The story so far: Shalu starts working on the build-it-yourself-castle only to realise that she can never complete it on her own.
When Shalu woke up the next morning, her first thought was of the castle.
She had worried about it last night and had finally fallen asleep thinking, “I wish, wish, wish that Samit would help me with the castle!”
Remembering it now, Shalu felt silly. Who prayed for help to build a castle from a do-it-yourself kit? But, of course, her wish was for more than that; she had wished that Samit would have more time for her.
She had forgotten her wish by the time she came home from school. Samit, still in his school uniform, was bent over his phone. He barely looked up and Shalu sighed, remembering how they had walked home together in the past. “What’s wrong?” she asked, seeing the frown on Samit’s face.
“Nothing,” he replied, hunching an irritable shoulder at her. So, she left him and went away to change. The door of the room under the stairs was open and she had a glimpse of bright colours and a thick shape. It reminded her of things that might have been and unfulfilled wishes.
Lucky twist
“Samit,” Amma said at dinner, “Rajani Ma’am has sent us an email. She feels your entire class spends too much time on your phones and too little with your family. So, she’s come up with a plan.”
“What plan?” Samit demanded.
“That you all spend 24 hours without a phone,” Papa said.
Samit yelped as if in pain. “One whole day without my phone?!”
“Actually,” Amma said, “Rajani Ma’am wants it split over at least ten days.”
“But... but,” Samit spluttered. “That’s not fair!”
All Amma said was, “Remember to put your phone away for two hours tomorrow!”
“And what am I supposed to do in that time?” Samit demanded. Astonished that he needed to ask, Shalu was about to list all the things he could do, when Papa said, “Spend time with your family and your sibling in particular!”
Suddenly, they were all staring at Shalu. “That means,” Amma smiled, “you will be spending the evening with Shalu.”
Wishes do come true, Shalu told herself as she got ready for bed! And deeply thankful for whoever had made her wishes come true so unexpectedly, Shalu went to sleep smiling.
To be continued
