Fragile - 55 Word Story

She lived in the fragile hope that they would understand her. She did not want to marry. Her aim was not to work in the kitchen and then in an office for 8 hours a day. All she wanted, was to free her soul from the rigors of life.  She left everything behind and disappeared.

Moon - 55 Word Story

The boy was painting the moon. Objects of space excited him. His mind kept repeating, “New-Moon, Waxing-Crescent, Waxing-Gibbous, Waning-Gibbous, Waning-Crescent Full-Moon”, as he intensely colored the white shaped circles. Satisfied, he left them to dry. He would submit it the next day. A rat cut it the same night. His moon shaped tears never stopped. 

Silence - 55 Word Story

People were screaming. Talking. Making a noise about everything that was happening in the world. She heard them all. Her head spun with all the noise surrounding her. She wanted to speak out. Scream at them all. Yell. But no one would follow her. It was time to un-follow everyone. Time to silence her time-line.

Train - 55 Word Story

Anandilal Poddar lived in a place and time when trains were unheard of. Days when trains plied only in Bombay. He picked a handful of his best painters and sent them to Bombay. He made them paint the train in his haveli in Rajasthan. Today, people from Mumbai visit the haveli to view his train.

Mystery - 55 Word Story

The girl looked at the huge mysterious box in consternation. She had never seen anything like this. She opened it, not heeding her father’s warning. Pulling her brothers arm, she entered the wondrous box that hung from a thick rope. Just as she was inspecting her surroundings, she heard a click. The lift started moving.

Fairy-Tale 55 Word Story

Tears rolled down her eyes as Ayesha felt him collapse on her. The darkness hid the salty drops and the silence in the field still reverberated with her screams as he had raped her. The stormy night had taken her virginity. As the lightning struck, she screamed again. Her brother had ended her fairy-tale story.

Distance - 55 word story

The little boy looked at the four circle logo of the Audi. It was parked a little distance away from where he stood with his mother. She was examining some silver bangles at a store when he pointed towards the logo and shouted, “Why don’t you buy those bangles mommy? They look better than these.”

Possession - 55 word story

The man had just 10 bucks in his pocket. But a family of six to feed. The killings around them did not matter anymore. Survival was all that mattered. He bought a chocolate, cut it into 6 pieces and the family had their last dinner together. They were sent to a concentration camp that evening.

Seduction - 55 word story

Shekhar was watching the movie with his mother.

(The actor caught the actress’s sari, and pulled her close to him. She smiled reluctantly as his fingers grazed her face. His touch sent shivers down her spine as he moved his lips to kiss her...)

And then the screen showed two flowers seducing each other.

Whew!

Alcohol - 55 word story

Maria looked around surreptitiously. There was no one in sight. Smiling, she took a few sips from the small bottle. Tomorrow she would be back on her way to sanity.

Police-women entered the parking-lot and arrested her. Maria had forgotten the video-camera. She should have remembered she was in Saudi Arabia. Alcohol was banned here.

Taste - 55 word story

Meena stood looking at her field. She loved the aroma of wet soil and the feel of fresh air on her face. It was harvest time. Taking a deep breath she bent low to cut the sugarcane. Instead, she picked a handful of soil and gulped it down. The fertilizers killed her the next day.

Irony - 55 word story

Satisfied, the man looked around him. The house looked beautiful now. He remembered how decrepit it had been a month back. He had scraped it, filled the cracks, smoothened it and colored it brown. He turned to the owner and returned the house keys. It was time to go home. Back to his thatched hut.

Fight - 55 word story

She fought love as always. Love was not something you gave yourself to. It cut your soul. It made you forget who you really are. All it did was give you pain. Make you its slave. She deleted his number. Cut-off with all contacts. Left the city.

Lust would rule her life better. Fight over.

Silver - 55 word story

People sure have peculiar turn-on’s. So had he. The minute he looked at her, he knew he had to have her. It would not be easy to seduce her. But he was a player. He looked at her, wondering how to approach her. 55 year old women with silver streaked hair turned him on. Big-time. 

Epiphany - 55 word story

As she orgasmed, she felt nothing. No pain. No pleasure. No hurt. No happiness. The focus of climaxing made her feel nothing. That one moment. That one point of endless time. When there was no one but the two of them. At a height that was otherwise insurmountable. There was only the epiphany or nirvana.

Boredom - 55 word story

Her dream had been fulfilled five years ago. Women aeronautical engineers were a rare sight after all. The problem started when she married Atul. Women in his family weren’t allowed to work. They were dolls. Mere puppets. Boredom has set in now. There is only one way out. A fling with his best friend Sachin.

Gravity - 55 word story

The mother had tears rolling down her eyes. When will her stupid daughter ever understand the gravity of the situation? The need to keep her in-laws happy? Mamta was to get married soon. But she was adamant. She wouldn’t stoop so low.

Mamta refused to use the fairness and vaginal lotions lying on her dressing-table.

Blood - 55 word story

All she wanted was blood. It had been days since she had seen any. It scared her. If she did not get it, her life would end. If she didn’t bleed soon, she would have to abort her baby. A child born out of rape would die a hundred deaths before it leant to live.

Words - 55 word story

The babu had worked very hard. Fourteen years of his life had been sacrificed for her. He had forged deals. Transferred lands to trusted people. Converted government grounds to high-rises. Made money. Killed a few.  All in the name of the President.

But the only words he could write were Abhinav Kelkar. He was illiterate.

Catalyst - 55 word story

She was shocked. But the tears wouldn’t flow. Anger didn’t allow them to. “Divorce”, he said. He did not love her anymore. She lay on the bed, urging the tears to drown her grief. When nothing happened, she went to the kitchen and cut a nerve. Tears started flowing. The knife was the perfect catalyst.