I have no boom Mummy.

Five words which floated in the air for the fifth time. And all of us standing there knew what it meant. And what came next.

Of course Poopi. Everybody here knows my girl has no boom. Booms are nasty things. We will just hold each other’s hands and walk through it. Such nice red lights see. Red red lights.

The nice red lights atop the wooden frame were displaying WAIT and then again WALK. Non-stop. Again and again. As if punished by an invisible teacher. After a point there was no difference.

WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-WAIT-WALK-

The security man in the uniform had one hand on his waist. He held a small metal detector like a key to a secret, or more like a magic wand trying to protect us from the evil bang. The metal hummed a beep now and then. And the queue was dancing to it.

No Teddy. Don’t worry. We will just walk through. See nice lights. I will hug you. Look Mummy. Teddy’s afraid. Sweet Teddy. Do you like Teddy Mummy?

Oh yes Poopi. Look at his brown nose. His nose is just like yours.

Not nose mummy. Eyes. His eyes. Like my eyes. Big and white. Kiss mummy.

White shiny eyes. I had seen those eyes. Those eyes had seen me too. Our eyes had glinted  at each other. They spoke again now as the girl mounted the wooden platform after her mother.

The detector beamed.

WALK.

The man screamed.

STOP.

I saw. I saw his fingers grabbing the stuffed toy. The metal rod kissing it on the forehead. Palms sniffing it round and round. Cuddling the head. Squeezing the belly. Pinching the ears. Scrunching the tail. I saw.

No boom. No boom mummy.

The queue was hissing. The girl’s hair was jumping up and down with the wind. And the old man was staring. Some old man standing next to the wooden frame. Some old man watching us pass. Some old man who had not been able to cross.

The queue woke up again. It was my turn to go over the plank. The metal branded me. The girl and her teddy had become dots in the distance. As I went through my eyes ran down to the earth below. I saw it again. It lay there. 

The eye. One white eye.

It sparkled lonely through the green grass in the crescent moon.