Sue loved eggs in every form possible. She ate the last spoon of scrambled egg from her box and got back to staring at the monitor in the lab. The university tower clock bell rang eleven times. The lab was all hers at this late hour. She had to head home in an hour as the lab closed at midnight. All her friends preferred to work at home. Sue however, liked being alone with only the sound of the ocean waves for company. It helped her to focus on her project.
At 11.45 pm she logged out of her machine, picked her pink bag which her doting mom had sent from India. Every few months a parcel would arrive with tons of clothes in all shades of pink. She was not sure if she liked pink. But hell she cared.
Walking back on the deserted and sparsely lit Centennial Drive at this hour lost in her thoughts had become routine for her. Her thoughts were mostly about the assignment she was to submit the next morning. Her apartment condo located on the end of Centennial Drive had become a summer camp of sorts with most of her friends hanging out there.
“I will restart the simulation from my laptop”, she was thinking as she climbed the stairs to the apartment door. Something flew and hit her specs and her hair received the first dose of protein in a long time. The yellow sticky egg dripped down her cheeks onto her white top. She knew it had begun.
Most of her friends dreaded the egg beating ceremony. She was not the meek types.
“What the helllll!”, she cried, wiping her specs with the edge of her top. Putting back her specs, on the other side of the window she saw Preethu smiling sadistically and ready with another egg in his hand.
The door creaked open and two more smiling faces appeared. “How do you like your eggs, Miss Sue?”, Amu asked, followed by a demonic laughter from Rohan.
Usually her response was " Sunny side up". But not today.
Usually her response was " Sunny side up". But not today.
Then the eggs poured on Sue like the monsoon or like Ram’s 917 'instant arrows' raining on Raavan. She bowed down and shielded herself with the bag. Before the next round of shots were fired, they all cried in unison –
“Happy Birthday Sue!”
They were in no mood to subside though. They were just giving back what they had received on their birthday. Her “Stop it guys!” was an invitation for the next salvo.
Sue stepped back and started running to no where. The hounds followed her continuing to target her. Some eggs hit her, some missed and landed on the lawn. Sue picked an unbroken egg, stopped running and turned around.
“Stop it now or I will hit you”, Sue warned.
“You drop it down now, or this will get worse for”, and before Preetu could complete the sentence Sue shot the egg towards him and started running. “My hairrrrr”, Preetu frowned as he wiped the yolk from his forehead.
Sue ran to the woods located in the back of the apartment. Not seeing any point in following her in the dark the trio decided to stay at the front door.
“She will have to come back here”, they muttered.
While in the woods, Sue noticed that the back door was left open. “How stupid of them”, she thought. She entered the apartment through the back door stealthily and saw Candy immersed in her Mac.
“Candyyy, help me!”
Candy looked up. “Wow! You are almost a French toast. Don’t even look at me. I am out of this”.
Candy was the most non-violent among the house mates. She loved her complexion too much and had opted out of the egg ceremony. She was never the aggressor but sometimes she did become the victim. Seeing the trio rush for her, Sue ran into the bathroom and locked herself.
The hounds moved all ammunition to the bathroom door and waited for Sue to give up.
For 14 minutes it was a stalemate.
Eventually the door opened. The elated feeling of the attackers was doused by a splash of sticky soapy liquid on their faces. They ran to the hall rubbing their eyes. Sue had not given up. She was very innovative – her weapon was - hot water + Dove body wash + Pantene Pro V + Tide + Listerine – everything she could find in the bathroom. Sue quickly grabbed the egg cartons lying on the floor and moved back in.
Relieved that there were no more eggs outside, Sue stepped into the shower.
Without any ammo the hounds had turned into sheep. Amu still had ideas.
“I have to crash into the bathroom while she is taking a bath. That is our only chance of getting at her. You guys get me whatever you can from the refrigerator”.
Very reluctantly Rohan & Preetu agreed.
Amu unlocked the bathroom latch with a hair pin and crashed in. She pushed aside the shower curtain and started pouring orange juice, followed by yoghurt, milk, leftovers….
“Amuuuuu! Amuuuuuu!”, was all Sue could do. Amu picked up the egg cartons and walked out slowly, knowing that the war was over.
Later, Sue stepped out – shiny hair, glowing skin, in her new pink dress.
In the candle lit hall everyone waited for Sue to cut the cake. Sue blew the candles and cut the dark chocolate cake. The most unmelodious “Happy Birthday” song followed.
Sue smiled for the camera, looked around and tried to remember whose turn was next.
