The Man at the Window – Ups & Downs– 12


Amy was a beautiful little girl. Her pink cheeks and toothless smile made her parents the happiest ever. Poppy and Mary were on cloud nine. Their little home was always filled with people who had come to see Amy. The little children from down the lane came every evening just for fifteen minutes of staring and giggling at Amy. It was a proud parent moment for Mary and Poppy. Oh! How they loved their little girl. Not before long, Mary went back to work and Amy was put in the care of her very proud and loving grandmother. Little Amy loved to hold her grandfather’s finger and stare at him with her big eyes, even though he wouldn’t always remember who she was. He would still sing and talk to her and not before long, she had started to mumble and grumble back at him in her baby language. As the months rolled by, Amy learnt to roll over, sit up, crawl and stand, time with a toddler surely went by fast. Amy was growing up at what seemed to be lightning speed for her grandparents who were getting old and had health issues. Poppy and Mary decided to keep a full time nanny to take care of Amy, of course her grandparents were just a stone’s throw away !!

After the birth of Amy, the number of daily visitors seemed to have increased. There was a regular pouring in of relatives and friends and slowly but steadily these meeting became a regular source of drinking for Poppy. Mary did not approve of it however she assumed that it would gradually fade. Much to her disappointment, her silence only encouraged Poppy’s friends and they made it a daily affair. The tension was increasing between Mary and Poppy and soon escalated into ugly arguments between the once very loving and connected couple. To avoid these arguments, Poppy started going to the club and meeting his friends instead of having them over. It was a daily heartache for Mary till Poppy got home, usually way past midnight!!
Her lack of sleep caused her unbearable migraines and ill health. Poppy loved “his girls” but hadn’t been showing it off late and this upset Mary. One night, Poppy came home at ten”o” clock, accompanied by one of his friends. His hand was bleeding and there was a piece of glass sticking out of it. Mary was horrified!! His friend explained that he had got into a fight at the club and smashed a glass. By then, Mary was beyond listening. She sternly asked Poppy’s friend to leave, left Amy with her mother and took Poppy to the nearest hospital to get his hand stitched. She did all this without uttering a single word to Poppy.

That night as she lay in her bed, a hundred questions went through her mind. Was this going to be her life now? Were they ever going to be happy again? Were all the dreams they had seen together over? As she wondered what the answers to these questions would be, a tear rolled down her eyes. She looked at Poppy and Amy fast asleep, she knew she loved them and she hoped that life would be much much better than this day.

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