Hopeless (or less hope)
There are nights that don't end with a dawn
It's the night I'm now trying to pass.
The heavy slab of sorrow, plunges my heart to drown
Into the depths of the ocean; a deep crevasse.
Tell me, the eternal stars who look down on me:
What's my fate? Where's my destiny?
My constant burning did not illuminate
A pathway for anyone or help ignite
Passion that would invigorate.
I lost the battle without a fight.
I chase the dreams and the demons
But end up running from them
With not enough excuses or reasons
And the feeling that I'm not at helm.
So tell me, the eternal stars with all you can see:
What's my fate? Where's my destiny?
One way or another
The song from the late 1900's was still playing in my head. How very apt "One way or another, I'm gonna find ya' I'm gonna get ya'". It takes me back to the cafe where I heard it. The coffee had tasted worse than the bile reflux from previous night's dinner. Actually, it could very well have been the travel. Who knew. I could feel, even now, the cafe blasting around me like a chainsaw; the incessant chatter hammering on every synapse of my brain. The silhouette that had filled the cafe entrance as I had jammed a tenner under the cup was still vivid. The timing had been perfect. The guy had mumbled some apology as our shoulders collided. The pain had made me regret my outburst and probably embarrassed more than one patron. Funny then, I now realise, that the bloke kept walking uninhibited. Had he pretended he hadn't heard me? Surely he couldn't know, could he? I have no way of telling now ... so, pointless to dwell on it. The caffeine, the headache and the nausea had been such a heady mix that I wasn't going to allow some punk to push me around. I had followed him right into the sweat and blood of the cafe kitchen. Well, the sweat was evident but the blood was yet to be spilled.
You see, my quarry had reached a dead-end at the far wall and spun around while my eyes had darted around the kitchen even as my head had all but exploded. Then I had seen the sushi knife! In a past (no another) life, when Airi was still alive and beautiful, I had got one-on-one intimate sushi classes for at least two years. The loud crashing mayhem of pots had brought me back to the present. The kitchen staff had screamed all the way out to the front of the cafe. As the smoke had crept around us, I had felt his fear through the haze. His eyes had been following the blade twirling menacingly in my outstretched arm. I had sneered at him, just like in the movies: "Its tiiiime!"
All he could do was whisper but the fear was loud in his voice. I had savoured his confusion but couldn't hold back: "I'm here to save her, you bastard! You took your revenge when she tried to escape your abusing ways. YOU LEFT HER TO DIE!!" I'd never seen anyone stammer in fear before, "You're fuckin' crazy! I don't even know you, man!!" He had pleaded, the poor bugger!
"This one's for Airi!!" I had boomed in that small kitchen and it was then that he had sprung at me. I was too quick for him, wasn't I? The knife had sliced his neck with a precision that would have made any Itamae proud. In minutes, my breathing was the loudest thing in that kitchen – not counting the banging in my head. But they weren't going to find the weapon or the killer. The device in my pocket would do the trick long before the cops would burst through the door behind me.
Honestly, it hadn't been too hard tracking Airi's ex-lover. A wastrel who spent too many hours on socials, and none doing useful work. I really wonder what his status would say on social media right now!
Anyway, here I am, waiting at her front door and the song seems more apt than ever. The bottle of red and matching roses in my hand reflect my hope ... and yet I hesitate. Is this the present she would want? I ring the bell thrice, just as she likes, cross my fingers and suck in my breath. It is time. Time to see if we can go back to the past and change the future.
Arranged Interrogation
She looked forward to the day
All decked up, and ready to slay.
Over tea and snacks would then unfold
Funny and poignant incidents; all told
To impress the family of prospective groom
As they all sat around and scanned the room.
The boy then, cleared his throat
And rattled off, as if on rote
How about cooking, and do you sew?
Will you tend the house, make it grow?
How about singing; to entertain me?
Will you argue unceasing, or just agree?
She stared at her feet and did wonder
If this match is just a big blunder
For he did not care for what she likes
If she's a scientist or if she writes.
This marriage proposal, then, was to investigate
Her submissive demeanour, and to interrogate.
The One Star (re)View
Do not be afraid
Of any review made
To Sound like it's bad
Even malicious a tad
Not everyone is clear
Of prejudice, of fear
And envy for what you write;
They review out of spite
Maybe the weather was crap
Or they had had a bad rap
And wanted just to vent
As their day was spent.
For me, such reviews are fine
That one star? it's all mine.
It warms me too, all said and done
Like the one star, our glorious Sun.
The Gift
Note: I mostly write, or hope to write, sci-fi or plain-old humour. However, as a challenge, I wrote a fantasy flash-fiction based on an image prompt. I hope this fits in with the brief of this challenge!
---
The tribe would never be the same again.
Kagura fell back from the crowd that watched Lephiane emerge from the top of the mountain. The strange plume that billowed from the sack behind her had stunned her. Not long ago, the two witch sisters had had one of their arguments when Lephiane was venturing across the Barren Rift.
“Lephy, please don’t go!”, she had pleaded.
“Sister, you know we are the chosen ones of the tribe”, Lephiane had argued, “We must venture for the tribe’s survival. They say the land of the Infinite People has a magical gift that has helped them survive for eons and eons.”
“But … but we have everything we need, don’t we? What’s more, we can now conjure up new things for the tribe. Things they never knew existed!”
“Be that as it may, it doesn’t change the fact that we are all dying. Fast!”
“I am working on it …”, Kagura had been hurt.
Lephiane had then held her sister close and comforted her.
“I know. I know. You are smart, brave and skillful. I am sure you will soon be able to save the tribe from extinction; one way or another. But my destiny lies in seeking wonders that exist across the lands, the waters and the mountains.”
“When will you leave?”
Lephiane had smiled as she wiped Kagura’s tears with her sash. “At the first sign of dew tomorrow. You can send me away with your new creation that always brings us home.”
“The Pathfinder!”, Kagura had exclaimed.
Now, as she watched Lephiane making her way back slowly, she was filled with dread about the new dangers that would follow. What if the Infinite People were not friendly and the tribe faced an onslaught like the last time when the long night had come? Hadn’t they been happy for so many ages just being black or white?
The land was white and people were black. It worked very well. The Radiant One in the sky never burned them with her wrath. They saw her walking by, watching over them serenely, where the lands, the waters and the mountains met the sky. There were no shadows to scare the little ones. There were no harsh bright surprises either.
The soft cushions that covered most of the sky were white too. Occasionally they cried along with the tribe. Often when someone went back to The Invisible One. The lament lasted weeks sometimes. They just buried themselves deeper until the crying stopped. It also gave them a chance, in a way, to get closer to those who were gone.
Lephiane was clearly visible now. Kagura retreated a step as if not wanting to meet her sister, not wanting to accept that she was back – and what gift she bore this time. She was happy with the way things were. Simple is always better. Two is better than many.
“I love this black and white world of ours!”, she almost said aloud.
The rising plume of smoke was growing in size and Kagura’s heartbeat sped up. What was about the smoke that she could not fathom? It was neither black nor white. She had never seen that shade before. She wondered if her sister had turned evil from a sorcerer’s spell. She began chanting her secret hymn to face the imminent danger.
All around her, the tribe watched Lephiane. Each of her sisters stood motionless, like they always did to receive travellers. It was a show of strength. No weapons, no spells. Just silence and a resolve to stand their ground. Then, it happened.
A faint restlessness rippled through the watching sisters. A step here, a twitch there. Soon, they were all retreating, slowly but surely. This had never happened before, thought Kagura. Lephiane was already bringing fear with her. The tribe that had lived without distress, doubt or phobia of any kind were moved. She prepared for the inevitable and made her decision.
---
“Kagura! Kagura! My dear sister!”, Lephiane broke into a run and then stopped abruptly. “What’s wrong, sis? Why is everyone retreating?”
“It’s the … the smoke!”, stammered Kagura.
“Oh this? No, don’t be afraid, dear sisters”, assured Lephiane, “This gift will free us from eternal perish. It will provide us with the magical powers to live forever!”
“How?”, demanded Kagura, “All we have ever got from these gifts is destruction and pain.”
“I will teach you how to use it! I have met wizards all over the land of the Infinite People. I know why they are called the Infinite People!”
Kagura frowned but did not retreat any further. Lephiane was now within a few hands from her. Kagura mustered up her courage and met her sister. As they held hands, as she felt her sister’s fingers curl around her palm, Kagura felt something she hadn’t ever before. It was as if she was slowly thawing.
“What’s happening to me, Lephy?”, she asked.
“This is the gift I bring”, smiled Lephiane, “We will never pass away cold and frozen.
We can survive the long white days and nights. The Infinite People keep this gift everywhere. Their homes, pathways, mountains. They even carry it with them over water. Their nights are not black anymore. They can keep away all creatures with this gift. That is how they have survived for many many eons.”
“How does the gift help them do that?”, demanded Kagura, not convinced.
“It keeps them less frozen, or warm, as they say. They offered it to me when receiving me. A warm welcome, they exclaimed. I was as fearful as I sense you are now, sister. Then, I began enjoying the fruits of this gifts, and there are countless! Do you know that we can keep this gift going forever? You can share it and it grows. Oh Kagura! We can finally see in the black nights. We can drive all the demons away that frighten the little ones of the tribe!”
“Does this … this gift have a name?”
“Fire!”, said Lephiane and Kagura knew:
The tribe would never be the same again.
Zoom and gloom
I wonder as I scan the caged faces on Zoom
Is it, perhaps, the Stockholm syndrome?
All around the smiles, all ready to bloom
Hiding the uncomfortable, the humdrum.
Are we really "super excited" for everything?
Are the no regrets, and ways forward just for PC?
What did happen to our true and honest being?
Questions, I have questions, don't you see?
I am sure there's pain, and there's some sorrow
In each of our lives that needs to be seen
And heard, not always put on mute for tomorrow;
The camera turned off, hiding how I've truly been.
For when we ask "how are you", we don't want to know
For real, and if they did tell, would we even care?
So, all we do is let our best backgrounds glow
Blur them a bit and touch up some more; seems fair.
Just a nobody
I look around the room, and I wonder
If everybody here is somebody, somebody
Like a whimper unheard amidst a roaring thunder
I feel I'm a stranger, an absolute nobody.
Just a tiny me is all I ever embody
I feel I'm a stranger, an absolute nobody.
I've worked the days and lived the night
Of this rich, famous, brave new world
Where they ignore me with all their might
But it's not for me. I'm small and unfurled;
A dying, withering bud left to its own folly
Just a tiny me is all I ever embody
I feel I'm a stranger, an absolute nobody.
The Proof
"What's in a name?" I asked Sagar, the most mischievous student in my class. He had an annoying habit of doing everything but pay attention to the topic at hand,
After a brief pause, he stood up to amused murmurs:
"Shakespeare, Sir!"
"What's in a name?" I quipped triumphantly and the class exploded.
Sagar sat down with an embarrassed smirk.
Just for the record. I teach Mathematics, not Literature or Philosophy. Purist may argue abstract math comes close to the latter. Also, for the record, Sagar had interrupted me by complaining:
"Sir, yesterday you had used x as the variable but today you use y! Why?"
This had prompted my witty reaction.
Another ten minutes or so and I had just about finished finding the limit of a function where x < 0, followed by a neat line of chalk drawn down the middle of the blackboard. The portion on the right said "otherwise" at the top, followed by another set of steps calculating the limit when x >= 0.
I had barely turned around when Sagar, as was his wont, asked:
"Sir, I don't understand the otherwise part-"
I had fair bit to cover in the balance 15 minutes so I interrupted him and said:
"It's really simple Sagar! I'm wise and you're otherwise." and regretted it as soon as I finished even as the rest of the class enjoyed this banter.
Sagar remained standing, arms crossed. I ignored him and continued with the lecture.
At the end of the period, I reminded my wards of an assignment, due early next week.
"I know the concepts may be tough," I saged, "But remember: Nothing is Impossible!"
I then began gathering my books and bag when Sagar called out:
"Hold on, Sir! I believe nothing is possible."
Intrigued, I stopped and faced him:
"Okay. You're in a math class. Can you prove it?"
"Sure," he replied with a wide grin, "I've attended each of your lectures diligently this year but trust me, Sir, I learnt nothing!"