The Kiss of Life by Emraan Hashmi & Bilal Siddiqi

Author:Emraan Hashmi & Bilal Siddiqi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789385890925
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2016-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

‘Emmi! Where are you?’

I could hear Avi’s voice scream out for me. I was busy with my new pastime—shovelling ice. I had already shovelled out all the ice from our own front yard, but I realized that it wasn’t an adequate enough workout. I then crossed over to the neighbours’ bungalow, had a word with them and told them that I’d clean up their front yard too. They were more than happy to let me do it.

‘Look to your right!’ I screamed back. ‘Here, Avi!’

He looked surprised to see me toil away at the neighbours’ front yard. He rushed up to me and got straight to the point.

‘The arrangements are done,’ he said. ‘I spoke to the guy. He’ll be here in an hour.’

‘Good,’ I replied, my face half-frozen. ‘Let’s wake Ayaan up and get him ready. This is going to be his best birthday, I’m sure!’

We went back into the house. It was Ayaan’s birthday, 3 February. In the midst of the chaotic chemo, the poor boy had forgotten that his special day was coming up. We refrained from cake because of the high amount of sugar it contained, and birthday or not, I wasn’t going to take any chances. We had a surprise in store for him though. Something he was definitely not prepared for, in a good way, for a change.

It was around five in the evening when the car pulled up. A man strode out of it with a large suitcase and after a few greetings and handshakes, Avi led him to the basement, while I went upstairs to get Ayaan. He was playing with Lico and was preparing for the party with his cousins who would be visiting later that evening. But there was one visitor he was not expecting. My phone buzzed and I hastily unlocked it to see a text from Avi that simply read, ‘He’s ready’.

‘Ayaan, come down. Someone’s here to meet you.’

‘I want to play with Lico,’ he protested. Lico too growled at me, unhappy at my proposition of stealing away his newest buddy.

‘Just say “hi” and then you can play with Lico again.’ I smiled. ‘Come now!’

I led him by the hand down the staircase and into the hall. He stopped as he saw who stood before him. His mouth was agape, his eyes were wide with disbelief. It was . . . Iron Man!

Ayaan’s reaction wasn’t one of joy. It was of awe. He was transfixed for a few seconds. And when he did manage to react, he turned around and ran into the nearest room! It was a mixed bag of emotions for him to be standing right in front of his favourite character from the movies! I had to follow him into the room and drag him out of there. After a few initial moments of fear, Ayaan warmed up to Iron Man. They even enjoyed a game of foosball among many other games for the next half an hour. It was one of the most bizarre and thrilling moments for a kid obsessed with superheroes, I’m pretty certain.

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