Vishnu was staring at a sheet of paper, the shadow of the pencil dancing above it, when he heard the drums. He dropped his pencil, pulled out the candle that was stuck to the table, climbed down out of his chair, and walked slowly towards the kitchen. He looked over at his mother, her face dimly lit by the stove in front of her. His father, who was sitting on the kitchen countertop, just a silhouette of a man, looked over at Vishnu.
‘Finished with your homework?’
‘Mmmm…’, Vishnu mumbled and shook his head.
‘I thought so. He hears some drums and he’s out of his chair. How can you learn like this?’
Vishnu stood silent and looked up at his mother again.
‘Ah relax, let him have some fun.’, she said, her soothing voice an antonym to his father’s. ‘He can go back to it once the carol goes.’
Vishnu could hear the sound of the drums rising. It was getting closer.
‘Vaa, let’s go outside then.’, said his father and walked towards the front door. He unlocked it and stepped outside.
‘Vishnu, you also go with Achan. I’ll be there in a minute.’
Vishnu slowly backed up out of the kitchen and walked towards the front door. He could feel sweat dripping down his cheeks. He wondered whether it was because of the power cut or the approaching carol, the one with the dancing Santa. His mind urged him to not go out. It kept telling him to get back up on the chair and finish his homework. His legs, however, were untethered. It pushed him towards the front door. Towards the sound.
He stood at his father’s side, a little bit behind, one hand grabbing at his father’s shirt, the other clutching the candle tightly. The carol was coming. He could see the lights approaching his house, the drums getting louder. A few older kids came up, opened the gate and stepped in. A few more followed with balloons in their hands.
Vishnu’s heart trembled as he came in, dressed in a blood-red dress as he usually does. He came in dancing, his stomach bobbing up and down, left and right. As he danced, his face, shiny and expressionless, stared right into Vishnu’s soul like some of those portraits that always seem to make eye contact irrespective of where you stand. The Santa didn’t stop dancing. He sometimes lunged left and right using his balloon-topped stick as a pivot, and sometimes ran to and fro. Vishnu’s heart synchronized with the drums, beating faster and faster. He looked around at the people surrounding the dance. The kids were smiling, some were laughing, some even dancing to the rhythm of the drums, the lanterns swinging in their hands which created a dreamy luminance all around them. The neighbours and adults were also smiling, some were clapping, and the others were catching up on the latest gossip.
Vishnu’s gaze was taken back to the person at the centre of it all. He didn’t want to look but he couldn’t help it. The Santa was still dancing that same dance, but now it seemed a bit different. A bit more violent. A bit more aggressive. Vishnu’s grip on the candle tightened, and the grip on this father’s shirt became even tighter. The drums became louder and muffled the laughs and the claps. He looked around again. The kids were now swaying left and right in sync. The light from the lanterns reflected off of their shiny expressionless faces. The adults behind them were still. All of their eyes were locked onto Vishnu’s.
The boy looked up at his father only to see a shiny expressionless face look back down at him. He let go of his father’s shirt and didn’t even realize the candle falling out of his hand. Somebody grabbed his shoulder. For once in his life, he wished he could scream out loud and cry for help, but he couldn’t. He never could and he never would.
‘Mone, having fun?’. For Vishnu, her voice was like an island for a sailor stranded out at sea. He turned around, his back against the dancing Santa and his followers. He dared not look up at his father’s face looming above him.
Her face was shiny. It showed no emotions. It was as good as dead if not for the open eyes.
Vishnu stumbled back, lost his balance and fell back into his soft woolen hands. Just before his vision blurred and darkened, he saw the bodies around him closing in on him. All of their inhuman faces were looking down on him as the darkness engulfed him.
