" My son fell from the roof "

“My son fell from the roof.”

And can you believe, he is absolutely all right, except few scratches and blue-black bruises here and there.  Physically as well as mentally, he is fine. And thank god for that.                               

But I had lost sleep for last 2 days, thinking what all could have happened…..

Last Friday was the day, when I went to pick up some new art-n-craft supplies. As I just learnt distressing (an art technique) I wanted to do some exploration on my own. And for that I needed the supplies, hence I stepped out of home. While coming back from my endeavor, half way through I received a call from HOME. My son was calling to let me know that he is all right, after falling from the roof. 

I was stunned, I was shocked, I didn't know how to react. 

My breadth stopped and so did my mind. 

In those few seconds I died thousand deaths. 

I heard the fear in my son’s voice, understood he needed consolation, though expecting my anger. But I was too dumb-stuck to give him any. Somehow I managed to control all the horrors of my imagination. Prompted the auto-guy to hurry-up, and asked my son to put Geeta (the maid, responsible for the kids in my absence) on phone, needed an adult to put things in perspective. 

Holding my breath, I heard what has happened. Anyhow sustain myself from raving and renting, reached our colony. Paid the auto-guy, and ran up the stairs, oblivious to the weight of my back-pack, my knee injury totally forgotten. The urgency in my blood was to see my son, hold him, touch him, and feel him. After seeing him, I was still afraid, afraid to hug him tight, not knowing the extent of his injuries. 

And my little one was trying hard to play down his hurt, so not to scare me. 

                            Wondered who was the adult then?                                                                                                He seemed more anxious of my reaction, rather than of the actual incident. Sounded shaken yet quite brave. Told me the abbreviated version along with his friend. 

And this is how the story unfolded, with a pinch of lies.....                                                                                                                                   Naughty as my son is, went up the roof, along with two of his friends to play. Though he’s not allowed to go up there on his own if me or hubby dear is not there to keep a check. But only maid being at home is taken for granted. Picked up the roof keys from the keys drawer and went up. And according to his and his friend’s account they were chit-chatting, bird-watching and playing up there, and along came a spider. In their case- the 4^th kid, whom they all refuse to play with as he’s quite rowdy. They again refuse to include him in their fun, and in his vengeance, while going back he locked them up on the roof. So all three friends were stuck on roof for an hour, with no means of coming down (as per them). And off-course they thought, they were too smart for their own good. (three 8-9 year old kids) 

So instead of calling for the maid to assist, or holler for passer-by to come to their aid, they decided to get to get down on balcony roof, which is made up of alabaster sheet. I don’t know, neither do I understand what were they trying to do, by coming down on balcony roof. Did they thought, they can jump down in our balcony and go up again taking the stairs to open the roof door from the outside OR what???...Because even balcony roof, though slanted is still 10-12 feet higher up from the balcony floor.

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” Murphy's Law                                                          And as luck would have it, my son got down on balcony roof and the alabaster sheet cracked. One of his friends had enough presence of mind to through him a rope, while my son was slipping on the breaking roof. And hold on to the rope real tight, so they can pull him up. They tried, really did. I do believe that, as one of the kids has scratches under his arms. But I guess it’s not a feat for two small children’s to perform. Mean while the 4^th child, who had locked these three came and hearing all the commotion, un-locked the door and ran off scared. 

Even the other kids who were trying to pull my son up got panicky, once they realized that they can’t pull my son up, and one of them ran off as well. That left only one of my son’s friends at one end of the rope trying to pull him up and my son on the other end, and off-course gravity pulling my son down. 

My son’s friend, though a year older than my son is little light weight in comparison, so the poor child alone couldn't hold my son for long, and started to get pulled down himself.  

Seeing his friend half-hanging on the roof, in an attempt to prevent him from falling. My son determined its better that one of them falls down rather than both getting pulled down. 

So he let go of the rope. Rolled himself in a ball, in a attempt to cover his head and fell down in the balcony, amidst all the alabaster sheets debris. 

Wooden chair underneath has broken his fall a bit. But still, it was a drop of good 9-10 feet from where he fell.                                                           

I swear – it was GOD looking out for him, that he is still standing in front of me in one peace, narrating it all, as if nothing much has happened. Imagining what all could have gone wrong are still giving me nightmares. He could have fallen on glass table in the balcony, he could have hit his head on one of the candle post or garden stake, or with the force of inertia he could have rolled off the whole roof and fallen four stories down….endless dread….                                             

But thank god thousand times, nothing such happened, and my son is in my arms, safe-n-sound, no cracked ribs, no fractured leg or such horrors…..

I’m amazed at my son…….all this must have happened in split seconds, yet such clear thoughts…..was he not scared that he’ll get badly hurt, or was he so very concerned for his friend’s safety, that his own hurt was acceptable in comparison. In the dark of the night that’s how he explained/justify letting go of the rope and falling down…..And I can’t get over it, isn’t it a child’s first instinct is to hold on to their own safety, without thinking about others.  Or my little one has grown up so much, when I was not watching..???....

Love you my little one, love u tones…..so please don’t give me scares like this….