Whispering Thoughts

We'll get you a brother, They promised; Running errands Outside our nest, Pushing my wedding-cart, Running our family-name, Sustaining their withering souls; Never lamenting The sisters I could have had, Not even once. Its okay, I offered. Its fun catching fireflies alone.

She was tall for her age. Lanky. Bony. And Spartan. She had that don’t mess with me permanence pasted on her face, even in her early years. Odette was not easy to be with. And Odette was not popular. Not ever since she had been reported in pre-school for mauling a boy thrice her size. He had devoured her lunch secretly before lunch hours. Odette was counseled and reded before being re-admitted. All she had understood was that if she did not fall in line with others, she would be outcast. The doors of knowledge would close on her, perhaps forever. More than anything else, she dreaded that darkness. And then one of the teachers fed her with some story about the infamous crocodile well in the old compound. The unwieldy Odette yielded to the stifling discipline of school. It could be the fear of ending up being a nescient and ignorant or the fear of being fed to crocodiles. But somehow she managed to stay out of trouble, deporting with modest reserve in school hours. Though, at home, ...

She didn’t look up the details of suitors now. This one was, anyways, late. Prejudice was beginning to blur the rationale. She moseyed through the labyrinth and watched the dying sun. Tired of enduring the cliché, phony, glamour of the shopping-plaza, she typed a goodbye and then back-spaced it. She knew she couldn’t, rather, wouldn’t hit the send button. Not with mom’s words resonant, “Maybe this time, you can be persuaded otherwise”.  She bought a bestseller from a peddler and was halfway through the sixth chapter when he arrived. A familiar wave of ennui spread through her. Maybe next time… Courtesy:  Friday Fictioneers Linking with : Friday Fictioneers

For all that I am, For all that I can be, And For all that I will be, There is no force More propelling, More steering, More balancing Than The love of my folks. A part of their blood, Their flesh And Their genes; A part of their dreams And aspirations and hopes; A part of their hearts and souls; I am nothing, Nothing but dust, Nothing but zilch, Nothing but bones and flesh Without their tiny resemblances Coursing through my being. They define me And They refine me, too. My each step, every single breath Is because of them. Thank you Lord! For I can find you distributed In Bits and pieces In this human tapestry Closest to me. I choose to call it my family.

She savored her stay with us. Every single moment. A slight pause, Miniscule almost. And then It was time for her, To wander Beyond the horizon, Behind the sun. I still remember her last hurrah, “ Alright! 80 years of heaven are up ”

The evening descends, Gracefully, The beauteous dusk sweeping the day In shadows, The eventide Heralding a stillness to the rush. The birds, ravens and crows and sparrows, All flocking back to the safety of their nests, The trees sighing, Their breaths labored, short bursts of oxygen, Being replaced earnestly with that counterpart carbon dioxide. The crickets chirping at night, The lovelorn staccato of katydids, Causing a racket in heart. The silver globe rising From behind the canopy of deodars Coming down for a little while To celebrate this life with us And slowly, Like every slightest step measured, All activities ceasing beneath the Spread of stars and skies. Slowly the dusk Blending to night Fusing into dawn, Renewed, revived And resuscitated. Thy hand has led us Through another day. Thy light guarding us through This dark night And Thy goodness Shall shower yet another dawn. Our trespasses and violations Forgiven, We are watched and kept By ...

The twin Caramel pools Enticing. A thousand secrets, Lurking in their Unfathomable depths, Waiting to be unraveled. The Radiant glimpse, Catching me haply And holding me, enamored. Fixated, My only wish is To drown Forever in that abyss, To jump-in and sink.