Cynthia D’Costa Priya lived in a small village named Vidynagar. She was quite excited. You see, her tenth birthday was fast approaching. This time she was expecting her cousins from the city to join her. Melosa, Aden and Seon had all said that they would surely come to her birthday party. “Maa, please bake a walnut cake. And for dinner, I would love some aloo parathas!” When Priya’s birthday arrived, she could barely wait for the clock to strike six in the evening when it would be party time. Auntie Geeta had said that they would be there by 5 p.m. Priya’s mother insisted that she sleep for a while in the afternoon. But hardly had Priya shut her eyes when she heard a loud noise. It seemed to come from the kitchen. Slowly she tiptoed from there. The author is a teacher educator at Pushpanjali College of Education, Maharashtra. She can be reached at