Missing in action

Brainy and Bony were twin brothers who could not keep the excitement of a coming carnival to themselves. They jumped in their beds, somersaulted in the sitting room and rolled over on the carpet. Their mother could not deny them this time, although their father had travelled overseas. They were so sure that she would keep her promise or face their wrath and mistrust forever.

Their clothing were ready by the end of the day from the tailor’s and they tried them on so passionately that Mrs. Marene wished she was a young child again. The joy with which they approached the upcoming event was infectious. She just could not hold back hers’ any longer.

“I wish Dad was here to take us.” She said. “It would be much lovelier and easier. Promise to behave yourselves. Will you?” turning to them as if she could tell what was going to happen over there by this warning.

“We will!” lifting up their hands and giving her a salute. “We will. We promise!” they said convincingly.

“It’s a pity your older brother is in school. He would have loved to join us.”  She said, perturbed.

“Don’t worry Mum. We have promised. We will keep our word for sure.” They said in unison. They were truly twins to have said the same thing simultaneously. Their mother set out to work on their shoes which needed a little polishing.

“Mummy. Can’t we buy new ones?” they asked her.

“My! What’s wrong with these? Don’t you like them anymore?” she asked, surprised. Children yearned for new things all the time. She was well aware of that fact. She had kept a little of her savings for this big event. There was not enough for any more expenses. She explained this to them and saw the sadness on their faces. Although they understood her point, they couldn’t help feeling that way. 

Mrs. Marene called their dad to ask him whether it was possible to get the twins new sneakers for the big event. He was ready to buy two pairs for them only if they behaved themselves from then until the big event. They promised to do so however difficult it was going to be. She knew it would not be easy to behave themselves, but that was the only condition for getting themselves what they were yearning for. Brainy looked at Bony. They had a lot of work to do.

It was the day of the carnival. Mrs. Marene got the boys ready for the journey to the park. They would need a lot of supervision. She has never left any event without having to search diligently for one of them. She hoped the story would be different this time.

The whole family sat in the car, ready to go. Brainy ran out of the car in a bit of a hurry.

“Brainy! Will you come back here?” yelled his Mum.

“In a jiffy, Mum. In a jiffy” he said.

“Do you expect us to be waiting for you? We’ll miss all the fun.” She said. Mrs. Marene had an urge to move the car out of the driveway to give him the impression they were leaving him, but he would not be bothered. He knew his Mum too well. She had a good heart.

Seeing what he went for, she was so disgusted with her son.

“What???! Come on! Don’t tell me you made us wait because of this?” she pointed to the cute teddy bear he went for. Bony was giggling by now. He was so amused. That was so like his brother. Mrs. Marene moved the car and they had soon forgotten Brainy’s unbelievable retreat. Everyone wondered what it was going to be like at the carnival. They were chatting away about it.

“Stay close to your brother! Brainy! Don’t lose him!” said Mrs. Marene.

“I will. I promise.” He replied. Who would have the time to be watching over someone else? This was a truly weird instruction. He wanted to be free, run wild and enjoy himself. He always did. It was the same results every time. One of them got missing at the end of the day. It could be Brainy. It could be Bony. Nobody could tell.

“Wow!” shouted Brainy as he followed the colourful balloons, some of which had been released. He wanted one of them. The closer he got to it, the further away he went from his family. The balloon took him through corners and into tents and finally, into a restaurant called Styles. Looking at the ceiling, he thought he saw something more colourful than the balloons and stopped short. Suddenly, he realised how far he had gone. He was a little petrified but feigned a little bravery. He saw other kids eating ice cream and felt so hungry. He looked around to see whether he could ask his Mum for some money but he seemed to be going round in circles. Finally, he decided to sit under one of the tables in the restaurant. He was crying. One of the waiters saw him and had compassion on him. He gave him some food and water and bought some ice cream for him and handed him over to the attendants at the carnival so they would take good care of him at the playground whilst they searched for his mother. Her name was all over the LED TVs but she was so engrossed in the parade that she could not see anything that was going on apart from what her mind chose to see at this particular moment. Suddenly, she heard a name; “Mrs, Marene. Can you please come for your son? He’s been looking all over for you.” It was then that she noticed that Brainy was missing.

“Brainy! Brainy!” she cried. Obviously, he was nowhere near. “Where can I find him?” Suddenly, she heard another announcement.

“He’s in safe hands with the attendants, Madam. We made provision for that. Please come to the playground. You’ll find him there.

From the spot where they were standing to the playground was quite a few miles apart. She had to brace herself to walk a little bit. The earlier she got there, the better because it was getting dark. Brainy would be tired by now and very sleepy. She would love to show him around whilst his eyes were still wide open. She held Bony’s hand and carried him whilst they were halfway through. He was too tired to go all the way. When she finally got to the playground, she was panting. She put Bony down and embraced Brainy so tightly.

“Don’t do that again, Brainy. I almost lost you.” She said.

“I won’t, Mummy. I promise,” he said.