What woke him up was a sharp scream from her kid daughter's room and a scared expression in her face. Her face was contorted as if she is facing something really scary and she kept shaking her head. He walked up to her, placed his hands on her forhead and stroked her hair lightly. It seemed to cool her down a little bit ... the scare turned to an expression of helplessness and she mumbled something like "They pushed me down ..." under her breath.
"Who pushed u ... baby?" he queried in the kindest tone he could manage.
"I dunno ..." she said in between her breaths.
"Its ok baby ... its ok" ... he again stroked her hair and sat near her and she curled herself towards him. He took her head and with utmost compassion, placed it in his lap. She was rubbing her hands on her face now.
"All these worms are crawling on my face ..." she again started crying and started rubbing much more vigorously. He had to hold her hands tights and then patted on her cheeks.
"Its ok baby ... its ok ... I'll take care of the worms ..." With his assurance she went silent, curled further towards him and hugged him tightly. He held her closer against him and stroked her hair with a lot of re-assurance.
Some time later, back in his room, the parents were worried:
"Did she say anything to u?"
"She had said she didnt want to go to school ..."
"Again? I thought she slowly started liking school. What happened now?"
"I dunno ..."
"U shud've asked!"
"Hmmm ..."
"I dont want her to panic again thinking of school ... Let us go to school with her tomorrow and meet the teachers. They should know something"
While the parents were planning for the day ahead ... the daughter started off with "a b c d ..." only to get stuck at " ... l m n o p" and then she gulped. Fear and helplessness filled her little face once again!
