was already getting bad vibes about Danny’s health but decided not to make that evident. The sun rays fell on us, and even though Danny sat there smiling and gleaming and telling us that he felt a lot better, there was a sort of emptiness in his eyes. For the first time since I’ve known Danny, it was only his lips shaping the words, his eyes were lost somewhere.  After breakfast, he asked us to leave him alone for the day and reassured us that he would be okay. We left.

James did his weekly gardening as much as he could in the cold and I went about the household chores. When it was lunch time, Danny refused to join us and stayed back in his room. James and I wondered what he might be up to and nothing but negative thoughts crowded my mind. James however, wasn’t that worried.

“Don’t worry so much Della. He is a bit weird we all know. Probably some tune has got him and he’s working on it.”

“The whole house is silent. I hear no violin sound coming from his room.”

“You know how softly he plays when setting a tune. Relax! The change of weather in the country-side got him sick. He’ll be even better tomorrow.”, saying so he put his arm around me and we sat together staring at the mantle-piece which held an old photo from our early college days, showing me being held by my limbs by James and Danny on either side and they were attempting to sway me back and forth. Weird poses college kids give. The fireplace burned with a crackling sound and the evening wore on. Suddenly there was a melancholic tune that filled the house. It was Danny at his violin, playing his best tune. James looked at me. I looked back at him. Danny playing this tune meant something was definitely amiss. Nevertheless, we waited for Danny to tell us.

Two days later, when Danny had almost recovered from the weaknesses of fever, he told us over dinner that he was in a soup.

“I had enrolled for this musical evening without reading the details properly and now I’m pretty much in a soup.”

“Why? You are a musical person.”, said James.

“The concert is exclusively for pianists. I’m not one.”

“Oh no!”, I said, “What now?”

“You play please?”

“What? Are you kidding me?”

“No oh no! I’m serious. Please! You play so well, get over your shyness. James has asked you to play in concerts so many times. I’m asking you too.”

“Yes Della. Danny has never asked you to do anything for him. If not me, then play for him.”

“Please Della! For the first and last time, as a tribute to our musical friendship.”, Danny raised his wine glass.

The musical evening went unexpectedly well. It was dated roughly a month after that night when Danny convinced me to go up on stage. As I sat playing, with the crowd listening intently, the spotlight right on me, I could see the front row filled with the people I love. My parents, James’ parents, my students, James and Danny. They were so happy to behold me up on the stage, playing for the audience under a spotlight. And then, there was Danny, right beside James. His face was beaming with the happiest smile and his eyes were full.  Later that night, when we were back home, Danny raised the toast to me and willed his violin for my unborn and unconcieved baby.

“What’s with all this willing your violin and your property?”, James inquired the next morning.

“People will their property dumb-head. I’m a mortal. I’ll die someday.”

“You’re not gonna die tomorrow.”, I checked.

“Who knows! I can die the next minute.” he winked at me.

“You know that’s not funny!”, James looked cross.

“Calm down buddy.”

“No we can’t. You haven’t been very well with your continuous coughing fits and asthma and fever…”

“It happens to all of us. Doesn’t it?”

“Danny, seriously, please tell us if anything is wrong.”, I said, tensed enough to collapse.

"I’m getting late guys. I’ll have to head off now and complete the formalities of willing all my property to the  Happy Hearts Orphanage. We’ll talk about it this evening.” He left.

“So there is something that he has to talk about.”, James looked at me.

“I knew something was wrong the day he played his ‘Death Tune’.”, I said in tears.

“Let’s not be so negative. Nothing will happen to him I’m sure.”

“I don’t know James.”

“We’ll have to wait for this evening.”

“…Dan the alien came with a palette of colours, shades that his friends had never seen.

And took them to places they had never before been.

And then suddenly one day, his King called him away,

Dan smiled a goodbye, never to be seen another day.”, Danny completed reciting.

“What’s the matter?”, I asked, “Why are you coming up with this metaphor time and again?”

James looked on at him fixedly while Danny pulled out a file from his backpack.

“Winter is over guys, almost over. Before my sun sets, take me to the sunset point beside the lake and Della, play your portable piano for me and James, I want to hear the poem you had written years ago for me when I ran away from college yet never showed me. Here’s everything you need to know.”, he handed over the file to us, “promise me not to cry while I’m still around.”

“We promise.”, we said, not knowing yet what the file held.

Winter drifted out slowly in the next one month and spring came- the season of cheerfulness. James and I had kept our promise and never shed a tear before Danny. That evening after reading the file, I knew that Danny was indeed ‘Dan the alien’ who had come with a ‘palette of colours’ and soon his King would call him back. James and I vowed to each other not to mention Danny’s cancer ever in front of him. He had been bravely battling it and was brave still in the last stage with no hope of survival. It was our turn now to be brave for him.

As the days wore on, his condition worsened, but he always smiled at us and had meals together. In a few days, we had to wheel him around and he would sincerely play his violin for us every evening after James returned. They were gloomy days but we were awed by Danny’s spirit to still smile along and thank the Almighty for giving him a short yet meaningful life with his friends.

Finally one evening Danny wanted to go to the sunset point. I got my portable piano, James got his poem and we wheeled Danny to the sunset point beside the lake. He was so weak that he had a shawl wrapped around and a beanie covering his head even in March. We reached the lake and stationed his wheelchair beside our bench. He gazed at the setting sun while I started at my music and James…

“Cry as much as the heart will, you have gone away.

Couldn’t you wait for just another day?

I would’ve fought a little less and loved you a lil more,

Showed how much you’re loved from my heart’s core.

Hugged you tighter, spent more time.

You are the best, you are mine.

Because like you, there are not many,

It’s been a long time now, please come back Danny!”

-Reva.