Car(ried) away

Two years ago, we had a very smooth routine in the mornings. I admit, the rest of the day was always crazy.... But the mornings were smooth apart from the regular shouting and the mad rush to step out of the house on time.

It was like this....
-Prepare breakfast and set it on the table.
-Prepare lunch.
-Stuff it in everyones' tiffin boxes.
-Push the elder one out of the bed and shove him out of the house with his school bag so that he catches his school bus.
-Wake up the husband.
-Get dressed for work.
-Wake up the younger one and get her ready for school.
-Sit in car with husband and little one.
-Drop little one to school.
-Get dropped to work.
-Husband drives away to office.

Perfect! Isn't it?
Well, it was a perfect day as usual, when chaos reigned supreme and the brain was working overtime listing out the things to do throughout the day.

After winning the first battle of dispatching my son off to school on time, we sat in the car, ready to deposit our daughter to her school.

The little lane outside the school gate was jammed with vehicles, as usual.
Cars and scooters of various shapes were trying to find a way to escape. Weeping toddlers, annoyed drivers and distraught mothers completed the scenario.
Yes! All was fine in the world.

Suddenly, we found ourselves face to face with another car coming from the opposite direction. With vehicles parked on both sides of the road, there was only enough space for one car to pass. And the situation was similar to that in the story of two goats on a bridge. Unfortunately, there wasn't even space to back off. There were 2 or 3 cars lined up behind on both the sides!

I decided to walk to the school gate with my daughter instead of waiting for the jam to clear.
My husband agreed that it was a wise thing to do. And I got off leaving him to figure out how to get out of the mess.
If only the car had wings!
But wishes are not horses .......and cars cannot fly...

I handed over my little one to her teacher and returned to the place where our car was stuck.
Oh God!! It was still there. We were going to need a crane to lift it out of here. Never mind, someone will have the sense to back off and ease the jam.
I hastily opened the door and jumped in. The seat cover felt a bit strange.
So what?
It has every right to feel strange!
But what was little teddy bear doing .........dangling ridiculously from the rear view mirror?

I turned to my husband to criticize his taste in teddy bears...........and ..............my eyes nearly popped out!

Well, I admit I have prayed often enough that my husband would change for the better, but never in my life had I imagined that he would change altogether!!!!!

I stared incredulously at him wondering how this had happened when I was brought back to my senses by a series of rude honks.

There! How typically like him to disturb me when I was trying to solve an interesting mystery!
But what was he doing over there....in another car?

Goodness gracious!
I was sitting in the wrong car, was I?
I quickly muttered sorry and almost fell down in my hurry to get out of the car. The man was too shocked for words. I ran towards our car and clambered inside, not even looking at my husband.

Then mustering courage, I tried to explain, " That car looks just like ours, doesn't it?"
"It's not even the same model" he replied.

Oops!

We reached my destination in total silence.
I got out of the car and shut the door... Too softly.....
I opened it once again and shut it more firmly this time. Then looked in through the window to say goodbye.
There was a strange smile on my husband's face.

"For a moment I thought, my dream had come true."  he said with a wink and zipped away......