Thursday, December 7, 2017

A rainy night



It was pouring cats and dogs that night. She was heating up the kettle when she heard a loud knock on her door. She wasn't expecting any visitors. She wondered who it could be. There was a sense of urgency in the continuous knock. 

Image source: http://goo.gl/DZMdL2
She cautiously opened the door. There he was; drenched, cold and in need of help. He just fell on her as soon as she opened the door. She stood there in shock. She hadn't seen him in ages! What was he doing here? How did he find her? She had so much to ask, but first she had to take care of him. She gained composure, took him in, closed the door, helped him to the bathroom and gave him some towels & dry clothes to change into, while she made some hot tea.

He came out, looking slightly better and eagerly sipped his tea. She lit up the fire place and laid some food on the table. He helped himself with most of it. Not a word was spoken.

Now that he was feeling better, he went up to her, hugged her and kissed her forehead. She stayed in his arms without saying a word; her hands moved to his back in a reflex. How long has it been... Still feels the same!

He took her in his arms and walked towards the bedroom while staring deep into her eyes, He put her on the bed gently. He sat next to her, held her hand in his and rested his head on her shoulders, while she ran her fingers through his hair. They stayed like that for what seemed like a long time. Neither of them could break the silence with words; but so much was said without it. Why did he come? She was learning to be alone...

The night had just begun. It scared her. But she wasn't alone anymore.  Will he stay? Will he disappear? He stared deep into her eyes, stroked her cheek, pushed her hair back and kissed her lips gently. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. He wiped her tears. She wanted to speak but no words came out of her mouth and he continued to kiss her. Was he really here? Is it a dream?


Image source: http://goo.gl/BXqJ9c
He slowly undid their clothes. She trembled at his touch. He looked deep into the scars on her body and slowly kissed them. How can one stop the tears? He laid her on the bed, hungrily got on top of her. Her body responded to his every familiarly unfamiliar move. Rolling into each other's arms, letting go of inhibitions, making sweet love.

She rested her head on his chest and wrote sweet nothings with her fingers. He kissed her head. She raised her head, looked at him and finally said, "I love you..."

He sat upright, held her close, grabbed her gently by her hair and kissed her neck. "I can't get enough of you."

A small curve showed up on her teary face. When was the last time someone saw a smile on that face? He made love to her again. She felt a painful sting. He kissed her lips to ease the pain. He shut his eyes and a small tear drop fell on her cheeks as he opened them. He got off the bed, dressed himself. He looked at her. She stared back. She still had that smile; her teary eyes had so many questions.

He took an umbrella and walked out of the door, into the streets and got lost amongst the many dark coats. She lay in the bed, she moved her hand from her stomach and let the blood flow. She took a deep breath and lay there motionless. He let his tears flow in the rain...


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Note: The beautiful song (YouTube link in the beginning of this post) is from this gorgeous game called Sailor's Game by Simogo and also happens to be one of my favourites. I was listening to it while writing this post, so decided to add it here as well. You can purchase the soundtrack too.







Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Dreaming it up: S01E03

Preeti had been residing here with her family before the place next door turned into an amusement park; (apparently) one of the best in the country, amidst a beautiful dense forest.

It was supposed to be quality time spent with family when they decided to visit the amusement park. The mediocrity of how things were managed had begun to annoy Preeti right from the start. One of the restaurants inside the park had caught her attention. 

An overflowing dustbin right next to the washbasin, a leaky tap, a cleaning lady who didn't care to do her job, the waitress who will keep taking orders from the visitors even if they don't have a seat, and the visitors who contribute in making the place filthy. 

"Why can't people do their job??", she hissed to her sister.

She couldn't take it anymore. She decided to take matters in her hand. She gathered the people involved with that restaurant and told them how things are and how bad their reputation will get affected soon. She suggested a few changes to make things better. 
  • Move the dustbin to the other side so that is not at the entrance of the diner. 
  • Use the space outside the diner for some extra seats. 
  • Have more than one washbasin and have to towards the side of the diner. No one likes to see other people gargle when they are eating or entering a diner. 
  • The cleaner a place is, people get scared to make it dirty. Exceptions are there of course. But over a period, you can condition them if the cleaning lady doesn't deter from her job. And to those who won't accept it, you can always fine them. 
They nodded their head. Preeti hoped for the best and went about with the rest of her day. 

When she returned the next day, she was surprised to see that all her suggestions were implemented. The place looked so clean and beautiful. The cleaning lady also presented herself better and seemed happy. It was a great sight indeed. They had some more extra spaces under the large trees and asked Preeti's opinion. Preeti suggested they extend it as seats itself because people are almost always looking for a place to rest after walking up and down at the amusement park. They agreed. 

"I've one more thing I would like to say...", started Preeti. At this point, the management lady walked in and said, "We'll take it from here. Thanks for your help so far." 

Preeti felt a bit hurt. She wasn't doing this for anything other than making this place better for all. But she got the hint, thanked them and left. She turned around and started walking towards the exit. 

She saw her sister talking to her cookery teacher in the building just off the road. She went towards it, and while waiting for her sister by the window, heard their conversation. The cookery teacher was talking about her dream to open a place that served exotic food from all over the globe. But just sourcing the exotic fruits and vegetables would cost her and she was not in a position to afford it. 

Preeti knocked at the window. Her sister opened it and asked Preeti to wait a bit longer. Preeti in turn looked at them and told them to wait right there and left. She returned soon enough with a large crate, kept it on the window sill, opened it and asked them to take a peek. The cookery teacher was surprised! The crate was full of some of the most fresh and exotic fruits and vegetables from all over the globe. She asked Preeti about the source. Preeti had planted these years ago in her back garden. She had a fascination with them, but never really used all of them. Since she saw the diner had accepted her other suggestions, she was going to offer it to them, but they didn't want her anymore.

She looked at the cookery teacher and said, "It's all yours. And there is more where that came from and will continue to come. All I want in return is a happy crowd at your restaurant and some happy time I can have here with my family." The cookery teacher couldn't thank her enough. Preeti nodded, smiled and along with her sister, left for their home.

As they walked, she told her sister about the events that transpired. Her sister casually said, "Maybe it is a good thing! Maybe you are supposed to help different people and not just one."

"Maybe...", said Preeti as they entered their home.





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Dreaming it up, is a series about my actual dreams. I have always had vivid dreams and have been able to remember a good portion of my dreams since childhood. So I finally thought I would pen it down.

You can find the whole series here: Dreaming it up 

Disclaimer: I do take some creative liberty to formulate it into a readable post.