Pensioned Pranksters

"You must keep this to yourself - tell no one!"

Sister Rima heard the words as she knelt just below the open window. Obviously, the speaker hadn't expected to be overheard - it was rare for anyone to be at that spot at that time.

Sister Rima was a new nun, a new nurse. Young, full of ideas and ideals, she wanted to make the world a better place for her geriatric patients.

This is what made her kneel below Kummi-didi's window at 3 PM, a time when most of the patients were having an afternoon nap. Sister Rima wanted to decorate the patch of earth there, so that Kummi-didid would have some beauty to look on while having her morning physio therapy, and her afternoon tea in the balcony.

Some real feathers and a ceramic feather found their way into the design she was creating with plants and odds-and-ends. "Pretty!" she thought to herself.

She was thinking how best to arrange the rest of the decorations when muffled laughter came to her through the window, and then those words.

Kummi-didi, age 84, and her sister Munni-didi, 77, were obviously planning something. Sister Rima didn't know whether to be amused or alarmed. The last time these two ladies had hatched a scheme, it had resulted in one broken ankle (the janitor's) and one broken doorbell. Sister Rima shuddered. What were they planning now, these two perennial pranksters? Should she, Sister Rima, try to talk them out of it herself, whatever it was, or should she rat to Mother Superior? She didn't like the idea of ratting.

She heard two beds creak and then there was silence. Obviously, the tricksters had decided to have an afternoon nap. The only sound to be heard now as the soft tinkle of the neighbour's wind chimes.

Sister Rima smiled to herself as she worked in the afternoon sun. She decorated as best she could, stopping now and then to admire her own handiwork. She was almost done when she caught sight of something pinkish under one of the flowerpots. It seemed to be a blank envelope. Mother Superior didn't like it when junk wasn't cleaned up. Sister Rima reached out, tugged at it, and at last had it in hand.

It wasn't blank after all. It had a name on it. She blinked, and read the name again. She was the only 'Sister Rima' in the hospital, and how could a pink envelope bearing her name come to be under the last flowerpot on the premises?

Sister Rima dusted the envelope off thoroughly. Then she turned it over. It was sealed. There was something in it. With trembling fingers, she opened it.

She hadn't recognised the all capitals on the envelope, but the neat cursive letters inside were immediately identifiable as Munni-didi's. The 77 year old had wonderful handwriting.

Dear Sister Rima,
Our grand-niece is coming to visit and we don't want to miss meeting her. If we're asleep at 3.30 PM on Thursday, would you be a sweetheart and check if she's in the visitor's cottage, and then wake us? We're asking you this as a personal favour, we don't want to trouble any of the senior nuns.
Lots of Love from
Kummi and Munni.

So that was it, it wasn't a prank after all. Sister Rima heaved a sigh of relief. She stood up, dusted herself down. and skipped off toward the visitor's cottage. Half-way there, she met Sister Ekta and Sister Ariel, both of whom were in a chatty mood and held her up for several minutes talking of nothing in particular. Each time she tried to get away, the two of them would remember something urgent they had to ask her, except that when they asked the question, she couldn't see what was urgent about it after all.

"Listen," she said finally. "I have to check on a visitor and wake the patients up so I'll be getting along."

"We'll come with you."

They took her by each arm, and the three of them waled together to the visitor's cottage.

As they neared, Sister Rima asked, "Voices? How many voices?" But Sister Ekta was texting someone on her mobile and didn't answer.

The door to the visitor's cottage flew open.

Sister Rima gasped. All the patients were there, brightly dressed. Some on chairs, some in their wheelchairs,some even standing around. All the staff members were there. There were balloons and streamers.

"Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Sister Rima
Happy Birthday to you!"

Sister Rima's eyes filled with tears of joy. She hadn't realised anyone even knew her birthday. She looked at Kummi-didi and Munni-didi, who wouldn't meet her eyes and tried to appear innocent.

"This was your idea?" she asked them.

"Yes. You heard us and saw the envelope, just as we meant you to. And we did trust you not to sneak if you suspected something!"