Puddle Adventure

After the rain had stopped, I stepped out of my house just like every other kid in the neighborhood to play out in the open. With rain, came the ubiquitous puddles, and with them, came a host of fun things to do.

I still remember – Looking into one such puddle, I would see the reflection of the house next to it. Blue sky, with small patches of white cloud would appear crystal clear in it. I would stare at the still reflection for a while, imagining that through this puddle, the image I beheld was actually that of a real world. Then I would bring one of my feet over the reflection of the sky, just an inch above the surface of the puddle, careful not to disturb it. Slowly, that reflection would turn into a real world.

Just like a parajumper would see his feet dangling in the cold air, a fraction of the second before taking the plunge from that plane, I would feel that at any moment, I could tumble down into the deep blue abyss right below my raised foot, into the infinity. The nervous excitement was very real, and thus I lived the adventure to its fullest, to the brink of toppling over.

Just when the illusion appeared to become too real, I would to pull away my leg from that puddle in that moment of fright and excitement. Stepping aside, I would wait and watch the puddle again, this time, with its surroundings. I then, used to chuckle at how I managed to create a reality in my mind, that was so very real, and that the adventure was so much scary, so much fun!!

The puddle, it appeared to me then, would lie there, awaiting its next prey, as I walked away to amuse myself with other indulgences of a typical child in the after-rain, knowing that the door to the other world lay ajar right behind my back…

So this time after the rain, watch out for the puddles… They await you!