He’s a Jolly Good Fellow | Flash Post 409

For he’s a jolly good fellow.
For he’s a jolly good fellow.
For he’s a jolly good fellow!
Which nobody can deny.

I know who you’re talking about.

Who?

Messi.

How do you know I’m not talking about you, Button?

Who doesn’t know that Messi’s the jolly one?

You saw how he was roaming around stealthily in the hall holding a pigeon feather between his teeth waiting for a chance to tickle Mala’s ears!

That was too funny.

He waited and waited and waited and finally gave up when he found that Mala’s very alert. At times when he inched close, she glared back at him as if to say “You little fool, do you really think I am an idiot? So what if I can’t move? I know you want me to play with you but I can’t”.

He’s an entertainer par excellence.

You remember the time Mala came to live with us? She’d hop around on three limbs and the two would play and chase each other all around the house?

I recall. And Messi who loves to play hide-n-seek would hide behind that pillar in the hall and Mala would go after him. Messi, the clown, would suddenly emerge from his hiding place and scare her, arms outstretched.

They were playmates and shared a very special bonding. They still do.

He must be missing the fun and games.

I’m sure he does and, now that Mala has lost complete use of her limbs, does everything he can to keep her entertained.

I’ve watched him squat on the table right in front of her and make all kinds of facial contortions to make her laugh. Or dart from one corner of the room to the other or jump up on the white sofa, hide behind the cushions and then proceed to fling them down one after the other in the hope that she will join him, not quite understanding why she isn’t. And, all through his antics, Mala watches him closely, showing her appreciation by moving her body from one spot to the other with the help of her elbow, her eyes following him as he puts up a show for her.

That day when he waltzed with the feather clenched between his teeth waiting for that split second to jump on to the sofa she sat on, tickle her ears and see her reaction, reminded me of those days when I’d play the same prank with my 93 year old grandmother as she lay snoring on her bed.

That was mean.

But I kept her entertained because she would be on her bed aiming pillows at me with a twinkle in her eyes, laughing uproariously exposing toothless gums.

You mean she actually enjoyed those pranks?

I think so. At times, she’d watch me approaching through a corner of an eye and make an attempt to catch me but I’d manage to slip away and we’d laugh and hug and have a great time.

I’ve heard that humans go through a second childhood when they become old.

I guess they say that because old age is that time when you have no responsibilities, no worries, are taken care of, loved and cherished the same way a child is loved and cherished. The time you are doted on like a child is doted on.