The Beach

The love I feel is still too raw to need a testament to its loss. Because you see, to live after witnessing the birth of something so spectacular only to stumble upon a realisation that it is really quite not is a cruel fate for the mind. Especially when it’s still in the air, when

The Last Timekeeper

“You see, living in the past is a cruel delusion, Chancellor.”A gold-dusted leaf drifts down by a lingering wind’s grace, as slender as a feather, to flow and adorn a tuft of grass fringing the chancellor’s rock.Inol Harmon sighs, his scrawny legs dangling against the little boulder he is perched on. Unmoved, on the rock

Souls: Part One

“A favour as great as the universe is not worth the sacrifice of a star.” stated Alvis. “But altering the reasons of life is not in our hands.”“And so, as our beings fly as dust, we’ll recollect the reward, as meagre as it may be.”, said Brain, turning around.Eshter smiled and continued, “For it is

Fearless Frances

I’m never unsettled by anything. Expect if you count the dentist’s office, and the dentist himself whom I treat with an air as tense as an encounter with a dangerous wild boar.However not withstanding this, when I was seven, I was coined the nickname ‘the Fearless Frances’ by a passing childhood friend and it was

The Trap

Deep in the abyss of the forsaken paths lay a pond fortified with green embrace. The folks of the hamlet had either never or seldom crossed the expanse for it was an invisible dome, only entered by those with reasons to cede and bonds to fray. The pond held echelons of allure that fervently attracted

Something Regarding Money

The haunting of unborn winter’s cries was like a ribbon of ice flying loose around the street. Kevin O’ Sullivan shivered when he felt the first tickle of cold encircle him as he strode outside his house to his car. He draped himself with the haven of it and was soon zooming down the lane in

Echo

Amidst two of the golden shards of walls that bejewelled the empyrean chamber, a coil of white smoke lay, woven with pearls of fresh blood.The residue of the expanse was strewn with fragments of butchered Cranes, staining the gold-plated floors and only breaking off when met with the boundaries of smoke. Inside, a frail book

The Key

We always conceal our threads when they begin to stray. Owing to someone else or to ourselves. Then, the facade is eventually broken by age and we start to even spot the most modest strands of them all. It takes a long while for us to learn and ignore these lost threads but we do

The Escapade

A lone owl perched on a the branch of a birch tree, was wide-eyed, looking out at the noises emanating from the ground. Moonlight streamed in through the canopy, letting the owl discern some little figures that were slowly trudging through the forest floor. Rachel tossed the wet tissue into a bin, having dabbed her

The sights

Everything is dotted with a whirl of colour bursts like blooming flowers. At least that’s what I think it is when suddenly someone switches it all off. I scramble to my feet and blink rapidly, trying to catch a shadow for clues. But all I see is the dark, the swirly nothingness of the dark.

The evening

The clouds glisten like water as the sun sinks into it. It strikes me how small it looks, like an orange ink blot in the sky. The other colours- the rosy pink blush, bright blue and the soft lavender look like smudged streaks of paint. God is a good artist. Excellent, even. And very speedy

The Puppeteer

‘Alright, who’s next?’ Called Mrs Telhall and her daughter walked in through the curtains.‘Sit down, dearie, sit down’ Mrs Telhall smiled and pushed back her curls.Fifteen-year-old sally sat and stared outside the window.‘Now, let’s see. Open your eyes, sally. Open your eyes.,’ whispered Mrs Telhall softly.Sally did. A few people were walking on the pavement.‘Open

Gratitude

Aakesh rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he walked to the park. Late nights made his morning walks quite a chore now but he wasn’t ready to give them up yet. As he entered, he took his hands away and blinked at the greens unfurling about him: tall trees with red and yellow

The eternal night

“After darkness comes the light” – Cornelius Nepos For centuries, the sky had been dressed in a sheet of stars, moon and ink. A nightfall, in years erstwhile, had washed away the streaks of light in one great sweep and had been ruling the world ever since. It was believed to have been a cosmic curse

The holiday spirit

‘Twas the night before Christmas. Snow wafted from above, like raining clouds and floated down to the city, dripping off the fine glittery buildings. The whole city was bejewelled with twinkling filaments of light like coloured stars. Perhaps the brightest source of it was the gigantic Christmas tree that adorned the plaza or maybe just

The Gift

‘It wasn’t really a question, replied Catherine, a sharp edge in her voice as she pulled out a knife. ‘But, mom I..’ Kyle began but was cut short by a gleam in his mother’s eyes that unduly spoke of finality. He sighed. There was no use in arguing when it was clear that he was

Just Another Day

Age is just a number, the saying goes. But pushing 70, I can feel an overwhelming sense of forgetfulness creeping in as a result of my ageing mind. Why, just yesterday I had lost my glasses and realised that it had just been sitting on the bridge of my nose all the while. Now, that’s

The night

However hard he tried not to be, Ethan was afraid. Nervous energy thrummed throughout his body as he held the back door to his house open. ‘Now, it’s just a little stroll, Ethan. It’s probably just nothing,’ he told himself, biting his lip. He looked back into his house. It was dead quiet except for

The forest

A small verdant forest rests near my house. It is alive with green things towering high up, like skyscrapers piercing the sky. And it has become a treasured daily retreat of mine. I slam the front door of my house shut, savouring the banging sound for it meant my freedom from my daily humdrum life.

The girl

Rory’s pale face was framed with dark wind swept hair and studded with a pair of emerald eyes flecked with crystals of grey.  The thin smile that always played her lips was now expanding and relaxing as she kept flashing it to the sea of children swimming across the dark corridor to reach their classes. 

The little bird

‘….. The old man uncaged the little bird with a lovely smile wrinkling up his face. The bird, at being released, gave a shrill chirp of joy and flapped his red wings happily. The man watched the little bird, his eyes brimmed with tears. And then bidding a final chirp of goodbye, the little bird

Almost Magic

Just a month before the pandemic- November 2019, I experienced the best vacation of my life.  My dad and I have a small tradition. We go on a sort of a daddy-daughter trip to different places except well, we don’t get very far. You know, a walk to a park, to get ice-cream or to