Promise??

DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional story. All the characters are fictional. The incident itself is a creation. Any resemblance to people or to the situations in the real world, is purely coincidental.

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He was looking out of the window and into the back yard when he saw his wife rushing into the back yard threatening his daughter to not jump from the tree. His heart did a flip flop when he saw his six year old daughter do just that. He leaped down the stairs and into the back yard, just in time to notice the swell of the leg.

“Ritu…”, his voice thundered as his daughter looked at him with tear stained face.
His wife was already fussing over her.
He lifted her gently into his arms and rushed to the car to take her to the hospital. After the leg was properly casted and they were heading home, he asked, exasperation clear in his voice, “What were you thinking?”.
“Dad, I was trying the trapeze act. Remember the circus you took me to? I loved that and I was trying to jump like they did. If I want to be a performer some day, I need to practice, right?”, she said, eyes as wide as saucers and conviction in her voice and a slight mockery that he did not understand her act.

He composed his expression to a good poker face, trying not to laugh out loud lest he should hurt her feelings. He wondered if it would be wise to point that no daughter of his will be a performer of any sort, except being the ‘exceptional’ performer in academics. But, wisely he kept quiet and said, “They were trained acrobats. If you want to perform the act like they did, then you need to be trained like they were. So, will you please not repeat this act until I can arrange for a proper training?”

She looked at him with a brilliant smile and said, “Thank you dad, you are the best.”

“Promise?”

“Yes dad”, she answered promptly.

“Promise?”, he reiterated.

“Yes dad, I promise not to try on my own until I am trained”, affirming that she understood.

He let out an inaudible sigh.

He thought that with time she would soon lose interest, until a year later, he saw her dangling down from the rope from the top of the tree. He was barely in control of himself when he walked into the back yard.

“I told you to not do that again”, he said through the clenched teeth.

“I am sorry”, she said, shuddering at the fury in his eyes and the tone of his voice.

“You promised…”, he reminded, still through clenched teeth.

“So did you”, she said quietly.