Down the road she went…

down the road she went

with a letter in her hand,

summoning the post master,

she told him of her predicament-

he who was gone to war

had not returned back,

what had appeared was a sheet

smeared with a blood like seal,

she who could not read a single word

plead before the kind gentleman

to tell her what it contained,

 ~

the bespectacled man read carefully

and told her, her son was well,

that was what the letter said

while he faced away from her,

he handed back to her the sheet

and confirmed that her son was fine,

he had reached his final abode,

away, safe from war and hunger,

 ~

she shrieks, cries, wails, screams,

clutching the collar of his shirt,

and befell on her knees,

praying for who was never to return,

he supported her up and

they looked at each other,

waiting for the other one to

break that ominous silence

but it remained all still

while the sun dipped into the sea,

leaving behind a trace of red tinge.

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Ornate: A Bizarre 150-Word Story

“I apologize; I’m not capable of using such ornate words, Mademoiselle,” recited the French diplomat with a heavy accent.

“Never mind, Monsieur, it is alright even if you remain mum.”

The hostess continued the tour of the plush Victorian-villa for her guest.

“And this was the working lobby, where the soothsayers would fret all day, waiting for their lives to please Grandmother.”
“This is a photograph of that time,” she gestured towards an ancient snapshot, “You can imagine those men and women, some bare-chested, others wearing turbans, and yet others in even more bizarre clothing, looking into those globes or cards and some in the waters, supposedly brought from the holiest of rivers, gazing into the unfathomable layers of future.”

“Your ornate words are so ornate, Madame.”

“Would you like to know more?”

“U! Huh!”

And she continued to enunciate, as in the words of the gentleman, her ornate words.

.

* Written in response of VisDare 23: Ornate

Keys- A 100 Word Story

She reached her small barrack after a two-hour long train journey.

“I have to get a job nearby,” she was looking for her keys but couldn’t find them.

“Mam, here, I have got your keys,” spoke someone from her behind, “You dropped them at the station.”

“Oh! Thank you sir,”  she thanked the gentleman while turning back to look at him.

He simply handed her the keys and left.

She kept looking at him walking for a while and once he was lost in the crowd, she faced the door again with her keys and a single tear in her eyes.