Stories from the Archives

An old post and an old story. One from my archives... also one of my favourites.

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Daily Heroes
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The man removed the ID card from his pocket and stuffed it into the front pocket of his leather satchel, as he paused before ringing the doorbell. It had been a long day at work and though not exactly unexpected, he was quite unprepared for the 3 foot high bundle of limitless energy who hurled himself at him in a smothering hug.
"Hi Pa", said the bundle.
He quickly recovered from the stagger due to the extra weight around his neck and managed a huge grin. He saw his wife grinning in the background.
"A cup of coffee coming right up", she said.

"I went to play in Krishna's house today. And do you know what he said??"
He smiled. The tiredness disappeared a little. He had no clue as to what Krishna would have told his son but after all that enthusiasm, he had to ask.

"No. What did Krishna tell you?"
"He said that when his Father works, he gets to catch bad people and for doing that he got a lot of prizes. Is that true?"
"Ummm... well Krishna's father works for the police. When he does that, he does get to catch bad people. I suppose it is true."
"Ohhh."
He sat down at the table, deposited his cup on the coaster and stretched his aching muscles lazily. His son meanwhile clambered on top of the table, sending his coffee cup to the edge, teetering perilously.

"So Appa", he started again, "what do you do at work everyday?"
He thought about that for a minute as his wife called out, "Keep it simple", from the bedroom. He took a large swig from his cup of coffee as his wife came out and joined them at the table, with the smile still writ large on her lips.
He extricated his wallet from his back pocket, took out a ten rupee note and handed it over to his son.
"Suppose you have some money with you and you want to give it to Krishna.."
"Why??"
"...just suppose you want to give it to Krishna but Krishna does not stay 2 houses away. Krishna stays in another country somewhere across all the oceans. It will take you a long time to go and give it him. So then you come to me. I can take this money from you and before you can count to 10, I can transfer or send the money to him across all the oceans. It is so quick, it is almost like magic. That is what I do."
It seemed to work and his son looked suitably awestruck.
"Let me tell Krishna", said his son, as he ran to the telephone.

"So that's all you do for 8 hours a day??" said his wife in mock surprise.
"Well you asked me to keep it simple and I think that was a very impressive explanation!" he said.
He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead as he picked up his coffee cup and walked over with her to the balcony. In the background they could hear their son on the telephone, evidently chatting with Krishna.
"...and my father is a magician", they heard him say.
"He can make something vanish from here and put it in any country across all the oceans..."

He heard the phone being replaced in its cradle. He frowned, as his wife laughed, clutching her stomach.
"Yes I'd have to agree. That was an impressive explanation" she said, still laughing.
"Maybe I should run my job description by him again", he said, draining the last of his coffee.
"Some other time. For today, you can be a magician."

She ruffled his hair and walked away, mirth, laughter and the distinctive twinkle still in her eyes.
He looked up at the twinkling sky and wrapped his arms around himself as a sudden gust of wind blew through the trees. The new magician said a quick prayer of thanks for his family and the job that gave him a life of luxury, before he turned around and headed back inside to freshen up before dinner.