BITS OF GIFTS

                                        BITS OF GIFTS

        My mom and I are going to the tailor to get my birthday dress stitched. I love going to the tailor with her. He is the best in Ooty, a rainy little town in South India. A huge, colorful patchwork banner hangs in front of his door. It is made from different bits of colored cloth. The bits are of different shapes and sizes. The banner is protected from the rain under the awning. The wooden stairs leading to his shop creek. I always leap up and hit the banner.  I want to make one like that for my bedroom.

       My mother is busy explaining the design to the tailor. I love going through the waste cloth bin.  It is filled with colorful bits of cut cloth. I love the colors and the smell of new cloth. Some are shiny and smooth, a few furry, others lacy, and some even knotted. Each bit feels different from the other. I rub them against my palms and play with them the entire time I am at the tailors. These are the bits of cloth I want to make my patchwork banner.

      “Next week is your birthday.  I will make sure you have a pretty dress,” the tailor says. ”What do you want for a gift?”

      “These bits of colorful cloth,” I smile and point to the bin. My mom laughs, and so does the tailor.

      “Take as much as you want, I sometimes use these vibrant shreds of cloth to make tiny frills, designs, or pockets,” he says and hands me a plastic bag. “What do you want to do with it?” he asks smiling. He is a short man with a chubby face. He reminds me of Noddy.*

     “I want to make a patchwork banner for my room just like the one hanging out there,” I tell him as I fill the bag with the colorful bits I long for.

      I hold the bag tightly and keep smelling it all the way home. As soon as I get home, I put the bits of cloth into a bamboo basket but I hold a fistful of the cloth bits.

     Two days left for my fifth birthday. I am excited.  I turn the key to the cup I was gifted last year. It plays a tune and turns around.  I sing aloud

     The camp town ladies sing this song, Doodah doodah.

    The camp town race track 5 miles long Doo dah doo dah dey.

     Gwine to run all day…………

     I bet my money on the Bob Tail Nag.

       I put my gifts into the night dress pocket. After the music stops, I turn the key again and start to brush my teeth. The music stops, and I stop brushing.

      My mom tucks me into bed and kisses me good night.

      I dream of my patch work flag. Some of the banners are flying in the sky like kites.  All the trees in the woods have colorful banners tied to them. They are blowing in the wind, and I am running around playing with them.

     When I wake in the morning, my nose is stuffy. It pains me around my eyes and I feel like throwing up. Mom comes to check on me and she sits next to me.

     “It looks like you have a bad cold,” Mom says. “I’ll make some nice chicken soup for lunch and you will feel a lot better before your birthday. Now go brush your teeth and blow your nose. I’ll help you today.”

      I have to get up and finish my patchwork flag with all the colorful cloth bits, so I don’t let Mom know how badly it hurts between my eyes.

      I start on my patchwork but I can’t do much. My mom helps me.  All I can do is think of the pain around my nose and lie down on the couch.

      Around lunchtime, my mom sits me on her lap and makes me drink a little soup.

      Dad returns from the farm. He wakes up early, and goes out to the farm and comes back for lunch.

      “Why are you lying down, princess? What have you been doing since morning? You didn’t come to the fields.” I don’t answer.

    “I smell something bad.  Everywhere I go the smell is there,”  I tell my parents

    “I don’t smell anything,” my mom says with a puzzled look on her face. She opens her eyes wide and takes deep breaths to smell the air.

     My dad lifts me up.

     Dad sniffs the air around him and declares, “The air smells fresh to me. Now, where is this smell coming from? Can you show me where?”

    “I can’t tell exactly. It seems to be everywhere. Anyway, I am sleepy.” My dad has a concerned look on his face. 

     My parents sit with me. Mom rubs some Vicks on my chest. After kissing me, she sits down on the chair next to me. She turns on the TV. I lie down on the couch. and my dad raises my head with two pillows.

     “I am going to the fields. The workers are harvesting potatoes. I‘ll be back within an hour.” I usually go into the farm with my dad. I love to help the workers pull out the potato plants and sort the potatoes.

      The next thing I know, Mom is frantic beside me. Dad is bending down and holding me up against his arm.

      “Try to breathe through your nose little one. Breathe out like this,” He puffs out air through his nose several times.

     “I can’t breathe, and I don’t like this smell. It is bad. It pains real bad.” My dad tries to press gently around my eyes and nose, but I cry.

     My parents take me to my family doctor.  The doctor examines my nose and mouth. I am given a shot. I recall drifting off to sleep.

     When I wake I feel a bit drowsy. My dad walks up to me.

    “I want to finish my patchwork flag today, Appa.”

      My dad smiles and says, “You mean your patchwork flag that you are making with bits of cloth from the tailor?”

       I nod.

      “I will have to keep an eye on you when you are using those bits of cloth. You use them for your banner and don’t stuff them up your nose. The bits of cloth that you stuffed into your nose are what troubled you the whole day.”

       I stare at my father.

      “I will never go to sleep with tiny bits of cloth again. Can you help me finish my patchwork banner?” 

       Dad nods with a smile, and so does Mom.

       But I don’t remember stuffing the bits of gifts up my nose.

     *Noddy is a wooden puppet created by Author Enid Blyton.