lengthening

about the 55-word tag, i have to admit that i took a longer story that ihad written way back and chopped it to size. but, i still think, and Rimi agrees with me, that the longer one was clearly better. so please forgive this bit of self-back-patting, as i do present some unconstrained fiction. those of you who have read the short one, sorry for killing the suspense.

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Mrs. Chatterjee, what are you doing here at the
airport?

My daughter is coming from the US. We are all very
excited. She's also bringing her boyfriend with her.

Boyfriend, hmmm. Indian boy?

No, no. He's American. We told her, we are very
liberal parents. We have no problem if you have an
American boyfriend. But please let us meet him. There
should be no secrets between parent and child, no.

What a wonderful attitude to take, Mrs. Chatterjee. So
is this the first time you will meet this boy?

Oh yes. But we've heard so much about him. He is
studying law at Harvard, and doing very well. And he's
a very good boy also from a good family. Mona even
told me he's trying to learn Bangla.

What a nice thing to do. He must be wonderful.

Maa, Maa. Is Monadi here yet? I want to see
Richard-da.

Maa, I think Richard-da will be handsome like Tom
Cruise, don't you?

Oh, I'm sure. Mona is such a beauty herseld. He will
be even more handsome than that model boy. What's his
name? I don't remember.

Maa, Maa, there's Monadi.

Oh, oh. Mona over here! Here! But where's Richard?

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice her
mother and brothers waving frantically at her. She let
her hand rest gently on his powerful shoulders. She
sighed. This was the happiest day of her life.

He gently looked at her. At six feet four, he towered
over her. Four years of varsity level tennis had
helped him sculpt the physique that was the envy of
his classmates. Yet, as he looked towards her, his
soft brown eyes revealed his gentle nature. The most
sought after man in his peer group, but he only had
eyes for her, and she knew it. He raised his hand to
run it through her hair one more time, when he saw the
two little boys frantically waving.

There they were. Her mother and brothers. The boys
couldn't contain their excitement. But her mother
seemed less warm than she expected. They walked hand
in hand towards her.

He had practiced this a hundred times. With a swift
movement, he bent down to touch the feet of the woman
standing in front of him. He knew he could not have
made a better first impression.

She noticed that her mothers hands stayed by her side
as he bent in "pranam". She frowned slightly.

As he straightened, he looked at the face of the woman
whose family he hoped to be part of. He smiled a warm
smile. His pearly white teeth shone in dazzling
contrast to the flawless ebon skin of his face.