Irritation

He knew that he was no longer a kid; he was almost as big and strong as his mother.

But the mother would only treat him like a kid and chided him as if he was always in the harm’s way.

“How many times have I told you that such manoeuvres are not for the kids to try?” she said in an unrestrained irritation as he landed near her, brimming with pride, after a soul stirring flight.

He thought of his friends who had already flown to the distant island.

He looked at his mother with bleary eyes; he was dreaming of audacious flights he would try in the company of his reckless friends.  

A post for Five Sentence Fiction

Word prompt-Irritation

Serendipity

“Serendipity? What do you mean? I never heard this word,” he asked. He was baffled.

She did not answer. Perhaps she had not heard what he was saying. She was lost in her thoughts.

“Did I ever tell you that my grandfather and his father were in the army? They had fought many battles and in many countries.”

“So what?” he was still not sure where it was leading to.

“Last week we sold our grandfather’s house.”

“…..” he looked askance at her.

“We were to transfer the house on 17^th. For no reason we decided to stay there on 16^th and spend a night in that house. That house was full of our childhood memories…… I was not able to sleep. Just to while away my time I started going through some papers I had found in an old box. In 1917, my great grandfather had helped a rich Belgian merchant who had been arrested on the false charge of spying. In gratitude, the merchant had given him a precious diamond. War over; great grandfather wanted to sell the diamond but someone told him that it was the missing Florentine diamond. He got scared and didn’t sell it. He hid it.”

“Now I see why you are looking so lost. You must be wondering where the diamond was; you do want that priceless diamond but you can’t find it?” he said in a crudely mocking tone. Something hurt him deep inside.

“No,” she thought she could feel his hurt.

 “What does that mean?” he asked impatiently.

“We found the diamond. It was buried in the lawn of that house; buried under a plant of yellow roses.”

“I can’t believe it,” his eyes were brimming with greed.

“I wonder if I had quickly gone to sleep, what would have happened to that diamond,” she asked.

“Where is that diamond? His suppressed desires were overwhelming him.

“What does serendipity mean? Did I mention that word?” she looked a bit lost.

“Where is that diamond?” he almost shouted.

She just could not look at him.

****

A post for ABC Wednesday

S for Serendipity  

This Day

This day was like any other day.

“I have to reach office by eight; I will use the bathroom first.”

“I will just take ten minutes. I don’t want to miss the train, not today.”

“No, it’s never ten minutes with you; I know you well, you can’t fool me now.”

“Why don’t you understand, I have been missing the first train every day of the week,” he had almost shrieked.

“It is not my problem.”

He shrank within himself for he knew that both parents would keep arguing till one of them left for office.

This day was like any other day.

Every morning he would get up and wish that it would be a different day. Sometimes it did start differently. The rays streaming in the room would appear warm and bright. A butterfly would come and flutter near the window. Squirrels would jump and play on the walls and even on his wheelchair.  Air would smell beautiful.

But, more often than not, it never ended that way.  Something or other would happen and they would be at each other, like two sworn and tired enemies; unaware that he was observing them; that he was acutely sensitive and could feel even the slightest vibe floating in the air; that every moment of life he was shrinking within himself. 

*****

A post for Two Shoes Tuesday

Word prompt- Observe

Junk

                                                                                       Photo prompt-copyright-Claire Fuller

It was not a great car but he loved it.

He had inherited it; his father had spent his all savings to buy it. Father loved it more than anything else in life.

But his wife and children derided him for his love for this “junk”; yes, that’s what they called it.

“When are you taking out the junk for repairs? I wish we could go on a long drive; get it repaired soon.”

He knew what she meant. She would not even look at it.

“I have already sold it.”

She was stunned; for once, she felt his pain.

******

A post for Friday Fictioneers on a picture prompt

Speech

We all knew that he was notorious for making fiery speeches. But this time he had crossed all limits. What he had said was not just fiery, it was toxic; he was spewing venom like a viper.

And unsurprisingly he was inciting his band of followers against the media.

We were all nervous; all of us. We had all been highly critical of his actions and speeches. We had repeatedly exposed his hypocrisy; while he expected his followers to live like mendicants he himself lived like an orient king of yore.

Why his followers could not see that he was nothing but a farce was a mystery that none of us could unravel.

We had, all these days, been waiting for him to act against us. Therefore, his speech was not surprising. But what shocked us was the level of his anger against us.

We could feel the poison in the air; we could feel the eyes of his loyal followers. These were not the eyes of men.

Every one of us felt a shiver down our spines.

******

A post for Three Word Wednesday

Word prompts- fiery, notorious, toxic

Ghost Town

The train was late by two hours. He was getting worried. He had asked Ess to come to the railway station in his car for he was scared of traveling in a taxi late in the night.

The train should have reached the destination at 1030 PM; it was already 1230AM and the train was yet to reach.

“Ess would have gone back by now. How long could he have waited?” he said to himself. “If he is not at the station I will have to hire a taxi.”

His nervousness increased with passage of every minute, “It will be first time in my life that I would be travelling in a taxi in the dead of night.”

The train reached his destination. He quickly got off the train and rushed to the exit gate of railway station. But he was surprised to see that he was the only passenger who had got off the train.

“It is really unusual, I am the only person getting off and I thought that more than eighty per cent passengers were travelling to this place. But why are not these people getting off?”

Railway station was totally deserted; not even one person could be seen there. The silence of the railway station was loud and frightening. 

He almost ran and ran out of the station; hearing sounds of his own thumping heart and his fleeting footsteps.

Outside, the city was as deserted as the railway station was where he had got off. There was no one anywhere around. There were no vehicles on the roads. There were no voices or noises in the air. It was an empty city he had come to.

All lights were shining and shining brightly. But he did not find the lights heartening; the lights made the emptiness of the city stark and terrifying.

“Have I come to wrong place? It looks more like a ghost town,” he muttered to himself and rushed back to the railway station. He looked at the board on which name of the station was flashing.

He read the name and shrieked in horror.

********

A post for Magpie Tales on a picture prompt

Managing Crowds

When I heard that Mr Modi is taking crowds from here for slogan shouting during his foreign visits I saw a great opportunity for myself. I had no reason to believe that this was a mere wild allegation for the statement had come from the mouth of a seasoned political leader.

I immediately contacted someone who knew someone in Sangh parivar. That someone spoke to someone in BJP. That someone in BJP called someone who was related to someone in PMO.  Eventually my request was placed before Mr Modi (I was later told that every decision about crowd management is taken by Mr Modi himself) on the side-lines of G-20 summit.  

And since Mr Modi is a quick decision taker, I promptly received a 10-page questionnaire; Mr Modi wanted to know everything about me; how many times I had been part of managed crowds in India; what had been my substantive contribution as a managed crowd; what were my views on Ram Mandir; did I do NaMo jap, if so how many times a week; so on and so forth.

After I had satisfied ‘him’ with my crisp answers (I had been warned that answers had to be brief and to the point, I was to use not more than five words per answer) I was given four options but no lifeline to help me make up my mind. I thought that was insulting; if I was volunteering to be managed as a crowd then I deserved the courtesy of at least one lifeline for choosing one option out of four.

My anger and reaction unnerved many people who were not prepared to raise this matter with ‘him’. Eventually Sangh Parivar had to intervene; there is rumour that Sangh Pramukh was displeased with the poor management of crowds by the BJP. On their insistence every volunteer was given two lifelines, phone a well-wisher and double dip, before he exercised his option. Those who were being compelled to be part of the managed crowd were not given these lifelines. I thought it was a fair decision.

I willingly used one lifeline and called a well-wisher and on his advice I opted to go to Germany during the next visit of Mr Modi and be part of the managed crowd; I would be initially part of Hamburg Bhangra Group and later I would have to travel as a resident of Munich on a train to Berlin and cheer him at a public function that would be organised there.

But there are no free lunches in the world. Mr Modi being a true Gujarati had extracted his pound of flesh for this favour he had done to me. I had to give an undertaking that I would be part of managed crowds if and when Mr Modi decided to visit Timbukto and Burkina Faso. In Timbukto I would be a member of Timbukto Indian Association and in Burkina Faso I would be part of Indian Dance Group.

But let me say one thing quite candidly. I can’t help but admire Mr Modi’s crowd management and long term planning; he is truly a great leader.