The ‘Fruitless’ Quest

Friends, here is a flash fiction with a twist in the end. Thanks.

Asha stood with a broom in her hand and a matching steely look on her face.

Hmm, an intriguing situation!

Some kind of battle was in the offing.

The time was 2:30 pm. At this time, her husband and her son used to be in the office and the school, respectively. The good woman, therefore, used to catch up on her siesta then.

Today was a grim exception, however. A fight seemed to loom on the horizon. But who was the enemy who dared to stand against this formidable lady? Well, it was no human adversary – it was a tiny mouse.

Her son had seen it for the first time in the kitchen yesterday and reported it to his mom at once. The latter, like a veteran general, had formulated the battle plan almost immediately and commenced her attack today at 14.30 hours sharp with her strategic weapon of guerrilla warfare, her household broom!

The first place to bear the brunt of this lethal weapon was the space below the kitchen sink. As Asha rightly suspected, the moment she removed the waste bucket, the mouse-in-hiding made his escape. As it ran toward the hall, Asha followed in a hot pursuit.

Soon, the tiny enemy led a huffing and panting Asha all over her spacious three-bedroom flat in a fruitless quest. Its noble aim seemed to give this sedentary lady her much-needed exercise! And time seemed to fly.

As the mouse dived under the big suitcase in the storeroom, Asha aimed a blow with her broom. But what’s this? Instead of a mouse, something shiny came out.

Yahoo!

With a whoop of victory, Asha picked it up. It was her missing earring that she had been hunting for so long.

Ah, her fruitless quest was not so fruitless, after all!