It was another hellish summer day in New York City, with temperatures running too high for comfort. Under the unrelenting sky, shimmering hot air rose from the sidewalk, and the sluggish traffic jam on the Upper East Side became a battlefield. Loudly yelled inventive curses mixed with the racket created by the horns of numerous vehicles, and a couple of off-duty traffic cops made bets regarding a wrestling match in progress next to two cars standing bumper-to-bumper. One headlight was missing. They could have stopped it, but they were not on duty. Besides, the wrestlers weren’t doing too much damage, being struck in a horizontal embrace. The hawkers on the sidewalk smirked at each other as they watched the fight, enjoying a break from the tedious boredom of feeding ungrateful business executives as they hurried to work. No one tried to stop the fighters. It was much more rewarding to watch.
Besides, it was simply too hot to bother.
In a penthouse above this entertaining brawl, Alicia kept one eye trained on Jake, who was waddling across the living room in search of something elusive. Ever since he had learned to walk, their eighteen-month-old had become a nightmare to both Alicia and Michael, waddling off at a moment’s notice. Usually, around this time, Alicia put him in his playpen, but today she let him play. As mentioned previously, it was just too hot to bother.
Her other eye was trained on Doctors McDreamy and Meredith having yet another argument on TV. Her concentration, however, was focused on her conversation with Judith, whose tiny voice was filtering through the cell phone Alicia was holding to her ear with a sweaty hand.
“I don’t know why you just can’t come over to my place, Alicia,” Judith whined. “You said so yourself-it’s too hot. The repairman is coming tomorrow, so what? You’re gonna spend today without an AC? What’s the use living in an apartment in the most expensive building in NYC if you just don’t have air-conditioning?”
“I can’t, Judith,” Alicia said as she saw Jake have a staring match with the carpet. He cheated and drooled on it. She rolled her eyes. “Jake is cranky and moody today… I doubt you would like him there.”
“Remind me again why you don’t have a babysitter? Or, better yet, an au pair?”
Jake attacked the playpen with his half-dozen teeth, gnawing ferociously. She should really get up and put him down for a nap or something. “Because Michael didn’t want our son raised by strangers.”
“Where is he right now? I don’t see him raising his child. Why isn’t he the one sacrificing his career? Sexist idiot,” Judith mumbled.
Alicia smiled as Jake waddled out of her view. “He’s getting a partnership soon, Jude. He really can’t just slack off now. Once we have that partnership, we’ll see. Besides, I usually like having Jake all to myself…”
The subject of her talk was toddling away cheerfully. The heat had been bothering him, making him cranky, but he had forgotten the discomfort only as a child could. His attention was otherwise diverted right now. A butterfly, blood-red and orange in color, was sitting on his Teddy’s ear. This was the first time he had seen one–living high above the rest of the city did not come without a price. Jake smiled, his fragile attention solely focused on this new, beautiful creature. He looked back towards his Mom, but she was talking again, and so he set off to explore all by himself.
He knew, instinctively, that he had to be quiet. Two soft blue eyes focused on the butterfly. Careful, cautious, he inched forward. But alas! He was only a child, and his awkward gait alerted that mystical creature, and it took flight. Jake followed with his eyes, mesmerized by the way her wings shone in the light streaming through the open bay window. His mother had opened it, hoping for a stray breeze, but hadn’t been so lucky.
And now the butterfly–a new, exciting, beautiful thing–was leaving through the window.
Jake, still under the spell of those wings that looked like they were on fire, followed it silently. It was the Piped Piper of Hamlin, and Jake was but a tiny, adorable mouse. He was confused by the curtains for a minute, and lost track of his new obsession, but found it soon enough, highlighted against the sun. He couldn’t see the bright colors in its wings anymore, and that bothered him.
Soon he was intrigued by the way it surged forward to settle on one of his mother’s flowerpots. The garden was beautiful, but right now it did not hold a candle to the beauty of that butterfly. He moved closer to the railing. The railing had horizontal bars about a couple of feet apart, and the butterfly was sitting on the topmost one. He wanted to touch it, feel those wings and see if that hurt too, because once he had touched his father’s cigarette lighter, and hurt himself. But even that bit of danger was not enough to dim the allure of that new, fascinating creature, and he moved his hand.
At that exact moment, Alicia turned up the volume of the TV. Startled, the flew away.
Jake looked back at his Mom. She wasn’t looking at him.
He simply moved closer to the balcony railing, hoping to catch the little thing this time. He was quieter as he moved closer, and he didn’t come too close. Instead, he stopped when he was close enough, and leaned his entire body closer to the butterfly. His hands moved to grab it, but, at the last moment the butterfly moved again, flitting out of reach, flying into the sun.
Jake couldn’t balance himself. The momentum of his lunge, combined with the awkward forward slouch he was in, carried him forward, and through the gap between the bars of the railing. One minute he was safely on the balcony, and in the next moment he was sailing through the air. It was horrifyingly foreign, and he opened his mouth to cry out on reflex.
Unfortunately, he did not even get the chance for that last, bewildered cry. His death was mercifully quick, the tiny neck broken, and he felt nothing other than that jarring first impact. He hadn’t made a sound.
Alicia heard the commotion on the street, but simply rolled her eyes. It wouldn’t be New York City unless someone or the other rammed someone else’s car, starting a brawl. Native New Yorkers had no driving skills at all. What they had, in spades, was impatience. Usually, she would walk out to the balcony to watch the drama unfold. But today she stayed cuddled on her couch.
After all, it was simply too hot to bother.
Astha Writes 