S : Short Sentences / Stories #AtoZchallenge

In 2015 - 2016, I had joined a Readers' Club in Mumbai. We used to meet once in a month to discuss books. The club is now called Owlery. Some of us were also making efforts, to learn basic nuances of writing. This effort led us to attend a book writing workshop. As part of an exercise there, I wrote a fictional story which I had posted on this blog last year. Also on the WhatsApp group of this Club, a word was shared everyday on which we tried to write short (actually micro) stories. I wrote hundreds of such small sentences or stories - good, bad, ugly. I had posted 45 such sentences / stories, over 15 posts, in 2016 on this blog. Today, I decided to post 10 more of them, which were woven around 10 words shared on that group. I hope my readers will be kind and forgive any mistakes I made then or the ones I am going to make today. I am still learning a really tough task of writing good stories.

Word : Quaff

verb [kwof, kwaf, kwawf]

Meaning: to drink a beverage copiously and with hearty enjoyment

Tale: Old / New

As he quaffed his cherished single malt and puffed a costly cigar, his henchmen beat the young leader of the new street gang to a pulp, But the young man kept laughing instead of crying in pain. Then the sound of a loud desperate cough reverberated in that room. His cigar popped out and blood mixed with that single malt gushed out of his mouth with huge force. The poison had worked. The young man now controlled the entire mafia.

Word : Yom Tov

noun [yuhn tuh v, tuh f]

Meaning : holiday

Tale: Orphan

He is an orphan who doesn't  know what a full stomach means. But comes yom tov, his happiness will know no bounds. That day he will get to eat as much as he wants. He will raid the garbage bin of his rich neighbors and will feast on the leftovers of the day. 

Word: Eldritch

adjective [el-drich]

Meaning: eerie; weird; spooky

Tale: Hinges

It was a moonlit night when they got stranded in the middle of the forest. They saw a flickering light at a distance. Upon reaching the source of the light they found an old cottage. They pushed open the door. The eldritch creaking of the door was accompanied by hooting of the owls and howling of the wolves. They started trembling with fear. The caretaker of the cottage came out and applied some grease on hinges of the door. The door stopped creaking.

Word: Cunctator

noun [kuhngk-tey-ter]

Meaning: a procrastinator; delayer

Tale: Fearless

He never accomplished anything worthwhile. Every job he undertook ended in a disaster. Being a compulsive cunctator he was left behind his peers in the organizational hierarchy. But his fortunes changed one day. He didn't complete his job on time and still earned the top spot in his group. He was told to shoot a man before daybreak, when there would be no witnesses. But he shot him in the broad daylight in front of  hundreds of people. He earned that day, the moniker of Fearless Hitman.

Word: Turpitude

noun[tur-pi-tood, -tyood]

Meaning: vile, shameful, or base character; depravity

Tale: Whose fault

Every night her pimp sold her to the highest bidder. He had to feed his large family. He was a criminal in the eyes of the law.

She slept for money with the worst of the men. Her soul was pure though. But what she was doing, was illegal.

Her father had traded her when she was twelve. He had to provide for his wife's treatment and he had already mortgaged his land. He was accused of human trafficking.

The local moneylender grabbed his land as he couldn't repay his meager loan. The loan shark was the most respected man in the village.

I am not certain which act of turpitude agitates me most.

Word: Botryoidal

adjective [bo-tree-oid-l]

Meaning: having the form of a bunch of grapes

Tale: Obsession

His intestines had spilled out of his stomach and had bunched together in a botryoidal formation. I had never seen something so brutal in my life before. Later, I came to know that he was newly married and was stabbed thirty-six times by his wife's obsessed stalker.

Word : Embonpoint

noun [French ahn-bawn-pwan]

Meaning: excessive plumpness; stoutness

Tale: Attraction

He always got attracted to the women inclined to embonpoint. A strange kind of stirring happened in his heart and blood rushed to his loins, whenever he saw his buxom neighbor. Then one day she acknowledged him. Soon he was in his bedroom. It was a mistake. He was robbed off all his valuables by that attractive cross-dresser. 

Word: Jeremiad

noun[jer-uh-mahy-uh d, -ad]

Meaning: a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint

Tale: 49 days

His 'shoot and scoot' politics benefited from his caustic jeremiad, targeted at the ruling parties. Media gleefully lapped up his accusations without bothering to verify them. The gullible citizens voted him to power, thinking that he will bring in the change he promised. But when he was faced with the prospect of actually delivering on his promises, he ran away in 49 days.

Word: Trophic

adjective [trof-ik, troh-fik]

Meaning: of or relating to nutrition

Tale: Hallucination

Science can play havoc with human lives sometimes. When DNA cloning was introduced, everyone thought it will help humanity fight many diseases. But they used it to reproduce a carnivorous dinosaur. This has changed the balance of food chain and species at several trophic levels are now endangered. I am riding that dinosaur right now. I am a monster. I need more cocaine. 

Word : Furphy

noun [fur-fee]

Meaning : a false report; rumor

Tale: Political Fiasco

His political career was on the rise when he got caught red handed taking a bribe. He will now be taken to task by his party members. Media reports that he will be the first politician ever to be sentenced for his deeds as agencies have a watertight case against him. I can tell you it is just another furphy. He will never go to jail. No politician ever has. In fact he will emerge as a more powerful and popular leader after this fiasco.

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My last year's challenge post from letter S was a Story about young love, titled 'The Minor Glitch'. Read it here. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.

Three Words:Three Stories - Part 1

The stories that emerge from your deep experiences often tend to be most honest. You don't care whether your readers will like them or not. What matters is your ability to write what you want.

Last few weeks have been a struggle to re-live some experiences and draw inspiration from them.

This post has three words shared on our Readers' Club WhatsApp group and the stories I wrote about them.

Hinterland

noun [hin-ter-land]

the remote or less developed parts of a country; back country

Tale: Embrace

He buried all his negative thoughts in the hinterlands of his mind. Not knowing how to deal with them, he carried on for years, with problems in his life. It was a great way for a workaholic like him to just bulldoze ahead. His calm exterior and manner of speech belied the violence that had taken root in his heart. He didn't realize he was on the edge and tipping point was just days away. As he walked down from his office today, a woman appeared from nowhere and hugged him. The embrace was selfless and warm. The dams in his eyes opened, as if he had lived for this moment. When he wiped the tears, after what seemed like an eternity, the darkness engulfed him. The woman was not there. But a light shone bright somewhere inside.

Mutable

adjective [myoo-tuh-buh l]

given to changing; fickle or inconstant

Tale: Fashionable Smile

Today it was red and yesterday it was burgundy. The highlights of her hair color changed so often that, I had lost count. She, the girl of my dreams, somehow kept up with the mutable trends in fashion. Some of her idiosyncrasies were beyond my understanding. Like that time when she started matching her scarves' color with her artificial lenses. Once the shrugs caught her fancy in peak summers. The sweat on her brow didn't deter her. But I loved her for something constant. She was kind and ever smiling. Her smile complimented every fashion whim of hers. That smile will never go out of season.

Ignominy

noun [ig-nuh-min-ee, ig-nom-uh-nee]

disgrace; dishonor; public contempt

Tale: The Suspect

It was a momentous day today for him, for his family. The judgement on his corruption case was to be pronounced today. He was accused of taking huge bribes for passing a sub standard bridge. When bridge collapsed, several people were killed. He had a spotless career till then. His case dragged for three years, where he systematically proved his innocence. The verdict that was delivered today, was a slap on the face of his detractors and those people who ran a slanderous media trial against him. As he walked out of the court premises a free man, he realized that while he is no longer a criminal in the eyes of law, he will always be a suspect for those who know him. He couldn't see people in their eyes. The ignominy of this public trial was too much for him to handle. He felt dying was easy. 

 

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 7

Today is a slow day at office. But I still feel less creative. I find my best answers and I think best when I am really busy and in a rush. I don't know if it is a good thing or not.

In this post, I share three stories that I wrote around three 'Word(s) of the Day' shared on our Readers' Club WhatsApp group. These stories are reflective of our current times in some way. Let us see if you can link them with things you identify with. Share your views in comments section. 

Opuscule

noun [oh-puhs-kyool]

a small or minor work

Tale: Social Media

He wrote an opuscule on imaginary friendships, in the future world, almost 300 years ago. That two page description was written by him out of frustration, because of the social ostracism he faced at the hand of upper caste brahmins. It was a paper written as a form of protest and nothing more. But as Google launched its personal assistant Allo last month, historians found some striking similarities with the imaginary friend described in his fictional work. His untitled work till that day, started trending on Twitter, and that paper is now known as 'Social Media Version minus One point O'.

Bailiwick

noun [bey-luh-wik]

a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority or work

Tale: Transformation

Stealing is an art and he was an artist. He stole for thrills rather than money. The pleasure he got from pulling off each impossible heist, was his driving force. More than that he enjoyed the agony he was able to cause to his victims. But last time, he fell into his own trap. As he zeroed down on a potential victim, who was a rich young girl, he made an elaborate plan to woo her, steal her heart and to run away with her jewellery. But he lost his heart to her instead. He decided to quit the life of crime. He now uses his bailiwick to help police with unsolved cases.

Dilatory

adjective [dil-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy

Tale: Waiting in the Wings

He was a prime minister in waiting for ten years now. A firebrand orator with radical ideas, he remained in shadows of his dominating mother's leadership. Every time, he staked the claim to the highest position, diversionary and dilatory tactics were deployed to thwart his attempts. But he continued building the ground support and was very popular among his party cadres. As the years progressed, his mother's health started failing. The clamour for naming her successor intensified. She declared that her younger daughter will be the next premier. The daughter who was extremely good looking and intelligent. While she hadn't done much party work, her persuasiveness and charms were well known. She was instrumental in getting the nuclear deal for the country last year and had hogged all the limelight. But it was a lesser known fact that tilted the mother in her favour. He was a child born out of wedlock. His father had died years ago because of unknown reasons and the housemaid died of poisoning, few days later.

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 6

Long time again, since I visited the blog. Last month was busy, festive and fun-filled. Busy because, it was half year ending at office. Festive because, it was Diwali time. Fun-Filled because, I had a quick trip to Koh Samui, Thailand and had an amazing time there.

One thing, though, remained constant. I made a new story daily, around the 'Word of the Day' shared on our Readers' Club WhatsApp group. The three words in this post were worked on in early October. It is strange that when I wrote these stories, I had a different frame of mind and when I re-looked at them today, I found them strange. 

Stemwinder

noun [stem-wahyn-der]

a rousing speech, especially a stirring political address

Tale: Farewell Party

It was his farewell party his colleagues had thrown for him. He had given ten years to this job and groomed many leaders and won several admirers due to his integrity and passion at work. He was leaving now, not for a better opportunity, but to serve the society. After he cut the cake, his soon to be ex-boss asked him to say a few words. He delivered a stemwinder of a speech stressing on how to make volunteering work a part of our lives. In the weeks that followed, several of his colleagues resigned from their jobs and joined his NGO. His ex-boss regrets till date, giving him the farewell party. A regret not filled with remorse, but pride.

Stiver

noun [stahy-ver]

the smallest possible amount

Tale: Worthy

"You are not worth a stiver," she bellowed in agony, as he walked away from her. She was shivering with anger and her cheeks were glowing red, as she saw his back, fast vanishing into the sea of revellers gathered on the beach. They were dating each other for a year now. Today, they had come here to celebrate their anniversary, at the full moon party. As the sun was setting down, and music was still not very loud, he went down on his knees and proposed her. He took out a ring that he had bought with his savings of three years. She wasn't impressed a bit. She expected the stone to be heavier and costlier. He could see contempt in her eyes. There was no love. As she threw the ring away, he lunged to catch it. He got up, dusted his clothes, and walked away. He couldn't hear what she said. Tears flowed down his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. He now knew all shades of love.

Etymology

noun [et-uh-mol-uh-jee]

the derivation of a word

Tale: Question Paper

Please read the below text carefully and answer the questions following that. Each correct answer will fetch you 10 marks.

'The dacoits robbed the bungalow and didn't even leave a cot behind. They beat the security guard to chutney and vanished into the jungle. The thugs came to be known as pyjama gang as they robbed homes only wearing colored pyjamas and nothing else. Their mantra was very simple. The thieves targeted homes whose owners were away. This loot went on for years but no one could stop it. The last robbery went kaput when they entered a dog owner's home. The dog barked loudly alerting the police. All were killed that night in cross firing. Karma caught up with them.'

Q1. Please write all words with Indian etymology in the above text.

Q2. Identify the ones derived from Sanskrit and Hindi separately. 

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 5

I had been really busy for last few days, so couldn't post on the blog. But I was finding sometime daily, mostly while traveling from office to home, to write the story for the day on the words received on our Readers' Club's WhatsApp group.

For the three words covered in this post, I tried to use an alternative literary device in one of the stories. I am not sure what impact it creates, but I felt it right to do so.

Mavourneen

noun [muh-voo r-neen, -vawr-, -vohr-]

darling; dear

Tale: Hero/Villain

"My beloved! My mavourneen! I hope this letter still carries my fragrance when you hold it in your hands. It has been months since I went away. I had no choice. And I know my dear, I promised you that I will write to you every Sunday. But I never did. Never could. There was nothing bright to say. Things were gloomy and there was so much desperation around. After months, today the sun shines bright and there is no sound of bullets. Today it looks like the war is ending. When I left Dublin, I had never hurt anyone. But now I am being hailed as a warrior. I murdered thirty soldiers with my bayonet and killed many more with my rifle. They are going to reward me on my return. But to tell you the truth, my dear, I am not proud of this. I can smell the rotting corpses in my dreams. I hear children wailing too. As much as I try, muffling my ears, the wails don't stop. I love you and it is your thoughts that have kept me sane. Hope to see you soon."

She read this letter hundredth time. She could feel his warmth and smell his manliness in it. Her tears had dried up, but the letter was damp with sweat from her palms and tears of all the past occasions when she read it. He never came back. His decorated coffin returned though. The second world war had not only taken his life, but also hers.

Deleterious

adjective [del-i-teer-ee-uh s]

harmful; injurious

Tale: Vacuum

Their marriage was on the rocks. They hadn't talked to each other for days. Smiles had vanished from their home and both their kids were growing grumpy. It was difficult to understand what went wrong. They both loved each other deeply and had well paying jobs. They were a successful couple in every conceivable way. One day he came home, shot his wife, strangulated his kids and then jumped off his 50th floor apartment. The deleterious effects of living a purpose less life had taken its toll on his mental health. For months, now he was always bothered about the vacuousness of his life, his friend informed the police.

Potboiler

noun [pot-boi-ler]

a mediocre work of literature or art produced merely for financial gain

Tale: Life of Crime

He was considered as the most intellectual filmmaker in the noir genre. His crime thrillers were dark and morbid. Lapped up by the audiences, he was the toast of the town. Some of his critics mentioned that his films are so perverse that if he wasn't a director, he would have made a perfect criminal. They didn't know how close they were to truth. He was a pickpocket in childhood. After spending some years in a juvenile home, he came out a hardened criminal. He started drug trafficking and pimping. But then he came across a melancholic, beautiful small time actress. They both fell in love. That transformed him as a person. He studied film-making and nothing stopped him after that. His life reads like a potboiler. Isn't it? 

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 4

Start of a new month brought in some really interesting words for me to weave my stories around. In fact, I think for one word (amphiboly), while I got the usage right from sentence point of view, but the example may not be apt. But narrating the story was far more important for me, so I just went with the flow.

So here are the three words shared in first three days of October, on our Readers' Club's WhatsApp group and what I did with them.

Druthers

noun [druhth- erz]

one's own way, choice or preference

Tale: Bad Habits

She couldn't stand that man. His hygiene habits had pissed her off many a time. He would make loud noises while eating food and would burp shamelessly. Whenever he used to fall asleep, the entire neighborhood would know because of his loud snoring. Once she saw him itching around his crotch and then eating food with the same hands. She was disgusted to no end. If she had her druthers she would have never married him.

Understory

noun [uhn-der-stawr-ee, -stohr-ee]

the shrubs and plants growing beneath the main canopy of a forest

Tale: Futility

Beneath the cover of heavy understory, two eyes glowed like ember. The anger in them could have started a forest fire. But he was waiting, patiently. Waiting for her to come. He had no business being here. But life is uncertain and here he was, willing to pounce on her the moment he sees her and kill her. Kill her with his bare hands. As she strolled in, royally, and unaware about her hunter, she started drinking water from the pond in the clearing immediately. Following her were her six cubs whom she was protecting fiercely. He then realized what this lioness did yesterday was her maternal instinct and his young son's foolishness. He returned and mourned for his son.

Amphiboly

noun [am-fib-uh-lee]

ambiguity of speech, especially from uncertainty of the grammatical construction rather than of the meaning of the words

Tale: Love You, Love You Not 

She could never make out from his texts whether he was flirting or not. His use of amphiboly was so effective that even if she feels upset by any of his text, he knew he would be able to explain otherwise. Like this one time he texted her, "I love you, isn't that the most beautiful thing one can ever say to a beautiful girl like you?" She used to like him, but that day she knew, he wasn't the guy. He wasn't willing to risk anything to get her.

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 3

With this post, I will complete thirty stories for thirty "Words of the Day" shared on our Readers' Club's WhatsApp group in September 2016. That calls for a little celebration. This little daily ritual has helped me rejuvenate my blog. Happy reading and writing to you all. 

Here are today's three stories.

Peradventure

noun [pur-uh d-ven-cher, per-]

chance, doubt, or uncertainty

Tale: Thank God It's Friday

As she scrolled through his mobile phone, her heart sank. The man she had loved so intensely had been betraying her for months. Each text message proved beyond peradventure his guilt. He had been indulging in sinful activities without her knowledge. Every Friday night he was going for binge drinking with his friends. While she thought that he was working hard at office.

Lodestone

noun [lohd-stohn]

something that attracts strongly

Tale: Nature of Attraction

Moths get attracted to fire. This is a fatal attraction. An attraction that kills. But moths never learn. That is the nature of attraction.

He was driving on the expressway. He had to urgently reach somewhere. Then he heard that lilting voice. A song from his childhood filled his ears. The voice, reminded him of his mother's lullaby. The song like a lodestone, made him change his path. Instead of going to his destination, he took a by-lane and followed the sound. He kept going round in circles but he never reached the source of the sound. He knew he was going to get free today. He drove his car off the cliff. The sound stopped. 

Testudinal

adjective [te-stood-n-l, -styood-]

pertaining to or resembling a tortoise or tortoise shell

Tale: It... 

Her three year old suitcase was witness to several unspeakable things she did over this period. It had gone through the rumble and tumble of her extensive travels and adventures. She used it, stuffed it, abused it to no end. But it was a suitcase with testudinal strength, that had many secrets of hers stored in its belly. It had seen her naked many times snorting off lines of coke drawn on its top pocket. One of her boyfriends once even dropped his ejaculate on its back. The suitcase still embarrassingly carries that stain. But it still remained by her side through her highs and lows, despite her never taking care of it. Today a new larger, pink one caught her fancy. It lies in a corner waiting to be thrown away in a dump.

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 2

Today I attended a workshop on Design and UX. It was an interesting one, though not in the realm of writing. That is when I realized that every time, I am able to design my stories in a proper structure, they come across as more powerful, while sometimes, when the design of a story is not good, even the most powerful thoughts don't come across well.

Following are the three stories, where I thought I was able to structure the stories well. Do give your feedback in case you feel otherwise. As usual the stories were woven around the 'Word of the Day' shared on WhatsApp group of Readers' Club I am part of.

Abeyance

noun [uh-bey-uh ns]

temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension

Tale: The Victim

His promotion was kept in abeyance despite emerging as the best performer of the year. He had doubled the sales of regions under him. Month on month he kept breaking all past records, for two years in a row. He fast emerged as a popular guy with ladies too. A sexual harassment case was filed against him just a day before appraisal. Is he self destructive or victim of office politics?

Paean

noun [pee-uh n]

any song of praise, joy, or triumph

Tale: Thirst

She sang paeans to her idol after every kill. She would stab with her sharp dagger, right into her victim's heart and draw blood out. She will then wash her idol's feet with that red fluid of life. Her idol, the devil himself, was thirsty for more.

Gaposis

noun [gap-oh-sis]

a noticeable gap or series of gaps, as between the fastened buttons or snaps on an overly tight garment

Tale: Strange Affliction

He had a strange affliction or one may choose to call it a fetish. He used to get aroused by looking at the gaposis of any female attire. Obviously he was misunderstood and all his women colleagues thought that he is a pervert and had the gumption to look at their body parts without shame. Then on the traditional day celebration everyone wore a sari and he was not even looking at them. Strange.

 

Unheard Words, Radical Thoughts - Part 1

The Readers' Club's WhatsApp group, I am part of has changed its name from Literati Bugs to Owlery, as the owner of the group has registered it as a commercial entity. But one thing remains the same - A word of the day is shared and I try to weave a story around it. With this change, I have changed the title of my posts in this series as well, as most of the words shared are unheard of. This post has three such stories I wrote in response to three unheard words shared. Two stories are about radical people and the last one about a not so radical guy.

Vagarious

adjective [vuh-gair-ee-uh s]

erratic; capricious; characterized by vagaries

Tale: Free Spirit

She left a steady job to pursue her passion. Travel gave her a high which nothing else could match. She did petty jobs few months every year and spent all the savings on traveling for rest of the months. Her vagarious lifestyle took her to new places and experiences. She felt settled in life for the first time. She was at home, away from home.

Eristic

adjective [e-ris-tik]

pertaining to controversy or disputation; controversial

Tale: Killers. Who?

He stood trial for an eristic case that took everyone by surprise. It was discussed by all and sundry. It was dissected for hours at end on news channels. The issue at hand had no precedent and it had the potential to divide the society down the middle. His life was endangered too because of the controversial nature of his argument. People baying for his blood had crowded the court premises. The court held him not guilty but as he came out he was lynched to death. He had killed God and surrendered. People laughed at him and told him that he can't kill God. He further said if God can kill people he has every right to kill God. People argued God has no form so he can't kill God. So he claimed that before surrendering he desecrated idols and symbols of all major religions. Now people were not laughing. They wanted to kill him as he had hurt their God.

Spinebash

verb [spahyn-bash]

to rest; loaf

Tale: Resigned to Fate

It was a tough week at work. Everyday was like an uphill trek. On Monday, the review meet was really rigorous. He got the dressing down of his life from his boss. Tuesday was no better when he missed a client's deadline. It was as if he was carrying a backpack filled with bricks on this trek. Wednesday brought the bad news of him missing a great career opportunity. His heart sank and he spent the entire day sulking. On Thursday, he was assigned a new reportee from another team. He hated her, as she had turned down his proposal during college. He usually used to spend his Fridays spinebashing in office. But he got a weekend assignment late Friday evening. On Saturday, he drafted a resignation letter. He drank beer that night and woke up with a hangover on Sunday. As he caught with his friends on Sunday evening, he forgot everything. He is geared up to face Monday again.

Words that trigger stories - Part 7

I have often been blamed on our Readers' Club WhatsApp group that my stories are too dark or morbid. I don't necessarily agree with that observation because my stories are reflection of our society in some way. Secondly, there have been days when I have written about things like romance, slice of life, workplace stories as well. This post has a good mix of such stories. Three "Word of the Day" led me to explore three different worlds - a work from home woman, a stuck office goer and a political situation. Read on.

Corybantic

adjective [kawr-uh-ban-tik, kor-]

frenzied; agitated; unrestrained

Tale: Pellet Guns

A stone comes flying through the open window and hits the head of a constable, who is on duty. His head starts bleeding immediately. His painful shrieks alert all the other policemen deputed at this sensitive post. As they look out of the window, they see lot of children leading a mob of corybantic rioters. With stones in their hands and loud anti national slogans filling the sky, the situation gets out of hand very soon. Police has to do something but the mob is using innocent young children as shields. As they started panicking, they brought out their pellet guns.

Phalanx

noun [fey-langks, fal-angks]

a number of individuals, especially persons united for a common purpose

Tale: Wave and Green Tea

I was going against the wave. While everyone was going to office this morning I decided to go back home. I didn't want to let me go through yet another purpose less day. I had decided to be the master of my own destiny. As I entered the VT station to catch a local train back to my home, I encountered a phalanx of office goers coming out of the station. Their sheer force pushed me out of the station into the rat race once again. I am having my green tea right now, looking at an ominous excel sheet on my desktop, in my cubicle.

Haimish

adjective [hey-mish]

homey; cozy and unpretentious

Tale: Don't Sleep

Her haimish bed was very inviting. She hadn't slept for last 48 hours. But there was a deadline to keep. So instead of hitting the sack she kept hammering her laptop. She didn't realise when she dozed off and clicked the send button. After few hours she was woken up by urgent sounding ringtone of her phone. By the time she came to know about her sleep induced error, her latest online book had already been downloaded by millions of people for free. The book was getting rave reviews but she didn't earn much out of it.  

Words that trigger stories - Part 6

What compels me to write a story everyday?

When there are days when no one responds on "Word of the Day" shared on our Readers' Club group  called "Literati Bugs", why I make an effort to do so?

I have left many of my passions behind in pursuit of money and because of my work. Here was a quick way to keep my passion alive, by writing a short tale on this group everyday. It could not have been easier than this. Had I not done that and let my inertia overpower, I would not have been able to face myself in the mirror.

Here are three such stories which people really found beautiful.

Lucida

noun [loo-si-duh]

the brightest star in a constellation

Tale: Fading Star

She had a large happy family. With four strapping sons and three beautiful daughters, she had lived a wholesome life. Her universe was centered around this constellation of really amazing children. But her youngest son was the one she really loved more than others. She used to cook special dishes for him too. He was the lucida of her family, who faded away from her life. On his eighteenth birthday he came to know that she was not his biological mother. He left home in search of his roots. She never recovered from the shock and died unhappy eventually.

Albatross

noun [al-buh-traws, -tros]

a seemingly inescapable moral or emotional burden, as of guilt or responsibility

Tale: The Ultimate Confession

"Hi son! I have to confess something. I never loved you. Every time I told you that since your childhood, I was lying. You turned out to be a great child. I wish I could love you but I was never able to forget that incident. Once you turned eighteen, I tried many times to tell you the truth. The truth that is the ugliest. I wanted to tell you the story of a betrayal which I could never forgive. But I stopped myself from revealing the truth. I wanted you to go out in the world and face it like a man. But as I am on death bed today, I can't leave without telling you the entire thing. Son, your mother didn't die during childbirth. She just ran away with her lover, leaving you behind. I am not even your real father. Her lover was your father. I die with a regret that I could never love you. This was an albatross around my neck but I wanted to die without any burden. I wish I have my own son like you in next life."

He stopped this video, his father had left behind. He got it from his father's lawyer after he took his last breath. He was teary eyed and he knew in his heart that he was lucky to have him and his unconditional love.

Bon mot

noun [bon moh] 

a witty remark or comment; clever saying; witticism

Tale: Cock-Tales 

As he pulled his chair closer to her, he could smell her beautiful fragrance. Her jet black hair had driven him crazy since he saw her first at the pub that night. He was at his chivalrous best, when he offered to buy her a drink. She was also flirting with him unabashedly and accepted the drink. As they finished their first round of drinks, he made a double entendre with a lewd gesture, "Would you like a Screwdriver or Sex on the Beach?"

Not the one to remain behind, she replied with a quick bon mot showing him, her middle finger, "Not really, I prefer to have Virgin Mary when out with strangers."

They both laughed at this banter and are best friends since that night.

Words that trigger stories - Part 5

The "twist in tale" and "conspiracy angles" in stories have always enamored me. When I write short tales on the Readers' Club WhatsApp group everyday for the "Word of the Day", one of my goals is to ensure the reader remains hooked to the story till the end. I know my tales are very small. But still managing to give something at the end of the story is not only a challenge but my goal as well. 

Irrespective of the genre, whether it is crime or politics or a fantasy, this element is an important part of my story telling. So here are three such stories written by me, which straddle multiple genres but retain that essence of twist at the end. I am sure, I have lot to learn and improve on my skills, so your feedback is always welcome.

Pulverulent

adjective [puhl-ver-yuh-luh nt, -ver-uh-luh nt]

covered with dust or powder

Tale: Runaway Hit

He was able to manufacture a stable pulverulent compound in his laboratory after years of research. This white powdery substance had miraculous ability to treat several diseases if used in measured doses. As the word spread about this, people clamored for its formula. The scientist not used to the spotlight and not knowing what to do just ran away from the town. A local drug lord somehow found a method to produce the newest compound in town, at mass scale. In party circuit the drug is known as 'Runaway Hit'. At last count 938 people have died because of overdose.

Plutocracy

noun [ploo-tok-ruh-see]

the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy

Tale: Status Quo

It was a country where rich few ruled over the poor masses. The rich had a lifestyle which would put even Gods to shame. On the other hand poor lived in squalor and disease. There lived a man of meagre means who decided to overthrow this plutocracy, with the wealth of his ideas. He groomed a team of really beautiful girls who wooed the rich using their bodies. These girls created a web of lies, deceit and blackmail which divided the coterie of rich into many fragments. Now this country is ruled by a small minority of intellectual elite. The masses are now poor and uneducated. Now it is easier to exploit them than ever before.

Cackleberry

noun [kak-uh l-ber-ee]

a hen's egg used for food

Tale: An Apology

A cackleberry broke open, but he was surprised to see no yolk inside. He knew he would go hungry yet again. It was ten days since he had anything to eat. Under the spell of that dreaded witch, any food he had touched in last ten days turned inedible. The milk curdled into blood. The bowl of peanuts turned into live cockroaches. The bread turned green with fungus. His mother was right. She had told her that if he doesn't respect his teachers, a witch will trouble her. He could now smell his favorite pancakes being cooked at a distance.
His mother woke him up and served him pancakes dripping with honey at his bed. There were scrumptious scrambled eggs too. He gulped the entire breakfast like a hungry boy would do. Instead of saying thanks, he whispered in his mother's ears, "Sorry."