11 Stories - the Auto......to Rose

8/9/2019 11 Stories - the Auto......to Rose

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Navya K PPalakkadKerala

The Autobiography Of A Peepal Tree

I was born a century agoin a little village in Uttar Pradesh. The farmer, agentle and loving persontook good care of me,feeding me with water twice a day. Though helived in dire poverty, their small family led a happylife.

I was a helpless witnessto the cruelties meted outby the haughty and cruelzamindar. He often ill-treated the farmer andbeat him if he was unableto produce a goodharvest. I often felt likeslapping the cruelzamindar, but I washelpless.

I wept silently seeing themisery of the poor family.I felt pity for the childrenwho were deprived of even the basicnecessities. They weredenied education too.Days passed....I grew talland fat. The children alsogrew taller.

I had the misfortune to be

the witness to a shockingincident. My little friendwas married off to a boyof the next village at theage of ten. I wish I couldhave moved my heavytrunk to prevent this

Then one day somepeople started choppingmy limbs. I heard peoplediscussing the imminent'sati'. How I cursedmyself for being a part of this evil practice. Timehealed my wounds. Ihave grown to my fullstature. My hands spreadall over.

People gathered belowmy shady branches anddiscussed various topicsunder the sun. I washappy to hear that thefreedom struggle for Indian independence wasgoing to put an end to thesocial evils and themiseries imposed byzamindari system.

Years passed..One day Isaw the villagers rejoicingand shouting 'VandeMataram' carrying theTricolour. I sighed withrelief and silently rejoicedwith the villagers.

I have grown old andwrinkled but I amcontented to see the

villagers celebrating their independence. Mysaplings which havesprouted all around mewill also grow and haveinteresting tales to tell...


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expiry date. Like whenyou nonchalantly bite intoa cookie or chocolate bar,only to find it had gonestale. 'Maybe she justdoesn't care anymore', hefigured. And thatdepressing thoughtchurned around in hishead.

MansaSurendran

Pune

Seduction

The moment she sawhim she knew. There wasthat lazy look in his eyesand suddenly the din of the party was to be heardno more. It was only him,and her. She couldnttake his eyes off him.

His smile took her breathaway. She smiled her foxy smile and said, Wemeet again. He couldremain detached,unaffected while she hadto fight a battle to keepher emotions in check.He leaned back andstudied her.

It unnerved her. He hadordered a drink for her.She smirked. He wasplaying the same gameagain. How many timeswould he do it, play her for a fool? She looked atthe drink and said:

You first. He said, But

Ive gone insane trying topicture it. Its even moreseductive, and dangerousthan I thought it'd be.Theres no way out,theres no way youregoing to let me go if Isurrender. I remember how you abandoned melast time. All thosepromises and thenoblivion.

You didnt care whether Ilived or died. And nowyou breeze back, sayingthe same old things. Hepulled her closer andwhispered all the wordsthat she wanted to hear,everything that wouldmake her stay. Shesmiled as his lips parted.

And then she kissed him.She opened her eyes andsaw Steve in thedistance. She got up andsaid, Thanks, but Ive gotto go. Lifes calling. Andkeep trying, I want to do


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its for you Ive orderedthis. Do you remember the last time? As if youd ever let me forget.

I havent forgotten either.Its been six months. Ah, Iremember it clearly. I sawyou across the room andknew. She laughedloud.

He was a charmer.People always believedhim. He inched closer and had his arms aroundher waist now. She hadto admit, it felt like home.There was a strangecomfort in this feeling,knowing that there wassomeone to come hometo.

But it wasnt home hewas taking her to. It wasa place shed only seenin her nightmares. She letherself relax for amoment and then lookedhim in the eye. Andsaid,Ive waited for thisday, when youd comeback and take me in your arms.

this every time, see youwalk out defeated. Andshe laughed loud andwalked towards Steve.

Where have you been,Eva? The bartender whotold me that youve beensitting alone, for the lasthalf an hour. I hope youdidnt try to order anydrinks. "No, I didnt. Iwasnt alone. Someonekept trying to make mesurrender. But I didntgive in. He ruffled her hair affectionately andpulled her onto the dancefloor.

She looked back one lasttime. He knew hed lost,but he tipped his hat,swished his tail andvanished in a puff of smoke. Shed won thebattle, and the drink hadlost it. It held no morepower over her.

SheebaSanthoshKuwait

Tsunami

Tanya was sorely afraidof the Tsunami. Twoyears back, it had tried togobble up her mother'sfamily home in Mahe with

One day, one of themtook Aunt Sheila to Al-Fanar Mall in his car.Then, they both went tohis flat and came back


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her grandparents andyoung aunt Sheila in it.Then, Mother had criedfor two whole days andFather had paced about,his mobile glued to hisear and his eyes on theTV screen.

For weeks after, hugegreen waves and floatingdebris danced beforeTanya's eyes and madeher sleepless. Mother took her to the priest atthe Salmiya church. Onthe second anniversary of the disaster Aunt Sheilacame to Kuwait.

"For a change," asMother said. Aunt Sheilaworshipped the fashions.She wore very shortdresses and glaringmake-up. On her arrivalManikyam uncle andSushila aunty, from theopposite flat, came to tea.Mother recounted thenarrow escape of her family from the giantwaves, and Sushila aunty"aah"ed and "oh no"ed atthe right places.Manikyam uncle satgazing at Aunt Sheila'slegs.

When Tanya went toschool and her parentsleft for work Aunt Sheilafelt lonely. So she wentshopping. She went toJashanmal and Marina

very late at night. Mother cried and pleaded withFather, "They will getmarried, I'm sure."

"Let her go back to Maheand come after thewedding." He grabbed hismobile and punched thetravel agent's number.But half way through heremembered somethingand left off. Mother wasrelieved, but she warnedher sister. Father arranged Piano lessonsfor Tanya.

"Better than being alonewith her aunt in theafternoons," he saidprivately to Manikyamuncle, who sigheddeeply. Tanya waspleased that her bestfriend, Simon Peter, wasin the piano class too."Kuwait is a tiny country"he said. "If we had aTsunami here, the wholeof it would be gone."

After lunch Tanya threwup on her desk. Mother took her home. When sheopened the front-door,Tanya staggered andstumbled into the midst of Aunt Sheila's rippling,disastrous laughter.

Huge, slimy waves of fear and blood sprang up androared all around her.They swept off Father


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Mall and other expensiveplaces. Father wasfurious. "Tell her that I amonly an employee and notthe owner of mycompany." He yelled atMother.

Every week there werehouse-parties. Mother invited several eligiblebachelors. Aunt Sheilawas polite but mimickedtheir mannerisms as soonas they left the house.However, she exchangedphone numbers withsome of them and startedcalling them at oddhours.

and Aunt Sheila into theBottomless Pit andMother into the AhmadiCity jail. Tanya floatedout of the history of Kuwait and Simon Peter'slife, as insignificantly as apiece of driftwood. Shewas no longer afraid of the Tsunami.

ShuhaibKottayam,Kerala

Threshold

It was a sunny Sunday

morning. His eleven year daughter was sleepingplacidly. She was theapple of his eye-his onlyone. He fondly caressedher face. He smoothedthe strands of hair whichfell over her face.

He lied besides her andslightly embraced her

carefully not to wake her.She turned back andthrew her arm and legover him and resumedher sleep. His wife cameto the bedroom to wakeher child.

Thousands of female

children walked towardsit. He spotted his dear one in that crowd.Anyhow he had to stopher.

He yelled her name. Shedid not hear him. After several attempts of hollering, her ears caughthim. She turned back,waved and smiled at himsweetly which broke hisheart and resumed her

journey.

He roared to forbid her from going any further.Finding his efforts


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He hushed her with thegesture of forefinger onhis lips. His wife with amischievous smilemurmured. "Father anddaughter! She is not asmall girl anymore. Maybe in no time she willattain puberty. Wake her.It is past 8 and her danceclass begins at 9."

The mentioning of hischild's puberty made himsigh. Everything willchange after that. Aninvisible barrier will comein between them.

His eyes became wet. Athickness came to histhroat. He closed hiseyes. A vision came tohis mind. There lay athick red line.

It represented the endand beginning of a lifephase. It had a huge redtongue with which itgulped down pure humanemotions like innocence,stainless love, softattitudes.

fruitless, he crumbleddown and sobbed hisheart out.

Why did you yell Papa?It was apparent he wokeher up. He did not knowhow to answer her question. He hugged hischild and shut his eyes.

Tears rolled down hischeeks. She searched hisface intently. She foundher Papa's cheeks werewet. "Why are you cryingPapa?" Her words brokeas she touched his face.He hugged her again.

Sreejith P GThrissur, Kerala

The Haunted Ghost

The mirror seemsinviting, seductive, daringme to see somethingbeyond my flaky mask. I

But really, do I have achoice? I have beencaught red handed. I canhide from the whole wide


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look deep into my ownprobing eyes beyond thisimposing facade, whichthreatens to come apartany minute I take myeyes off it, and beyondthe lonely graveyard of my shattered dreams, Icome upon a being that Icould go right through. Abeing with no body andno soul.

A frightening void. Aghost! So utterly vacantthat my eyes had to befooling me. For the firsttime, I saw because Icouldnt. Or was itotherwise? My heartthumping so fast, itseemed to have a life of its own.

And then came thebarrage of questions.Who was she, what wasshe doing so deep insideof me and why of allthings did I not know shewas in there? And lookingthrough her, there was nodoubt that she was herebefore me.

She seemed so much athome. At peace. Andcome storms or cyclones,she would still bestanding and they would

just waltz right throughher. It just could not beotherwise.

There evidently was no

world but not from her. Iam naked, I realize now,always have been. Butsurprised I am notembarrassed anymore.

There just wasnt anyoneelse there. There is aplace called somewhereelse. It is where you willnever reach. There isalso a someone else,whom you will never meet and another timewhich you will never liveto see, came thatbooming voice frombeyond.

But that is all I have ever been interested in, I cryout groveling in front of her, pleading for an iotaof recognition of mywretched existence. Thiswretchedness, I realizewith a start, is my onlyasset, without which Iknew for sure the earthwould cave in right under my feet and I will fallscreaming into thatbottomless pit thatstretches till all eternity.

Right into her motheringvastness!!! She is hereright now, inside me,around me, beyond me!!!Never has beenanywhere else!! She willbe here long after I amgone.

Finally!! I am the outsider,


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place for pleasantries for she obviously knew meinside out and lookinginto the hollow void, Irealize any question I askher, I would have toanswer myself.

I felt like a guest in myown body, tentative,uncertain. All my dirtylittle secrets, I had buriedeven from myself, sheknew them all. I justwished I could curl myself tight into some darkforgotten corner.

the born, whose solepurpose in life may be tofind the ghost within himand hand her back thekeys which I never had inthe first place. I never ranthe show. I guess,knowing that, my soul willrest in peace

Jamuna SunilWales, UK

The snowfall

Anu looked at the clock;it was two in theafternoon. Her husbandand little daughter Riyawere sleeping peacefully.Anu opened the curtainsand looked through thewindow, it was stillsnowing outside and thestreet was quiet. Thewinter had its spells onthe nature; she could seeonly the bare trees. Theold leaves were falling of from the trees as theywere preparing for a newlife.

Across the road, a littleboy was trying to make asnowman. Anu knew thatthe snowfall was heavyfor the past two days, the

The noise of birds wassimilar to what she heardearlier on. Whenever thewind blew, the branchesof the tree trembled andthe butterflies and birdssoared up in the sky likea colourful umbrella. Itwas an amazing sight.Anu heard her mother saying to her neighbour that it is a rare tree whichflowers only once intwenty years and sherequested him to take abunch of flowers to the

church, as it was thefeast day of little flower.

Anu stood under the treelike a child. Anu felt thather mother couldnt seeher through the eyes of


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roads were blocked andnobody was able to getout of their houses. Anuwas expected to join for her new dream job inLondon on the next day.But she was worried asshe wasnt sure whether her employer is going toconsider her localweather condition as anexcuse for not joining intime.

Anu looked at the HolyCross on the wall andclosed her eyes. Then insilence, she heard thenoise of birds. Shelooked everywhere to findthe source. She wentoutside and ran throughthe snow then, she passthrough the seven seas inthe wings of time andreached in front of ahouse, where she wasborn. There she found ahuge tree at the back of the garden and it was fullof white flowers and itsscent was very attractive.The tree was surroundedby hundreds of colourfulbutterflies and birds.

time. All of a sudden fewflowers fell on her headand its fragranceencircled her. Mamma,Are you sleeping? Anuwoke up as she heardRiya calling her. Riyahanded an envelope toher. The letter was fromher employer stating thatthey have postponed her

joining date.

Anu was so happy, butsurprised as she knewthat the post office isclosed because of snow.Riya told her that it was alovely lady who broughtthis letter and the ladywas holding a bunch of white flowers. Anu wasshocked, she couldntsee anybody on thestreet but she could feelthe fragrance of whiteflowers. Her husband andRiya could also smell thesweet fragrance, andthey were looking for itssource. Anu said nothingbut she looked at theCross and smiled. Still itwas snowing outside.

Sharmilla ShahBangalore,Karnataka

A New Beginning

It was dark and stormy.And the wind wasblowing fiercely into her face and hair, as if trying

Ironically, it would be thissame well that wouldeventually would take her out of this world, and


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to sweep her off her feet.But Amala kept walking,trying to maintain a fastpace, daring the winds tostop her or the drops of the torrential rain, nowpouring down her cheeks,mixed with her tears.

It was only just a year that her life had beenturned upside down. A

job lost, a mother lost toAlzheimer and memoriesof a father she had never met. It was time; shedecided that after thisfinal blow of loosing her baby in the womb thatshe decided that this wasa life she did not want tolive any longer.

She had symbolicallyselected this dark andstormy night to end her life which seemed asscary and as destructiveas the night. She foundthe same well that sheused to pass by everydayto get in and out of her building colony.

hopefully into a better one. She stepped on thatfirst stone towardsimagined liberty, from thisbondage of life anddeath, when gentlysomeone or somethingtugged at the corner of her dress, now soakingwet.

Refusing to turn back,she took one last breathto surrender herself intodeathly calm, that sheheard a voice call amma"!! Shocked and scaredshe looked back to see atiny girl, obviously astreet urchin begging for food or whatever that sheneeded. She was lost.

Amala burst into tearsand sat and cried thereuntil her tears had driedout. She held the littlegirls hand and took her home. To a newbeginning, to a new life.

Athulya Menon

JayachandranTvm, Kerala

The Last Bus

Two summers ago,a holiday inHawaii changed me forever.Hawaii-the ideal holidaydestination. Sunny days,coolbreezy nights-everythingpointing to a perfect holiday,withnothing,even remotely,having

That caught mybreath. The boy,hesaid,had featureslike none had ever seen,and the heartof the devil.People who saw


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"weird" in its itinerary.Well,here's how it started. A fewdays in Hawaii-all I did wassunbathe and watch mykids,Ella and Noah play. Oneafternoon,I drooped off,feelingthe sun on my face.

After sometime,I felt it beingblocked,and opened my eyes tofind out why. And I saw aboy,about my Noah'sage,around 12,standing.

Helooked....different....somehow.He had stark features,like noneI'd ever seen-coal blackhair,eyes-brown,but with areddish tinge(the lights tricksprobably...)and the eeriestfeature-his smile,whichas.....unearthly. I wasbewildered,but finally managedto ask him what hewanted,when he spoke, "Thelast bus awaits you. It's time youcame...." Those words left mecold and sent shivers down myspine.

I just sat there,blinking. I lookedto see if my wife,Emily hadheard him,but found her napping. When I turned back toask him what hed meant,I wasin for a shock. There wasn't atrace of him in the split secondthat I'd turned. Well,since Icouldn't do much about it,Idecided to give it a rest.

Two major attractions in Hawaiiare bonfire dancing and night-time storytelling by the locals.

him,were never again sane. Thereseemed to be nocure. At this point,Igot all worked upand started yellingmy head off. Ittook about 10minutes to calmme down,after which allleft,shaken a little.But I remained...Ihad to know. "Did Ireally see theboy?"I asked."There is apossibility...""What can I do?"The old manventured nothing."Be cautious. Onlytime will tell......"His concludingwords left me indread.

I couldn't sleepthat night. I keptwakingup,sweating,to theboys bone-chillingsmile. I finallycouldn't bear it andwent into thekitchen for water. Iheard a suddenmovement by thewindow,but sawnothing.Convincing myself that it was myimagination, Ihurried out. But allthe way back,I


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We soon got round to thestorytelling,which was mostlyabout the superstitionssurrounding the place. I listenedintently as they were narrated byan old man who fit the part well!The night wore on and hereached the last one which, hesaid,they actually believed to betrue. He talked of a spirit thatwandered around,as a boy.

heardwhispering....of thelast bus... I packedup the first thingnext morning,andwe left. All throughthe journey back toNew Jersey,I washaunted by thewhisperings.But,finally,I washome,and slowlythe thoughts leftme. I learned toforget.***All was well.... AsJohn walked upthe driveway,Noah camerunning to him."Hey, how wasschool?" Johnasked. "Cool. Heydad, I want you tomeet a new friendof mine. Says hewants to meet youtoo." John was alittle taken aback."Dad,meet"John didn't hear the rest as hismouth opened in ascream of horror.

"The last bus stillawaitsyou..............." wasall he heard


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AbdulPunnayurkulamSalem

The Bearded Man

The man woke up in themorning from a deepsleep. Suddenly hetouched his hands andlegs. Everything wasthere. He wonderedwhere these parts wereduring the night. Herecalled dreaming he wasa patient in a leprosyhospital with no limbs. Hehurried downstairs tomake a phone call.

He then rememberedsomething to ask his wifeand placed the phoneback. He wanted to tellhis wife about the dream,but he couldnt make uphis mind, because shemight not agree with him.She usually disagreedwith him, even with minor matters. She waspreparing breakfast for the children.

After gathering somestrength, he summarizedhis dream to her as if hewere swallowing bitter medicine. After wifeprepared breakfast, shesat on the sofa acrossfrom him with seriousface. Between them, agrim stillness grew.

She gently said, Are yougoing to give up your part-time job as thebearded man

He lowered his voice, Igave my word to thebearded man. Sheraised her tone, Whatkind of promise did yougive the man? Are youout of your mind? Howcan we pay themortgage, children'stuition, student loans, andother living expenses?!

He wished to tell her thatsix days of work was toomuch for him and heneeded the weekends off,instead he softly said,The bearded man saidwe should provide a fewhours of charity work onweekends.

Youre an emotionalcreature! You had a wilddream, that doesnt meanyou give up your weekend job, especiallywhen the economicconditions are so bad! Adeep silence lingeredthere

While his thoughts werescattering like thinningclouds on a windy day,he realized he was latefor work. As he was in arush to go to work, hewondered, what wouldhave happened if he hadquit his second job?


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suggested? He nodded.The mildness in her voicedisappeared, How canyou do that when you areburied inresponsibilities?

SreejithPurushothamanAlappuzha,Kerala

Rose

Early rays of Sun startedkissing the wrinkledforehead of exhaustedEarth. It seems she hadhad the worst experiencelast night.

She couldn't even raiseher head to have a lookaround her. A smallbreeze glided over andstarted wandering with achuckled face.

He just wanted to know,the extent of destructionoccurred last night as hehad a joy ride with hisfriends.

After finishing his"patrolling" he had signedhis log book with a smileand had gone to join hisfriends.

Slowly, very slowly, Earth

crawled over and pushedherself up from theground to see her ownbody...but failed.

Surprisingly, she couldfind a beautiful small redrose fluttering with a songon her lips.Earth couldn't believe her eyes that how only thered rose was able toescape the claws of thatfurious wind.

Red rose leaned over Earth and sighed.

Earth asked: "I don'tknow why he had donethis to me....? Whatwrong have I done tohim? I have always givenenough playgrounds for him and his friends..But Inever expected that hewould do this to me.Anyway, the only thing Idon't understand now ishow did you escapewithout any scratches...?

Red rose replied: "I'vegiven a bottle of scent tosmell and a bouquet of flowers to wish hisgirlfriend...!" .

11 Stories - the Auto......to Rose

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