The Lizard On The Wall

I hate lizards.

 

Not just hate – I detest them and wish they would some day vanish from the surface of this earth.

 

And there’s one very big lizard in my favourite place in the house – the kitchen.  Sometimes on the wall.  And at other times in hiding, waiting to catch its prey.  And the kitchen had quite a few.

 

You see, the kitchen was managed by a cook.  A great chef she was, churning out the tastiest dishes I’ve known, but a bit short when it came to keeping that place clean.

 

Because it was a huge kitchen.  Well, the house itself is huge.

 

Coming back to the present, I was now attracted by the heavenly fragrance of freshly prepared besan laddoos wafting from that huge kitchen right upto my nose.

 

Yummm.. My stomach growled in hunger.  Such a delectable smell can make even a full stomach hungry again.

 

“I must have some – NOW,” I decided and made my way towards the kitchen, dreaming of a feast.

 

From the distance, I could spot a plateful of beautiful, perfectly spherical laddoos on the platform,  just next to the doorway.  The generous amount of ghee shining on them made me drool.

 

But there was many a slip between the cup and the lip.  I came to a dead halt outside the kitchen door.  There, on the wall opposite, sat the lizard!

 

Perched haughtily, right at the centre, it was busy devouring fruit flies that had unknowingly decided to rest on that very wall.

 

The cook was washing dirty dishes in the sink, right below the lizard.  Thankfully, she didn’t notice me.

 

She hadn’t noticed the lizard either, till she decided to exercise her sore neck muscles.

 

No, she didn’t scream.  She just moved a step back and watched.  And I watched both of them.  I couldn’t dare enter the kitchen as long as that repulsive creature remained on the wall.

 

A little group of fruit flies were enjoying themselves atop a banana skin near the sink, which the cook had yet to throw in the bin.  After having their fill, they would fly out and settle on the wall above.

 

Still and silent, the lizard looked around to gauge which spot on the wall had more insects.  It then moved towards that spot, ever so discreetly.  Out came its tongue in a flash – and went back in just as quickly.  Poof! There was one insect less on the wall.

 

The cook was fascinated.  I was terrified.

 

After what seemed an eternity, the wall cleared.  The cook immediately shooed away that reptile.  Smart woman, I thought.  Was she delegating the clean up work to a lizard??

 

You may laugh at my silly thoughts as the product of a growling stomach.  The disappearance of the lizard was my cue to enter.  The laddoos were waiting for me.

 

I had just descended on the biggest laddoo when I was again reminded of the cup and the lip.

 

The cook turned.

 

“Hey!!” she bellowed.  I didn’t budge.

 

She picked up a flat ladle lying nearby and sprang in my direction, screaming, “No, don’t you pollute my beautiful laddoos, you damn housefly!!”

 

I flew out of the kitchen before the ladle could catch me.

 

I hate lizards.  And I hate cooks too.

 

Author’s Note:

This is my first original post on this website.  Enjoy!!😃

Photo courtesy:  Vectorstock