☀️ The Pause Before the Ride

Amma was peeling small onions.
Her eyes were wet, but not from crying.

Mukshi tied his shoelaces.
Daksh blinked from the roof’s edge.

“That means yes?”
Daksh blinked again.
“That means yes… again,” Mukshi smiled.

Amma handed the bag.
“Banana. No shortcuts through the thorny slope.”

🚲 A Goat in a Tangle

They rode past the sleeping dog rock.
Past the swing tree.

Then a sound.

“Baa-aa.”

Mukshi stopped.

A small goat was standing between two trees.
Its rope was caught under a thick root.

It tried to move forward.
But the rope pulled it back.

“Stuck,” Mukshi said.

Daksh landed on the handlebar.
He blinked once.

🧠 A Better Way

“I’ll pull it free,” Mukshi said.

He stepped forward.
Grabbed the rope. Tugged a little.

The goat pulled too.
But nothing happened.

Daksh blinked again.
Mukshi paused.

He looked again.
Then walked behind the goat.
Untied the rope from the tree.
And let the goat walk backwards, out of the root loop.
It worked.

The goat blinked.
Shook its ears.
And walked away, quiet and proud.

🏡 The Onion and the Pause

Amma was still peeling.
The bowl was half full.

“You’re late,” she said.

“Helped someone,” Mukshi replied.
“A goat.”

She looked at him sideways.
“Did you lift it?”

“No,” Mukshi said.
“I just looked better. Then found a way.”

Amma nodded.

“Last week you gave away your banana,” she said.
“This week you gave your time.”

Then she smiled.

“You used your head before your hands.”
Daksh blinked once from the window.

“That means yes,” Mukshi said.
“And that still means yes.”

Being smart isn’t always about knowing more.
Sometimes it means…
just stopping to look again.