The next day when Mini came home from school, she had some news. ‘I am going to sing a song,’ she said.

Amma and Baba were surprised. ‘Do you know how to sing a song, Mini?’ Baba asked her.

Mini did not. ‘But,’ she said, ‘My Friend Anika will tell me how to sing.’

‘Aren’t you scared?’ Manoj wanted to know. ‘You will have to sing in front of everyone!’

Mini was not scared. ‘I won’t be alone,’ she told her brother. ‘My Friend Anika will be with me.’

‘Anika?’ Manoj asked. ‘Isn’t that the new girl?’

‘Now she is not new,’ Mini told him. ‘And she is my friend.’

Amma, Baba and Manoj looked at each other. Yesterday Mini had known very little about this new girl. Had she learnt anything more? So, they asked her.

‘Yes,’ Mini nodded. ‘Now I know many things.’

‘Tell us,’ Baba said.

But Mini could not recall anything. ‘I need to think,’ she told Baba. ‘Then I can tell you what I know about My Friend Anika.’

Amma and Baba nodded and went back to work. Manoj was doing his homework. But he looked again and again at Mini. Had she remembered anything about her friend?

‘There is a doctor in My Friend Anika’s house,’ Mini said when they were eating dinner.

Amma and Baba were surprised. Why did Anika have a doctor in her house?

‘Is she ill?’ Amma said. ‘Does the doctor give her many medicines to eat?’

‘I don’t know,’ Mini said. ‘But the doctor takes care of the baby.’

‘Baby?’ Manoj was surprised. ‘Which baby?’

‘My Friend Anika has a baby in the house,’ Mini told them.

Amma and Baba looked at each other. So, Mini did know some things about her new friend. Manoj had many questions about the baby.

‘Is it a boy? Or a girl?’ he asked. ‘How big is the baby?’

‘I don’t know,’ Mini said. ‘But it cries a lot. Today, when My Friend Anika was coming to school, the baby smiled at her. And do you know what she saw?’

‘What?’ they asked.

‘She said she saw two small teeth when the baby smiled!’ Mini told them.

When Baba woke her up in the morning, Mini said, ‘Sometimes My Friend Anika doesn’t sleep the whole night.’

‘Oh,’ Baba was surprised. ‘But why?’

‘Because the baby in My Friend Anika’s house cries and cries and cries,’ Mini explained. ‘My Friend Anika said no one can sleep when a baby is crying!’

‘That must be very difficult for her,’ Baba said.

Mini nodded. ‘But My Friend Anika still likes the baby,’ she said. ‘And the baby likes her!’

Then while she was brushing her teeth, she said, ‘My friend Anika’s toothpaste is green in colour. Amma, can I have green toothpaste?’

‘A green toothpaste will make your teeth green,’ Manoj teased her. ‘Then, you’ll look like you have eaten spinach!’

‘My Friend Anika says green toothpaste is very nice!’

When it was time to eat, Mini said, ‘Baba, I want two parathas.’

‘Two?’ Baba was surprised.

‘My Friend Anika says two parathas make you double strong!’

‘Then,’ Manoj giggled, ‘you should eat four parathas. Then you will be double, double strong!’

‘My Friend Anika says that eating too many parathas can give you a tummy ache,’ Mini told him.

So, Mini ate two parathas. She took a long time over it, and Manoj had to wait while she carefully chewed the food.

‘Hurry, Mini!’ Manoj called, as he waited outside the house. ‘We’ll be late!’

Mini picked up her school and lunch bags. ‘Come on,’ Manoj told her. ‘If we run, we can get to school on time. Then we won’t be late!’

But Mini refused to run. ‘My Friend Anika says running after eating will make your stomach hurt.’

‘All right, then,’ Manoj said. ‘You can walk slowly to school. But I don’t want to be late. So, I am going to run!’

Mini nodded. Manoj ran as fast as he could. Then he stopped to look at his sister. She was far away behind him. She looked very small and alone.

Manoj ran back to her. ‘What happened?’ Mini asked. ‘Why are you not running to school?’

‘My stomach,’ Manoj said. ‘It hurts!’

‘See?’ Mini said. ‘My Friend Anika was right!’