S29: "Thoughts"

‘Where am I’, Ria asked herself looking around. Everything was black and smoky.

The entire place was surrounded with black fog and she had no idea where she was.

‘Hello’, she whispered.

‘Umm..’, she cleared her throat and said,’ Is anybody there?’.

‘Are you lost sweetheart?’ a female voice echoed back to her.

‘Ummm’, she restrained to reply at first. But then, ‘I don’t know where I am. I can hardly see anything except this black fog or smoke or whatever this is. Can you help me out?’

She was not scared, not terrified, not confused. She was not at all frightened of the non-visible, out-of-nowhere echoes.

‘Sure let me help you honey. Take a few steps forward’, the voice said again.

The voice was smooth, pleasing and comforting. It was like the song of a seashell, mysteriously entrancing.

Though her heart was acting normal, her eyes quivered and were wrestling through the fog.

She had second thoughts of following the orders of the unknown echo but she had no choice. Either way, she was stuck. She had to do something and she chose to listen to the voice.

She took a few baby steps fighting through the fog. Her eyes were sharp and rapid and she was ready for the unknown.

‘That’s it, just a few more’, the voice whispered.

Though her legs began to tremble, she kept moving forward.

‘Where are you’, she asked.

‘Right before you’, the voice echoed again around her head and spread down through her spine causing her chills.

She waved her hands to clear the fog. There Ria saw a glimpse of her in the midst of fog and she continued to wave her both hands while taking a few steps forward.

Clearing the fog through her hands, she saw her hair as she was facing the other direction.

As she moved closer, she could see her clearer.

Her hair was long, dark and dense, touching her butt. It was neither messy nor scary. A neatly combed one and not even a single strand of hair were out of its place.

The lady turned around.

There was an awe moment of silence inside ria’s head as soon as she saw the woman. She was wonder-struck.

She was tall and fair. She was just like a perfect magnificent woman in some painting which was brought to life. She looked like the synonym of perfection and elegance.

It took her a few moments to actually believe what she was seeing.

‘Hi’, Ria said.

‘Hello my dear’, the lady replied gracefully.

‘Where are we? What is this place? I am lost and can you help me to get back to my home? And what is this black fog thingy?’, she asked.

‘Home? Of course you can go back to your home but I am afraid there is only one way’, she said.

‘Which way?’ Ria got relieved as she found a ray of hope.

‘You have to go in there and reach to the other side. There lies your home’, she pointed out to her left and the fog immediately got dissipated from there and there was a house, to be precise a small stony den.

‘Are you sure there is no other way’?’ she stammered. The ray of hope turned into ray of fear.

‘No honey. There is no other way and I don’t think you have a choice now sweetheart’, she said.

It was terrifyingly dark and the den looked like a forbidden room to her.

‘I don’t want to go there. It’s looking a bit spooky’, she said looking at the den.

She pulled Ria's hand towards the house and opened the door.

Ria could see nothing. Everything was scarily dark. She almost felt like she got blind.

‘As you look sweet, I am going to give you a tip to survive in there and to reach to the end, which only a few people did so far’, she said.

Both looked into each other’s eyes.

She leaned forward towards her ears and whispered, ‘control your thoughts honey. Keep moving forward and remember you always have a choice to choose’

Ria was sure something was going to happen. She turned to the lady. The lady laughed the most devilish laugh and pushed her into the room.

The door got banged behind her.

She stood there with her legs shivering to death and her heartbeat is the only sound she could hear.

She closed her eyes which doesn’t made much difference, either way she wasn’t able to see anything as it was pitch dark.

She recalled the lady’s words.

’’Control your thoughts honey. Keep moving forward and remember you always have a choice to choose’’

She had no clue what she was going to face. She closed her fingers into a tight fist to suppress the fear and not to show it on her face. She stepped forward.

‘Hey’, a voice again echoed from her left.

This voice passed through her body and gave her goose bumps, her hair stood still and her heart was almost stopped. Her tight fists started to quiver.

‘Who is it’, she stammered.

‘Come on! You don’t recognize me? It’s me’, it showed up.

‘You look just like me’, Ria startled.

‘Not just look like you, I am you’, it smiled.

‘Babe, all we need is money. Enough surviving in this world, it’s time to conquer it’, it opened the door beside her and the room was shining with all gold and money. It was filled with all the riches in the world which no one can ever ignore.

‘Keep moving forward’ the lady’s words again echoed in her brain.

She didn’t say anything and started to move forward.

‘Control your thoughts, control your thoughts’, she kept saying to herself.

‘Heyyyyy’, again a voice echoed and now from her right.

She turned and it was again her own self.

But she was dumbfounded to see the look. It was a gorgeous, stylish diva.

‘Come in here and be the girl you always dreamed of’, it said and opened a door.

‘’Keep moving forward, keep moving forward’’

She headed a few steps forward and to her left, a door banged open.

There was something in there. It was not dark. She could see blurry and curious things.

She turned to her left and walked towards the door. As she was about to enter into it, she remembered something.

‘’Keep moving forward, keep moving forward’’

Suddenly she retrieved back and moved forward. She heard a huge thump of door-closing sound.

Her hope started to give-up and her heavy breath echoed all over.

And she saw someone moaning sitting on her right. It raised her head and it was her. A very depressed and grief-stricken soul

Her heart melted seeing that. She couldn’t see herself crying like that. She was lost and broken. She needed someone to lean a shoulder.

‘What happened?’, Ria asked forgetting everything for a second.

‘I am broken. I don’t know what to do’, it started weeping.

‘It’s ok. Everything is going to be alright. Just trust yourself’, Ria said.

‘I can’t see a ray of hope and I feel like I am alone in this world’, it said.

‘No, you are not. I am there for you’, Ria stepped forward to hug and comfort her and then she stopped and swung backwards.

‘What happened?’ it asked.

Ria was breathing heavily than ever, she was trembling to death. She stepped forward ignoring her. She was unable to walk as her legs were terribly quivering. She was sweating and shaking with fear.

‘Don’t leave me’, it cried.

‘It was close’, Ria whispered.

‘’Keep moving forward, keep moving forward’’

Her heartbeat was now beating like deafening drums. She fumbled through the way quickly.

‘Stop there’, Ria heard a shrill. She didn’t stop and started to run.

Something followed her and overtook her.

‘Stop right there’, it shouted from the left.

‘You can't escape from me’, it was shouting.

With a sudden thud, Ria fell on her face.

‘I told you, you can't, you scared soul’, it laughed.

‘Control your thoughts, control your thoughts’, she said to herself.

Immediately Ria stood up and started walking forward. She tried to suppress her fear.

She controlled her thoughts with a tight fist, with her nails piercing deep into her skin.

She noticed the voice is losing its strength. She continued to do that, pressing her fear down under her feet.

The screams sooner became whispers.

And then she started to run.

‘Hey, wait’, the whisper still continued following her.

And suddenly she saw a door right in front of her. She opened it and jumped into it without thinking anything and then,

 -----

‘Arrgggghhh’, she sat on her bed and looked around.

She was in her room sitting on her bed and she wiped out the sweat from her forehead.

‘Bad dream?’, her mom asked her rushing into the room.

‘A deadly nightmare’, she replied and relieved.

No matter whatever she does, she couldn’t stop thinking about the dream.

‘I can’t believe it was a dream though I am relieved it is. It seemed so real and familiar’, she said to herself.

‘So real just like the voices in my mind’

‘The voice of pride and money then the Love and beauty, Anxiety and desperation, Sadness and grief and lastly the most dangerous one- Fear’

 ‘A scary nightmare yet a truthful glimpse of my mind’, she smiled to herself.

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S31: "The Little kite"

He was sitting in the balcony, his little hands holding the grills of the balcony. He was looking at the children who were playing on the street.

He stood up and ran inside the house to his dad and asked, ‘Is she out?’

His enthused innocent eyes were looking at his dad.

‘Not yet. You have to wait for six more months’ kittu’, he said and patted his hair.

‘Six more?’, kittu asked. His voice saddened and his eyes were looking down towards the floor.

‘It’s okay kittu, just six months. She is now too small to come out of mamma’s stomach. She needs to be big enough to come and play with you na’, he tried to persuade.

In the middle of the words, his mom came and smiled at him. He looked at her stomach, went closer and kissed her stomach and ran away.

He spent the whole evening sitting on the balcony and looking at the kids playing on the street.

There are bunch of boys who are mostly of his age, around 6years. There are all playing with the kites.

They saw kittu and waved at him but he didn’t respond. He ran into the house.

‘Why don’t you go and play with them? I know you love kites, go and play kittu’, his dad said.

Kittu just rejected the offer with his head nod and walked into his room.

That very evening, his dad bought him a new kite.

Kittu was very much into kites, the moment he saw the kite in his dad’s hand, he ran and pulled it.

‘Let’s go dad’, he cheerfully jumped.

‘You go and play. I’ll come’, his dad said.

Kittu went upstairs and was trying to figure out how to fly the kite. The kite was fluttering according 

to the stream of wind.

He held the string tightly with his hands and threw the kite down from his house. It didn’t fly. He jumped and jumped and jumped throwing it up in the sky. It didn’t fly.

He ran to his house to call his dad but he didn’t disturb his dad as he was taking care of his mom and the baby which was still inside his mom’s stomach.

He went down to the street and ran slowly leaving the thread. Finally it started to fly. He ran and ran to the end of the thread.

He stopped and pulled it back but it got stuck in a tree and torn into pieces. He walked back to his home with the broken kite. He didn’t talk to anyone. His broken kite made him more alone.

‘Why don’t you go and play with the other kids’, his mom asked.

‘No’, he said.

‘You know something. Yesterday, the baby asked about you. She is waiting to come outside and to play with you’, she said.

He turned to her with a brightened face, ’Really?’

‘Yes’, she said smiling.

He ran to his room and kept smiling to himself, ‘The baby loves me. I should make something for her before she comes’.

He took the broken kite and tried to make another new kite by looking at it.

Every Sunday, he made a new kite and kept running on the street to the end of the thread. Then he walks back to his house rolling the thread.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. The number of kites increased and so do the hopes.

He pasted all the kites to the walls of his room. His room is now full of colourful kites.

And the day came,

He was waiting eagerly for the baby.

He heard the car’s horn and ran outside. It was a little baby girl, tucked herself in the arms of his dad.

‘What do you want to name her?’, his dad asked him.

He kept looking at his mom and dad with a blank face.

‘Tell a nickname which you want to call her’, her mom asked.

Kittu ran to his room, brought a kite from his room and said,’ I want to call her kite’

‘Kite?’, his mom and dad both said at once.

‘Yes’, he smiled.

‘Okay’, they said and laughed aloud.

He glued some kites around her cradle and used to call her kite since then.

She grew up and the day which he always loved and waited for came: The kite festival.

He took her sister kite to the festival and handed the manja to her.

He threw the kite and pulled and managed it. He was extremely happy looking at his sister holding the manja and their kite flew higher and higher in the sky.

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