A dialogue

Aditi looked in awe at the colourful masterpieces around her at the gallery; different hues suffused together to form lovely imageries. Rakhee, her protégé, was certainly talented; a deep, wistful sigh escaped her, taking her by surprise. Was she envious? She wondered, afraid to look for answers within.

“Wasn't it true that it was she who had introduced Rakhee to the world of painting? When did her apprentice, then, surpass, her, the guiding force and light behind Rakhee’s success?”Aditi bemoaned.

“Shhh..don’t think that way! It’s not right to feel resentment against genuine talent. In a creative field, someone will always be better than you” chided her friend.

“But, why me?” Argued Aditi, upset with the miss goody two shoes, ever-right mate. “I work hard too. Why is that I have to struggle so hard to reach where Rakhee is now?”

“It’s not fair..” she continued her rant, forcing her companion to withdraw into an uncomfortable silence.

 “Look at her, busy with all the adulation. She doesn't need me anymore.” The rant now tethered at the border of a self-pitying sermon.

“…or is it me? I've always been an average achiever, never aimed for the skies, so the dust is what I get, isn't it?” the sermon now reduced to an inaudible whisper as tears pricked Aditi’s eyes and she slunk away from the crowd that didn't seem to notice her absence.

“Perhaps, you still need to polish a few corners of your talent…perhaps, you are very close to where you need to be…don’t give up yet” Aditi heard the same voice, albeit low and unsure now, the one that belonged to the same righteous friend who never knew how to shut up.

Sometimes, the friend didn’t know how to console Aditi, who in her opinion, needed to hear a few hard truths but wasn’t ready to face them, yet.  Aditi was good at her work but always sought motivation from outside rather than from within. As long as the outside factors favoured her, Aditi, remained focused on her goals. Any blow to the precariously balanced self-worth ultimately damaged her spirit and confidence. Aditi had nick-named her miss goody two shoes and never saw eye to eye with her, yet she was the first person Aditi sought to confide in. Such dialogues between them were not uncommon.

“Sigh! These conversations were getting repetitive.” the friend was losing patience. She even considered deserting Aditi, leave her to destiny. But, how could she, she was her alter-ego, her shadow after all.

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Linking this to the Light and Shade Challenge.

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Connect, disconnect

As the evening wore on, Sujata got a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach, as the enormous Banyan outside her room metamorphosed into an unfamiliar gaunt image on the reflective window pane.

Moments of confusion later, she relaxed!

This happened frequently in recent months when she’d wake up with a spring in her step, charged up to start her daily routine, but ended up gripping the window ledge, gnawing at the blank images the mind threw up.

Gazing at the mighty tree brought Sujata solace; its enveloping shade comforted her frayed nerves as she grappled with memory outages.  

Lyssa Medana _____________________

100 Words written for the photo-prompt at the Light and Shade Challenge and

for World Alzheimer's Day 2014 at Write Tribe.

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Soulmates

She wrapped her arms close to his waist, digging her ashen face further into his hunched back, as he revved up the engine of his sports bike noisily and sped through the winding, up-hill roads. The cool wind lashed against her face and blew her hair away in a fiery motion, dancing wildly to her racing heart-beats. She loved him for this. She hated him for this.

He was as reckless as the wind while she was the epitome of calmness. No one made her laugh as hard as he did and she loved him for this. His don’t-care-a-damn-attitude, taking risk at the drop of a hat, living life dangerously, yet making the most of every moment, left her in awe, and in fear. He made every moment she spent with him come alive and she never felt as vibrant as she did in his company. Yet, she knew, he was not the committing kind and he’d never settle down for marriage and kids.

The view atop the hill was breath-taking. Silken, white sheets covered the bare, wet peaks seductively, while the naughty breeze gently pushed the covers away. The graceful mountains surrendered to the gentle showers of rain, their love, making bringing every blossom to life; the greens became greener, the browns becoming darker. The soft mud that lay beneath their feet, sprinkled wet, sent out a lilting earthy fragrance that tickled the two’s senses.

“I love you” he declared simply, taking her rain-drenched face that quivered with suppressed emotions, in his palms.

“Don’t give me false hopes. It’s not meant to be” She shook as words came out in whispered pain, flooding her eyes, drenching her face all over again.

“Trust me. We can do this. It’ll be fine. I’ll never let you down” He pleaded. He went down on his knees, took a blade of grass, twisted it into a ring, slipped it into her finger and spoke with solemn sincere eyes.

“Marry me. Grow old along with me the best is yet to be.”

She laughed at her incorrigible man.

“Yes” she said, even as the heart twisted at the thought of their future; an amalgamation of two diverse, complex and intense souls.

It was the most beautiful twenty years of her life. They fought, they cried, they laughed, they lived every moment. Together they survived the storms, embraced the rains and rejoiced the sun-streaked seasons in their life. He was true to his word and she never had to regret her decision.

The best one she had ever taken, she thought, creased lines on her forehead deepening, fresh tears stinging her sorrowful eyes as she knelt down at his tomb on his second death anniversary. 

Image courtesy of Janssenfrank and taken from Wiki Commons Quote:

Grow old along with me the best is yet to be.

Robert Browning

Word count: 450

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A fiction less than 500 words written for Light and Shade Challenge, combining the photo prompt and the quote above.

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The Answer- Light and Shade Challenge

Sharanya set the loud alarm on ‘snooze’ multiple times until the warm white rays penetrated directly into her room through the translucent drapes, forcing her out of her tired slumber. Was it 7’o clock already? She got up with a start. It was an hour and a half later than she normally woke up, yet she felt like she had hardly slept. She glanced over at her side and saw her toddler sleeping peacefully. A quick peck on his soft cheeks and she swung off the bed and strode to the kitchen, mechanically beginning her day.

She scanned the refrigerator for the day’s menu as she kept the milk was kept to boil. Sharanya took in the cool air, lost in thoughts, numb. She lost count of the time until she heard a strong hiss behind her. She swirled quickly, but not in time, and the stove and counter got filled with large patches of white, sticky liquid. Today was certainly not her day, she cursed under her breath.

Sharanya began to fear the state of her mind that had recently begun to resemble a circuit with all the connections crisscrossing each other. The thoughts were far too many and they seemed garbled even to her. A career woman before she had Aarav, Sharanya had willingly given it all up to be with her son. Dhruv, her husband had stood by her and she thought she had had it all. Until of course the motherhood and all the care-giving slowly began to eat into her life, cutting her off from the social circle she’d thrived on earlier. Every now and then she was consumed with ‘what am I doing in life?’ or ‘is this all to life?’ Her mommy guilt would then, almost immediately, corrode her soul for belittling motherhood and its vagaries. Sure, she liked being a mother but she was losing herself in the process.

“Thoughts of self-doubt or self-pity are like invisible monsters. Don’t give them any space in your head” Sharanya, who held a master in clinical psychology, would often tell her patients who came to her counseling sessions. Sharanya let out a hollow laugh at the irony as she remembered it now. She had fought others’ monsters all her life but strangely could not prevent her own thoughts from turning into a giant monster. She had to think of a way to come out of the self-obstructing maze that she’d seemed to build around her.

Just then, Dhruv’s voice broke her thoughts “Say, why don’t we do a take-away today? It’s been quite a while and you’d get a break too!"

"And, I've been reading your blog for some time now. I didn't know you wrote so well! Quite a fan-following there! huh?” 

He smiled at her and was relieved to see her eyes smile for the first time in many months.

“She had always liked playing with words and her blog had become a refuge in recent times where she could give a sense of direction to her wild thoughts. Perhaps, writing was the answer?” Sharanya wondered. She had to give herself a chance to find that out. She decided.

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The word limit was 500 words or less. I overshot the limit by about 25 words :-)

Written in response to the Light and Shade Challenge. You have an option to choose one out of the two prompts or even combine them. I chose to combine the two:

Photo prompt:

Image courtesy of messi and taken from the Wiki Commons

And/or

The quote: 

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

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Idiomatic conversation- Light and Shade Challenge

“I shall cross the bridge when it comes” quipped Lindel priding herself on her quick thinking.

“Always mend your bridges and never burn them” countered Esther calmly.

“Hold the bridge!..wait..or is it the fort??” blurted Lindel, panic eyes darting between the swift-moving sand and the picture.

“It’s all water under the bridge, now” scorned Esther, tapping the sand clock of its residue, signaling the end of the time limit.

“Now that your creative juices are well shaken, sit down to write that essay” bellowed Jonathan, an English professor and the picture-word game’s brainchild, secretly pleased with his children’s vocabulary. 

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Word count:100

100 word fiction written for the Light and Shade Challenge, combining both the prompts below:

Photo prompt:

Image courtesy of cheva and taken from the Wikipedia Commons

And the quote:

Shake well before opening

- instructions on a milkshake bottle.

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The Wildlife Enthusiast- Light and Shade Challenge

I had always been fascinated with the animal and bird kingdom and devoured every trivia about them as a child, and stored the information in air-tight compartments in my memory. In the company of the (few) like-minded, these would be fished out duly and proudly presented during passionate discussions about the Beluga whales, African pythons or Bald eagles.

My ambitious friends, eventually, diverged out to bustling cities in pursuit of their own passions and dreams, leaving me alone in our childhood town, where pristine-white specks of fluffy clouds still dotted the clear blue skies that formed the canopy over the vast expanse of sun-soaked green and brown fields. My mind and heart were in constant conflict regarding my choice of profession and I could not decide whether to run after my passion and become a wild-life enthusiast, living the life of a nomad in the exciting forests and deep-seas or take up a more stable profession and live the expectations of my parents.

Photo prompt: Image courtesy of J-H Janssen taken from Wiki Commons

I settled for a job as a librarian-cum-manager in the only library we had for the entire town that housed about a 100 thousand people, including school and college-going students. The pay was meager but sufficient for my modest needs. The bonus was the access to the ocean of books and the solitude needed to dive and drown into the yellow, dog-eared pages on any topic under the sun. My picks were mostly books on photography, documentary making and of course anything that talked about the winged and four- legged creatures.

Living in the countryside meant a lot of family time and free-time to pursue hobbies. Where I lacked to give my family the creature comforts and luxury, I made it up by spending quality time, bonding with my better half and our four year old son. They glow of happiness on my wife’s face each time I made her breakfast on Sundays, or the depth of knowledge I could add to the infinite questions my son posed, filled my life with gratitude and contentment. I had saved up judiciously over the past several years and gifted myself a DSLR and spent precious time learning the nuances, and honing my skills in the picturesque local surroundings.  

They say, “When you wish with your whole heart, the universe conspires to let it come true”. Little did I know that my chance entry in a local photography and short video contest would open the doors to realizing my childhood dream; I bagged the first prize that offered a course in wildlife photography with one of the top universities in the state and a chance to work with the BBC wildlife professionals. I finally had a story to tell my son as he grew up: of a boy who never let his dreams die. It took a little detour, some compromises and a lot of courage in the heart but the flame was kept alive, that eventually was to become a raging inferno of proud accomplishments and fame.

Word Count: 499

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Written in response to the photo prompt for the Light and Shade Challenge, 1st September 2014.

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Jack, the pirate

The moon sauntered in and out from the dark clouds, throwing a luminous but eerie glow over the ruins where Jack, sick from fighting the seas, sat on an elevated stone.

The violent storm had turned the sea into a ferocious animal that howled for days together, finally devouring the entire ship and the inmates, save Jack, the ruthless pirate.

Jack wondered a way to get out of the place when a cloaked man appeared from nowhere. The black-robed apparition looked into Jack’s eyes and whispered, “Welcome home”

Jack panicked to realize that his journey had ended at the netherworld.

Image courtesy of the British Library from Roving Jack the Pirate Hunter, published 1867, a romance

Word count:100

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Linking this up to the 100 word story for the photo prompt at the Light and Shade challenge 

and Five sentence fiction at Lillie McFerrin Writes for the word prompt: Luminous

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The new neighbourhood

Leaving behind a decade of memories was never going to be easy. I took heart in the fact that my new house had everything the old didn't: An Independent space without having to share the walls with the neighbours, plenty of sunshine, and most importantly a humongous amount of lung space that lined the row of houses.

After two weeks of unpacking and officially ‘settling down’, I got my first chance to wander into the small thicket of green that beckoned me into its cool, enveloping arms. I was itching to explore the miniature woods, imagining myself to be Alice in wonderland, marveling at bouncing rabbits, smelling exotic flowers and picking up juicy fruits.

For a green patch that seemed well-maintained, it was surprising to find it desolate at that time of the day when the sun still had a while before it retired for the day. There were other houses in the vicinity and I had hoped to find some fellow nature lovers and regular walkers. Nevertheless, I was happy to soak in some solitude and strolled in leisure.

I lost track of the time when a sudden chillness in the air made me stop in my tracks. There was a quietness of a different kind. I sensed an invisible fence of air around me. The line of well-grown trees ended just short of where I now stood.  Further down a few yards an ancient looking house stood. Vine creepers covered a part of the brown, patched facade and it was difficult to guess if the house had any inhabitants.

The soft breeze made a low whistle and the leaves rustled on the huge tree just across me as though to draw my attention to it. The lovely dark brown bark had moss grown over it. I stepped closer and noticed carvings etched on to the bark. “Not this way” said the words. I suddenly wished I was not standing there alone. I was getting pulled into something I did not wish to know just then. It seemed as though the tree had sensed my intention of going further and wished to stop me.

I was more spooked than curious. Some things are best left unknown, I decided.

“Some ghosts are so quiet you would hardly know they were there.” 

― Bernie Mcgill, The Butterfly Cabinet

Photo by Thomas Marlowe

Written in response to the prompt at the Light and Shade challenge. You can choose either the quote or the photo or even combine the two as your inspiration. I have attempted to combine both the prompts.

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Sleep of death #Lightandshadechallenge #100words

The devastating earthquake had wrecked Ami’s life and the past haunted her.

Wreathed in fresh flood of tears, Ami began to sift through her life, now mere pieces of memories. The snowball globe with the Ferris wheel had miraculously escaped nature’s fury. The wheel, an ironical indication of what goes up must come down.

Unable to calm her restless mind, Ami reached for her medication. The instructions on a pack of sleeping tablets - "May Cause Drowsiness" caught her eye.

“Sleep is the only solution,” she decided with finality, dropping the pills one by one into the glass of water.

Image courtesy of freeimageslive.com

Word count: 100

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Linking it to the Light and Shade challenge 1st August 2014. I combined the quote and the photo prompt in this piece of fiction. 

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A new chapter #Fiction #Lightandshade

http://bit.ly/1qHl6AZ

The steady rain caressed the window pane leaving tiny droplets that kissed the pane to leave their mark before gliding into oblivion. Kavya looked out at the bleak sky that seemed to mirror her state of mind and poured out in pain.

How could it be? Shekar seemed to be such a level-headed guy with genuine feelings for her. She too had reciprocated and felt her life sailing in the clouds ever since-happy, light and full of hope.

But when Shriya, her close friend, had shown her concrete proofs of Shekar’s infidelity, Kavya felt the ground under her feet shaking; telling pictures of Shekar with another girl- at restaurants, at the beach, at the park-the very same places where he and Kavya had spent so many passionate and intimate moments.

The shy smile dancing on the girl’s lips; a hint of blush on being held close by Shekar; the warmth in Shekar’s eyes as they looked on lovingly at her face, screamed loud and clear of their intimate relationship- the very relationship that Kavya had (erroneously) prided on to be hers alone.

Seeds of doubt had been firmly planted and she began to weigh every moment spent with Shekar then on carefully looking for more clues and proofs. They were all there to see. Only she had been naïve enough not to notice. Love indeed clouds the rationale.

Shekar’s hesitation whenever Kavya mentioned the word commitment;

“What’s the hurry, Honey? Don’t you have faith in me? We aren’t getting that old.” He’d say.

His glossing over the details of his work and family;

Kavya didn’t know anything more than the fact that Shekar worked as a senior executive in a well-known MNC. Also, his family lived in another city but he never once paid them a visit in so many months of her knowing him and vice-versa which now struck her as odd considering he was an only child.

“You are not the first girl Shekar has deceived, Kavya and that other girl is definitely not the last” 

Shriya’s words had thundered into her heart splintering the tiny blinker of hope into a thousand pieces. 

Unable to see her best friend fall prey to a womanizer, Shriya had taken the help of a private detective and collected every kind of evidence to break the myth for Kavya.

The rains stopped. The clouds lifted, a tiny ray of sunshine gave the gloomy canvas a dull shimmer. The fuzz around Kavya’s mind seemed to clear even as the last pieces of the jig-saw fell in place. With a crying heart and steely mind, she resolved to teach Shekar a lesson. He couldn't possibly get away by trying to break her.

“If you wish me to weep, you must mourn first yourself” Muttered a resolute Kavya to his picture.

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A fiction written for Light and Shade Challenge prompt. And, this marks my 300th post on this blog!

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