Rosa was a housemaid. She worked for the Phillips, for the Grants, for the Riddles, for the Marquezs, for the Deodhars, for the Wesleys, for the D’Souzas and many more families living in the suburbs. She was a single working mother who did other people’s house chores, looked after their children, cooked for the families, bought groceries; everything just so that her six year old daughter, Ellie could study and not end up working as a maid like her. Rosa had dreamt of all those dreams for Ellie which she had dreamt for herself.
Rosa and Ellie were not too poor but were not financially stable too. They often ran short of detergents and soaps or at times of basic food like vegetables and flour. Rosa tried her best ensuring that her their fridge was atleast stocked up with some milk and bread so that Ellie won’t starve if Rosa didn’t make it till dinner time.
One day Rosa was running late and asked her neighbour to pick up Ellie from school and bring her home. Once the neighbour left, Ellie poured herself a glass of milk and sat on the dining table with her feet dangling staring at the collaged wall which her mother and she had made together by pasting pictures of the places and things to do on their wish list. She saw the calendar and stared and stared. There was something peculiar about that day’s date. Ellie’s eyes lit up, “Its Mama’s birthday today!”
Ellie lapped up the milk and sprung out of the chair. She had decided what she wanted to do. She stacked all the papers and the books on the study table; she neatly folded and kept the washed clothes back in the cupboard; she dusted the furniture and the TV; she peeped out of their apartment’s window wishing few flowers would be waiting for her in their tiny garden in the window. And there they were! She arranged the flowers in a pot and placed it on the dinning table.
She thought, “And now the final thing!” She hoped and hoped that she would find something in the fridge. She opened it to find it almost empty. No eggs, no butter, no jam, no fruits. She could see there was no flour either. She thought should she buy a small cup cake from the store across the street for her mother. She shook her head knowing her mother wouldn’t appreciate if Ellie used her money from her piggy bank on a cake. She stared at the blank fridge wondering what could she possibly do. She saw a small something wrapped in the corner of the fridge. She opened it to see that it was cheese. And then she saw some leftover bread. She smiled.
That night when Rosa came home all weary and tired she was amazed to see how neat their apartment looked. And there on the centre of the dinning table were some flowers, a lit candle and something in the plate and Ellie whose smiling face shone brighter than the candle. Rosa walked closer with tears in her eyes and smiled. There she saw two ketchupy eyes smiling at her from the cheese toast that Ellie had made for her.
Rosa hugged Ellie tight and said in shaky voice, “This is the best birthday gift I have ever got!”
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