It was quite stuffy inside as Ritam craned his neck through the window of his cubicle ___ which overlooked the high way ___ and saw the maid servant doing the dishes beneath a tiny shade, which projected out from the landing where the stairs of their house sagged and then fell down to the floor.

His mother was having her usual siesta in the room adjacent to the cubicle. Lucy ___ their cat ___ staggered to its feet and then arched its velvety back and let out a sly yawn as it suddenly lurched for a mouse that scurried away through the door, that lay open to the verandah.

The maid servant hummed a song ___ a folk one, as she was doing the utensils. Ritam never went over to the window of the cubicle before ____ or since he came back home from the hostel.

To get a gush of fresh wind over his face, he looked through the window, his eyes landed right on the maid's cleavage, bobbing up and down,as she bent over the dishes.

For the first time, in his life, he felt an inexplicable sensation in his groin.
He never felt this before....

_________D. S.