He sat on the riverside gazing at the sky while crushing sand in his hands anxiously. The night was almost over but she wasn’t here yet.
The light of dawn revealed his swollen cheeks, a black eye and a bag with all his belongings while he still waited for the star that did not fall that night…
Image by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash
She was looking out of the window with unseeing eyes as the bus took a detour to avoid a roadblock.
For the hundredth time, she thought of earlier that day…in the back of his car… She smiled. Absent-mindedly playing with the ring he gave her, she wondered if he was thinking of her as well.
Suddenly, the bus turned a corner into a dark alley. Its headlights revealed a familiar car with a couple entangled ferociously in the backseat. She had her answer.
I was in a shock, I think.
Holding the phone to my ear
With one hand,
I ironed the same dress
For an hour,
Until I saw the holes
Burnt through the fabric,
Much like my heart.
No, I don’t love you anymore.
I had that sorted out long back.
Until Now.
I sat down
On the pile of ironed clothes
And stayed there for another hour
Still clutching the phone
Close to my heart.
Waiting for something… someone…
No, I don’t love you anymore.
I had that sorted out long back.
Until Now.
Someone called, not sure who,
Confirming what I already knew.
“Of course, I am fine.
I got over him.”
I called my new love
To share what I felt.
“Of course, I’m fine.
I got over him.”
Of course, I don’t love you anymore.
I had that sorted out long back.
Until Now.
Not sure if I ate that night,
Not sure how I got to bed.
Not sure if I cried.
But I remember
Turning over my wet pillow
In the middle of the night,
The day you died.
-Dedicated to the one ‘I didn’t love anymore’ until the day he died
She ate the apple and then slept like never before. All seven of us tried waking her up for days, right from gentle prodding to slapping and buckets of cold water, but to no avail.
After a few days, when the smell became too much (you don’t bathe when you sleep), we put her bed out so that the Sun will take away a bit of smell.
Then this guy came and kissed her. I guess, he was a bit smelly himself after so many days of being lost in the forest, so he didn’t mind the smell. She woke up and demanded to marry him right away! Why? Because he is tall?
Now, that’s a bit outrageous!
We put in all the work, give her food and lodging, take care of her while she is sleeping, bear with the smell… Then, one sunny day, he comes in on the horseback and he is all she wants? Because he is tall?
He is lost in the forest, dirty and smelly, and doesn’t know his way back home or how to put a cottage together. And still he gets the girl! Because he is tall?
Life is so unfair!
Short Stories | Fish-eye Perspective 