Waiting for a Ride

“Mommy why does it rain?”

“Because the sky wants us to have water.”

*** Silence ***

“Mommy why do we have to stand in a line?”

“Because the rickshaw wala will only allow the person who arrived first to get a seat first.”

*** Silence ***

“Mommy…”

“Shush… one more word from you and I’m going to make you sit on top of the rickshaw.”

“Ok”

*** In the Rickshaw ***

“Mommy why am I sitting on top of your lap and not on the auto’s roof?”


For those who aren’t familiar, an auto rickshaw (also either known as rickshaw or auto) is a 3-wheeled vehicle. Every morning you’ll have a line of people who wait for ‘share rickshaws’. These kind of rickshaws ply over a fixed distance at a fixed rate instead of using the metre. Passengers get off at the nearest spot to their destination.


The photo prompt has been given by Na’ama Yehuda at the Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.

38 responses to “Waiting for a Ride”

  1. Now the kid’s doing a wind-up. The mother’s already explained this

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  2. Cute. Must drive mum nuts 😀.

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    1. Yup. I wouldn’t want to be in her place.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. He’s going to push his mother too far! 🙂

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    1. I’m afraid of that too (wouldn’t want to be there when that happens).

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Ah, kids and their questions! The patience of the parent 🙂

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  5. I bet that wasn’t the last of it! Nice one.

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    1. For both their sakes I’m hoping it was

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Dear Bernadette,

    Children take things so literally. Cute story.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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  7. It is hard to tackle a stream of ‘why daddy,’ but I do love that children want to know. Even if sometimes I may tell the rickshaw driver, do leave the child with mummy.🙂

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  8. Kids and questions and I learned something new. Nicely done

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  9. Great story… I can just envision the Mom rolling her eyes at all the questions.

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    1. Yep, she was. I was standing right behind them.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Great piece, i love a rickshaw, brilliant way to travel around India!

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  11. Thanks for the explanation.

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  12. Hahah reminds me of waiting in those long queues and you captured the constant banter of a kid really well

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  13. I can’t wait till he gets a Rickshaw of his own.

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      1. Don’t all children want cars, trains or rickshaws or at least drive them? Great story of an innocent view from a child, they take things on face value…until they realise it is not true.

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      2. Yup. Thanks for reading 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Sweet story! Great take on the photo prompt.

    Susan A Eames at
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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  15. Kids and their “why” phase!!

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    1. I’m guessing that mother is waiting for her kid to get out of that phase.

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  16. I remember when a new outdoor mall opened years back the had rickshaws and the runners for people who had to park far away. We took them a few times. It was a fun experiences.

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    1. Glad to hear you enjoyed it 🙂

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  17. I’ve had many different experiences with rickshaws. Most drivers are okay but some are downright rude and refuse you unless you’re going a certain distance which isn’t supposed to be the way it goes here. I think my back was injured by them banging through potholes. A cute story, Bernadette. Well done. 🙂 — Suzanne

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  18. Ha! She expected to ride on the roof. That would have been an adventure!

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