Elsa barks at grandpop continuously, as if asking him to quiet down. I groan. She is going to get us all into so much trouble.

Elsa wags her tail at the speed of light, barks, then jumps, turns around and faces grandpop again, jumps once more and then sits in front of him obediently, wagging her tail, her tongue lolling. Grandpop looks at her with wide eyes, and for the first time in the history of our family, he is at a loss for words. Mom looks at dad nervously. I smirk. This is going to get very interesting.

Grandpop slowly looks at me. "Your- your dog.. What's wrong with it?"

"Her", I correct him. "Not it."

"Well, yes", he says. I peer at grandpop and a flash of something like fear appears in his eyes. Wait a minute- is grandpop scared of Elsa?

"Grandpop", I say, cautiously. "Are you scared of Elsa?"

He gulps a little, and shakes his head. "No no.. Absolutely not. I'm not afraid of dogs, it- she- she just surprised me that's all."

"Ohh.." I let my voice trail off. Grandpop honestly looks like a cute two year old kid. And Elsa looks like a cartoon character. She is still looking at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something. He looks at her and back at me again. "What does she want?"

I decide to have a little fun. "I think she wants you to talk to her", I say, frowning and pretending to look thoughtful.

My mom look at me as if I have lost my mind. She shakes her head frantically, and glares at me, trying to convey a message through her eyes, asking me to abort my stupid plan immediately. Dad meanwhile seems disinterested, and gets up and says, "I have some work to do, sir, so if you could excuse Aisha and me, we need to go."

Grandpop doesn't pay any attention to him, not on purpose, but because his whole focus is on Elsa's movements. He looks as if he is contemplating what to do next.

Dad grabs mom's hand and they leave. Not before mom mouths, "Don't you dare trouble him" at me. Like I could ever trouble grandpop. I'm scared of him. But that won't stop me from having fun.

"So", says grandpop, hesitantly. "What does she want me to say to her?"

"Hmm let me think", I say, a little sarcastically, but not enough for him to notice. "If I were a dog, what would I want?" I smile wickedly. "Ofcourse! You could pat her, and say you are sorry for refering to her as a thing."

Grandpop looks at me, shocked. Then he frowns. "That's nonsense."

"Well grandpop, dogs have feelings too, you know."

"I doubt that", snorts grandpop. He is clearly back to his old, confident, scary and a little snobbish self.

I cannot tolerate such attitude. Not even from my own grandfather. "Then you don't know anything, grandpop", I say, infuriated.

"What did you just say?" My grandfather asks me, dangerously, his eyes burning with anger.

I stand up and point at Elsa. "Do you know anything about her? Did you know that she stays awake for me the whole night and goes to bed only when I do? Did you know that she waits for me to come home everyday, and greets me with the same enthusiasm and happiness each single day? Did you know that she doesn't complain even once if I give her the same food everyday? Did you know she refused to eat when Sid was ill?"

Grandpop looks at me, dazed. "She doesn't care if I'm the President or a beggar or a criminal. She will always remain faithful and loyal towards me", I say, a lump forming in my throat. "All she needs is a little love and appreciation. Dogs give you their entire lives, they follow you without asking questions wherever you go, they trust you completely and whole-heartedly, and they love you like nobody's ever loved you before. Dogs are fine even if you don't give them anything to eat, as long as you are with them. And still, you think they have no feelings?"

Grandpop looks a little concerned as tears form in my eyes. Damn it, I don't cry. I cannot believe that Elsa has made me cry. I'm going to kill her.

Elsa looks at me with an impassive expression on her face, and tilts her head. I laugh. She is my stress buster.

Grandpop is left in a stupor. Which is true, since a minute ago I was crying and now I am laughing.

I look at him, and fold my arms across my chest. "I'm sorry Alia", he says, looking at me, with an apologetic expression. "I did not know all of this. I'm sorry I hurt you." He then looks at Elsa. "I'm sorry I refered to you as a thing, Esla."

"It's Elsa, not Esla", I say, giggling.

Grandpop chuckles as well. "You know how I am with names."

I nod, remembering. During my childhood, I had two friends, Tanmay and Chintu, who were brothers, and grandpop kept calling them Chinmay and Tantu, till one fine day, their mother sat him down and corrected him.

"I'm truly sorry", he says, looking at Elsa again. He smiles after what seems like ages, a true smile which brightens his eyes. Ever since Ananya died, grandpop has been solemn and grave, and he has hardly ever smiled. So much so that it made me think that grandpop had lost the ability to move his jaw muscles.

As if on cue, Elsa gets up immediately, and wagging her tail, walks towards grandpop, and licks his outstretched hand. Grandpop pats her, and gets down from his chair, and plays with her. "Who's the good girl?" He keeps saying, rubbing her belly, and scratching behind her ears. "Who barked at me? Who's the little devil?"

I laugh. Grandpop is back! I feel elated and proud of Elsa. She's the reason for my grandfather's happiness. She's a little bundle of joy, and I cannot be more grateful towards my parents for bringing her into my life. She's my sunshine, and I love her so much, it is so hard to describe.

Grandpop looks at me. "Why are you smiling so much?"

"No reason."

"Alia, do me a favour. Once you reach home, ask Abhimanyu to meet me in my office at night, say around 9? I need to talk to him."

"About what?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"I just want to make amends with him, Alia", he says, a little sadly. "Don't look at me like that. God knows how long I may live, and I don't want to go knowing I never got the chance to apologize to him for my behaviour and appreciate him for taking care of the people I love the most. He's like my son, afterall. And I don't want to miss any opportunity of correcting myself, before I join your grandmother."

"Grandpop", I scold him. "Don't talk about you dying, okay? You know how I hate it."

Grandpop just smiles, pats Elsa again and says, "You know, Esla reminds me a little of Ananya. She was just as mischievous and she was always smiling and happy. She used to hate it when I would get upset and angry, too."
He removes his glasses, and wipes the tears in his eyes on his sleeves. "I miss her a lot."

I clench my fists, and relax them again, before sitting next to grandpop. "I miss her a lot too", I whisper, crying. It's time to let go of the past, Alia, I tell myself. It's time to stop pretending to be made of stone. It's okay to cry.

I rest my head on grandpop's shoulder and he pats it. I have cried after a long time. All those repressed emotions, and months of pretending to be okay, are finally out of my system. Suddenly, at that moment, I realise I'm going to be okay. It will take time, but my wounds will heal. And I know Elsa is going to play a major role to help me get my happiness back.