Bubby, Pumpkin, and Magic Colors

Exams or not, they didn’t make any difference to Bubby and Pumpkin. Their mother, however, was quite relieved. Then again she knew about the challenge that lay ahead of her: summer vacations.

Upon reaching home, the little twins slumped on the couch, feigning exhaustion. Their mother noticed their drama from the kitchen and smiled to herself.

‘We don’t have to go to school from tomorrow, no?’ Bubby asked his brother.

Pumpkin, who looked his name, held up his chubby little hand and showed two fingers: ‘Yes. No school for two months.’

A big smile flitted across their faces: ‘Yes!’ said Bubby.

‘What’s happening?’ their mother asked, emerging from the kitchen, with two glasses of hot chocolate.

Bubby and Pumpkin extended their hands with a glint in their eyes.

‘Go get cleaned up first,’ said their mother, holding the glasses above her head.

‘I already did that,’ said Pumpkin.

‘Me too,’ added Bubby.

‘Really?’ asked their mother. ‘When?’

‘In school.’

‘Yes, yes, in school.’

‘Really? But you still have to do it again. Go, go. Go change your clothes and wash yourself.’

The little boys frowned and ran inside, yelling, ‘Running race, running race.’

Their mother sat on the sofa; and no sooner had she placed the glasses on a small table in the front than the maidservant cum babysitter arrived, holding the boys’ school bags.

‘Now that their holidays have started, the little devils are going to eat us alive,’ she said.

Bubby and Pumpkin’s mother threw her head back and laughed. ‘Yes, good luck to us.’

***

The family spent most of the following day in a fantasy park; and the evening with Manny, Ellie, Sid and Diego of Ice Age. Bubby and Pumpkin laughed and talked so much, by the end of the movie everyone in the theater wanted to catch a glimpse of the two chatterboxes.

‘I like Sid the best,’ said Bubby, while walking out of the theater.

‘And I Diego,’ said Pumpkin.

‘And I Bubby and Pumpkin,’ said their father.

For the boys were floating around in their own world, they didn’t hear their father’s affections.

‘Do you know what I think?’ said Bubby to his brother. ‘Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman should join the Ice Age group.’

‘Wow, that would be awesome,’ said Pumpkin, jumping up and down and clapping.

‘What are they talking about?’ Mr Sheldon asked his wife.

‘I have no idea,’ she said, shaking her head and smiling.

As Bubby and Pumpkin went on talking about their favorite characters, Mr Sheldon asked his wife, ‘So what are their plans for tomorrow. And for the remaining days of their vacation?’

Looking at her sons she said, quoting Joker of The Dark Knight, ‘Do they really look like boys with plans to you? Or do you really think they are going to yield to our plans?’ She paused, thought for a while and said again, ‘Either ways, I’m thinking of getting them admitted to some summer course where they can learn finger-painting and storytelling and the like.’

‘Maybe they can do all that at home.’

‘How?’

‘I just bought an app for the iPad. iStoryTree. It’s quite fascinating. Hope the boys like it.’

***

Having kissed the boys, Mr and Mrs Sheldon left for work. It was Monday, and the first day of the vacation.

For the house was big with spacious halls and rooms, the boys converted it to a football ground: A pitcher and two plates off the dining table; a broken lamp; a broken calculator; pillows and paperbacks on the floor... The game finally ended when the ball hit the maidservant in the stomach. As the boys had expected, she kept the ball to herself.

Unhinged and undefeated, it was then time for hide and seek. By the time the boys had grown tired and bored of the age-old game, the clock struck one. The maidservant called them for lunch. Bubby and Pumpkin ate their curd rice mixed with fruit and vegetables, but not without spilling their food on the floor and on the sofa. The maidservant scolded them, but her “little devils” only laughed, irritating her more.

‘All right, now both of you sleep for some time,’ said the maidservant.

‘No,’ said the boys in chorus.

That resolved the issue, for the maidservant knew nothing would change their mind.

‘Hmmm. Anyway, your father has bought you a present.’

‘What?’ said Bubby, standing on the sofa.

‘And you are telling it now?!’ said Pumpkin, joining his brother.

‘Keep your legs off the sofa. And yes. I will only show it to you if you sleep for some time.’

The boys looked at each other and laughed. The maidservant understood: they won’t rest until they have seen it.

Shaking her head, the maidservant went inside her room. The boys followed her. Opening her cupboard, she took out the iPad.

‘That’s dad’s iPad,’ said Bubby.

‘You know how to operate this?’ the maidservant asked him.

‘Of course. Just press the button on the side. That’s all,’ Bubby said, haughtily.

The three of them sat on the bed as the maidservant navigated through the contents. Mr Sheldon had taught her to operate the device. She swiped the pages, searching for the app. And when she found it, she tapped on it and kick-started the app.  

‘What is it?’ Pumpkin asked.

‘It’s iStoryTree. It’s a storybook,’ she said.

Together the three of them listened to the story of Crab and Crane. Along with the boys the 50-year-old maidservant laughed and clapped like a little child. And once the narration was over, they moved on to finger-painting. The maidservant was quite amused when she saw the boys exploring the options as if they had done it before. She didn’t hold back her suspicion: ‘Have you handled this before?’

‘No,’ said Bubby, without looking up.

It only took the boys a little over a minute to figure out how to import pictures from the iPad gallery. Pumpkin imported Bubby’s picture and distorted it with a white mustache, black beard, yellow hair, and round, nerdy glasses. Looking at the final draft of it, Pumpkin rolled on the bed like a pumpkin, laughing. It was now Bubby’s turn. He did the same thing with his brother’s picture. The only difference was that he made Pumpkin an old man with white mustache, beard and hair.

‘Pumpkin is an old man, Pumpkin is an old man,’ he teased, all the while laughing.

The maidservant was having a gala time with the little twins. They then moved on to Avatar Jennie! As Jennie started narrating the story with her unique expressions and hand-gestures, the three of them watched her in wonderment.

‘Doesn’t she look like Sonia?’ asked Pumpkin.

‘Who? Our neighbor?’ asked Bubby.

‘Yes.’

‘Kind of. But Jennie is prettier than Sonia, no?’

‘I don’t know.’

It was two-thirty in the afternoon when the maidservant ordered them to sleep. The boys didn’t listen; neither did the maidservant. She took the iPad from them and forced them to take a nap. ‘You can play in the evening. Sleep a while now.’

Having no choice the boys went to sleep. The maidservant kept the iPad back in the cupboard, went out and slept on the sofa. A few minutes later Pumpkin felt a nudge in the stomach. Waking up with a start, he looked around. No one. He was just about to go back to sleep when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Scared, he was about to let out a scream when Bubby held the iPad to his face. Turning back, Pumpkin said, ‘I knew it was you. How did you get this?’

‘I wasn’t sleeping. When she kept it back in her cupboard and went to sleep, I took it out,’ said Bubby with a wink.

‘What if she woke up?’

‘She won’t. Don’t you know? Once she goes to sleep, even a lion’s roar can’t wake her up.’

The boys kept quiet for a few seconds and then broke into a prodigious peal of laughter.

‘Come, let’s play with this,’ said Bubby, once their laughter had subsided.

The two boys sat together and explored the options. They skipped listening to the story and Jennie’s narration, as they had already done it; they also skipped the finger-painting section. Then, instinctively, they chose Magic Colors. Upon tapping, ten black-and-white artworks from the story appeared on the screen. They chose one of them – Crane near the pond – and sat still. Nothing happened. They looked at each other in silence. A minute passed, but still nothing happened. Bubby scratched his head. ‘What is it?’ he asked more to himself than to his brother.

‘Let me see,’ said Pumpkin as he grabbed the iPad from his brother.

And then they saw the change in color. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened. ‘How did you do it?’ asked Bubby.

Basking in the glory, Pumpkin said, modestly, ‘Just like that.’

‘Give it to me. Let me see,’ said Bubby, grabbing the iPad from his brother.

Again, they saw the change in color. Then it struck them. Bubby began to shake the iPad. And to their merriment the colors started filling up the artwork. He kept shaking until a message appeared with a voice, ‘Congratulations! You paint so well.’

‘Wow!’ said the boys in chorus.

‘Shall we do it again?’ asked Bubby.

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ said Pumpkin.

They took turns, shaking the iPad. Each time they let out a “Wow!”

‘Listen, Bubby, let’s dance with it,’ said Pumpkin.

Without replying, Bubby ran up to the music system and switched it on. “I like to move it, move it,” from Madagascar started playing.

Together they danced, taking turns with the iPad; sometimes they held the device together and danced. As the colors started filling up they danced more vigorously. They danced till they broke into a heavy sweat. Pumpkin slumped on a chair. Bubby held the iPad and jumped and rolled on the bed. When he took a look at the iPad and saw the colorful artwork, he stood up and showed his achievement to his brother: ‘Hey, look at this.’ Jumping up from the chair, Pumpkin dived on the bed and took the iPad from his brother, chose an artwork and rolled with it.

They did it a few times, got bored with it, and came up with a new idea: Pumpkin selected an artwork and held the iPad like a steering wheel and Bubby stood behind him, with his hands on Pumpkin’s shoulders.

‘Ready?’ asked Pumpkin.

‘Yes,’ said Bubby. ‘Vrrooom, vrrooom,’ said Pumpkin as he ran, steering the iPad.

When they brought their car to a screeching halt, their artwork was complete. ‘This is amazing,’ said Bubby with a grin. Pumpkin nodded without taking his eyes off the iPad.

They drove their car all over the house until they were satisfied with it. It was then time for a serious game. Bubby was the one who came up with the idea. He called his brother and whispered in his ear, as if someone was going to hear it and steal the idea: ‘Let’s play baseball with it.’

‘OK, I know where dad keeps the balls,’ said Pumpkin.

‘If we play with a real ball, this will break, silly.’

‘Then?’

‘We’ll play with paper balls. Let’s make paper balls with newspapers.’

Paper balls were ready in two minutes. They went to their parents’ room, which was considerably bigger than theirs. Bubby chose an artwork, held the iPad like a baseball bat, climbed on the bed, and stood at a corner. Standing at the opposite corner, Pumpkin the pitcher held a paper ball and got ready to pitch.

‘Ready?’ asked Pumpkin.

‘Yes.’

Like a true professional, Pumpkin dragged his hands toward his right shoulder, lifted his left leg, and hurled the ball toward Bubby the batter. Bubby swung the iPad with great force, but the ball went only as far as the middle of the bed. Pumpkin dived forward and caught the ball and landed on the bed stomach down.

‘Out!’ Pumpkin yelled as he got up.

Together they looked at the iPad. The artwork was complete with the congratulations message.

The boys jumped up and down: ‘Wow!’

‘Let’s do it again,’ said Pumpkin. ‘And it’s my turn to bat.’

For the next half an hour they took turns batting and pitching. They yelled and cried and screamed and laughed. The magic colors only enchanted them more and more with each passing minute. No one could tell as to how many times “wow” came out of their mouths; and “awesome” became a permanent part of their vocabulary.

It was nearly four-thirty in the afternoon when they heard a swish-swoosh-swish from the hall. ‘I think she is waking up. Let me check,’ said Bubby and tiptoed to the door. He put his head outside and surveyed the area. ‘Let’s go,’ she is waking up,’ he whispered to his brother.

The twins ran toward the housemaid’s room as fast as they could. Upon reaching, Pumpkin kept the iPad inside the cupboard, and both of them jumped on the bed with a thud and closed their eyes.

The housemaid arrived a moment later. Seeing the little boys asleep, she smiled to herself and went to the kitchen. Had she stayed at the door for a few more seconds she would’ve heard a big laughter. 

As the boys lay on the bed, laughing to themselves, iStoryTree sat quietly in the cupboard, waiting to be picked up again. After all, the vacation had just begun.

*********