My piece of poetry published on one of my favourite sites: beetleypete.com
Also, check the site out for crime fiction serials that get you hooked.
Category: Fiction
The Critics
“That angel smile is so fake. She threw the basin at me right before the session with the artist!”
“And that dress and hat are so yesterday, though they costed a small fortune!”
“Well, it’s a small price to keep a wife, who’s half your age, happy.”
“I can’t believe she painted her lips mauve. Even the queen couldn’t get away with that! And I wouldn’t even look at that mop of hair. ”
“If I had such unlimited access to makeup, I’d look far better.”
“Did you know she’s having an affair with the artist?”
“No way! Who told you?”
“I saw it while I waited on them everyday at the dinner. The looks they gave each other across the table…” (fanning her face)
“Well, I did wonder why he gave her the rose she’s holding.”
“He’s probably only after her money.”
“Sigh! If only I had that kind of money…”
Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash
Placid
The story is now a part of a short-story collection available both in print and as an ebook. I will share the links soon.
The Ripple Effect
I am numb—
Serene sea.
One walks in and
Offers condolence—
A drop that sends ripples
Across me.
Then come the tidal waves
Of reality
Crashing against my being.
I attempt to reply
But tears rise and choke me.
I inhale to calm down.
But the stormy sea knows no bounds.
I go under—
Drowning the illusion of restraint,
Once again.
I turn to hide
Lest the world may see
What a wreck
You have made of me.
Wait until the numbness returns.
And I’ll, again, be the serene sea.
Photo by Joshua Qualls at Unsplash
The Dinner
The dinner was a quiet one as usual.
He never spoke much. That’s why she fell sideways looking for emotional support.
She purposely avoided thinking of it as an ‘affair’. It made her feel guilty.
Anyway, it wasn’t like she was sleeping with him. They just chatted about everyday things–daily struggles at home and office, poetry, paintings, children, dissatisfaction with family life…
Sometimes they spoke of love or lack thereof in their lives. The easy conversations made her wonder how it would have been if she had married him instead…
The thought made her uncomfortable. She was, after all, a respectable woman. She had honored her parent’s choice for 19 years. She won’t go back now. Her husband is a good man, just not who she wanted…
If only he would talk to her…
Ask her about her day…
Tell her about his own…
Remind her in some way she wasn’t just a piece of meat…
Her husband finished his dessert quietly and got up to watch television. Sighing, she cleared the table and went back to chat with him again.
Photo by Dilyara Garifullina on Unsplash
Seeker Finder
He (looking in her phone screen): Cool birds! Where did you find these rare birds to click their pics?
She: They throng our rooftop. The tree they sit on stands next door.
He: How is it possible? I have lived here for 10 years and never seen one.
She: Seeker Finder…
He: What?
She: Ask the right Guru (religious teacher) and the answer might turn your life around. Though, it may cost you a thousand bucks stay at an Ashram (religious home-school).
He: What do you mean?
She: Ever read Hellen Keller’s Three Days to See?
He: Whatever…
Forever and After
Life is rather boring here, thanks to our ‘honorable’ prince.
First, he riled up the witch enough that she turned him into a Beast and the city to ruins. Then, rather than scoping out the nearby area for a kissable girl, he decided to mope around instead.
How did he expect her to find him? Did he have GPS installed, or a neon sign, “This way to the Cursed Prince”?
Does he even know about the existence of Online Dating? Men ‘meet’ sexy women out there all the time, make them fall in love, exchange virtual kisses! Who said the kiss had to be real?
But no, he had to wait for a century until this unfortunate woman walked in and fainted at his first sight! So much for true love!
Now he spends all the time hiding from her. He watches her from hiding spots behind the curtains and secretly follows her around like a lost pup.
Sigh! I wonder when that kiss is going to happen. After being lonely for a century, I am dying to watch some action—not that castles can die. We just sulk…for centuries…
Being immortal sucks.
Photo by Kevin Jackson @ Unsplash
Loved it through and through
Dada (Fragment #018)
Often
You visited me again last night.
All the time,
You struggled with words
Trying and failing to say
What I could hear
In your eyes anyway.
What I had wanted to hear, forever.
Your hand in mine
Sending shivers down my spine,
You walked alongside me
Like good old days
Making jokes and telling tales.
Then you paused.
You looked at me with eyes so sad.
I knew you’re holding back.
There was a time
You could have told me things.
You lament missing that chance.
I wish you’d say it
So I can kiss you this time.
But as always, I wake up
Feeling your hands in mine.
It seems to be the pattern.
Every night in dreams you meet me.
Every waking hour, I try to forget
What can never be.
The Hoax
It took her two hours to accept that he stood her up. For the first time in their two-year relationship, he hadn’t turned up.
As she sat at the empty table, she had to admit she wasn’t shocked. Ever since she gave him the ‘news’ of her ‘pregnancy’ over the phone, he sounded distant. Later when she called for a date, he was too busy, which was a first too. But she insisted to meet anyway, hoping to end the hoax-gone-wrong in-person. But now, he was MIA.
She cursed her best friend for suggesting such a joke. The idiot always had a thing against her man. But even she had hoped he might consider marriage. All it did was push him away instead.
Well, she’d just go to his apartment and tell him the truth. She’d apologize for upsetting him…
That’s when she realized the joke was on her…
The first tear rolled down…
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Short Stories | Fish-eye Perspective 