And there she sat on the rock
In middle of nowhere,
Awaiting her sailor
To return home,
Till she turned
To stone.
Typical!
Image by K Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
The Forsaken
The Final Quest
The forest is dark as little light filters through the thick canopy of trees overhead. He has been walking for what seems like hours but could be only minutes.
Standing in a pool of dim light, she looks the same after so many years, beckoning him to come forward. Awestruck as if he found his heaven, he obliges.
Somewhere in a hospital, an old man dies…
Image by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
The Lamp Lighter
She lighted the countless lamps
of the fairytale castle
every night,
hoping for love
of the handsome Prince.
The day she died,
the castle alone mourned–
its halls dark
through the night.
While the Prince cursed
and stumbled around
looking for a trickle of light.
Image by Cody Board on Unsplash
The Pink Sweater
Shivering, she pulled the Pink Sweater tightly around her body like a cocoon when the Police arrived.
He had been high on coke and didn’t struggle much when, with shaky hands, she had twisted the sweater around his neck.
He will never hit her again.
Image by Raychan on Unsplash
The People in Zoo: The Cranes
The pair of Cranes looked at the other birds in the large aviary with contempt.
So, it has come down to this? They will have to share quarters with these minions? How they hate the Gobble Gobble and the Cackle Cackle–the constant cacophony of the mindless birds who have never seen the world!
They looked past the fenced roof and saw a flock fly by. How they craved to fly with them and see the world again…
The Funeral
Love, when you ended
your ‘less-than-perfect’ life,
I believe you had every right.
But your note said
you pray for forgiveness
for your life of sins.
In that moment,
you changed everything.
You had no right to call
our love, our life and dreams,
a Sin…
We were gay, not philanderer–
almost man and husband.
Now that I stand here at your grave,
I wonder if I had sinned
throughout my life
by loving a Sinner.
Photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash
The People in Zoo: The Tiger
Of course, it is better than the circus I was at earlier. The minions feed me well and my 100 feet x 100 feet home comes fitted with grass to lay on and trees to scratch my back.
But I miss running around the forest with mom. Don’t know when I will see them again.
Image by Anthony Melone at Unsplash
First Date
She already knew the result of the meeting.
Men on the dating site asked her to meet them thinking that her disability will cross out theirs. But they realise their mistake within ten minutes of the ‘conversation’.
Considering that this date was ‘normal’…
She found him waiting outside the venue. He sheepishly gestured the ‘signs’ with hands. They said, “Please bear with my clumsiness with ‘signs’. I started learning recently so that we could understand each other.”
Image by Thomas Lardeau on Unsplash
The People in Zoo: The Alligator
Where have all the eggs gone again? Did the birds eat them…but I had buried them in the sand under the tree…
But no one came…well, except the cleaner…but he wouldn’t do that to me, would he? He must know how much my babies mean to me…
Maybe they hatched when I was eating and are hiding in the water already…but where are the shells then?
Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash
The People in Zoo: The Enemies
The lone Lion replied in response to the pained calls of the Zebra next door.
Enemies by nature, they are brothers in loneliness.
Photos by Geran de Klerk and Alan J. Hendry on Unsplash
Short Stories | Fish-eye Perspective 