2013: #55wordstory Themes: Week 1

Theme: Illusion

He woke up with a startle.

Was this a nightmare? Or was this real?

Was he really lying on the hospital bed? Or was that also part of a dream that he was still having?

What was reality and what was an illusion was something he had to decipher.

The hash brownies had played their trick.

Theme: Passion

For ten years, she went to the beach every day. She felt the waves talk to her and come close to her, sometimes touching and caressing her body and sometimes teasing and going away. This was pure passion.

She stopped going to the beach, the day she realized that these waves will always go back.

Theme: Children

The first raindrop was enough to send us into a frenzy. Rushing out with our paper boats, ready to jump into puddles without a care about the world. No stress of daily rigmarole nor the rigour of the daily grind. Free spirit and a clean and creative mind.

Childhood was a great stage of life.

Theme: Sand

Ranbir was born with a silver spoon. All his wishes got fulfilled, making him believe that owning everything was his birth right.

When he started dating Radhika, he started getting possessive about her, which suffocated her.

He did not realize that a relationship is like sand – tighter the grip, sooner it goes out of hand. 

Theme: Dust

It was brought home with great fanfare. The entire neighborhood came to congratulate us. Soon, it became an integral part of our lives, with all events happening around it. It was witness to our joy and sorrow over the years.

Today, the black and white TV is gathering dust with no-one willing to buy it.

Theme: Invent

Churning out stories from thin air!

Creating something on a page, where nothing existed moments ago. With every word, a chain is formed. A series of such chains is what leads to a creation. Sometimes the word limit of 55 keeps the chain small. But, if this is not an invention, then what is?

Theme: People

There were hundreds of them. All had come together to show their humane side. Each of them believed that they were a good human being. As soon as they entered the alley, they were greeted with a row of mirrors. Not a single reflection of people. Each mirror reflected a beast, their inner evil! 

#55wordstory: Themes: Week 9

Theme: Platonic

It was a small seed at first. Too small to even notice. But soon, the roots took their place. With every passing day, the roots grew stronger. Uprooting them now was impossible. This small seed of 'Doubt' grew so big, that it stopped differentiating between physical relationship and platonic friendship and ended a beautiful journey. 

Theme: Noise
Rajeev: "I am buying lots of noise making crackers for my son Sid. After all Shor Na Machaya toh Mazaa Nahin Aaya"

Sail: "That is good but ask him to be careful. I still feel sad for Rahim. After last year's incident, the deafening sound of silence is the noise that bothers him a lot." 

Theme: Angst
It was a momentary lapse of judgment and Rajan's short-temper, which led him to hit Roshita.

She went to another room and closed it to decide her next set of action between her sobs.

The choice was between calling the police or forgiving Rajan.

She decided for the latter by hanging herself from the fan. 

Theme: Brazen
Having always been a topper Derek didn't want to miss it this time either. But this time it was different.

He was caught cheating. Instead of being brazen about it, he broke down. The death of his mother a month back didn't allow him to prepare and his first attempt at cheating had fallen flat.

Theme: Furtive
Sitting at a cafe in Paris, Raul kept giving furtive glances to Lolita while sipping his cup of coffee.

Anyone noticing this would have thought Raul to be shy and not being able to walk across and speak to her.

No one knew that Raul was a detective hired to keep a watch on Lolita.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 8

Theme: Captive

Salil had visited so many countries, but there was not a single picture to show.

Many people asked him the reason, and his response always was "Nature is meant to be enjoyed with your naked eyes. You cannot make them captives of your lens and think that you would be able to enjoy them later" 

Theme: Free
Rajan invited his secretary Rita for lunch at the Taj and asked her if she would like to get promoted.

“Sure Sir” replied Rita

“But you know Rita, there are no free lunches” grinned Rajan.

Rita knew he was another one of those creeps to be avoided at all costs. She decided to quit soon. 

Theme: Catharsis
As a kid, putting pen to paper was like a catharsis for him. It allowed him to escape to a make-believe world from the stress of his boring life.

But things had changed nowadays, as all the writing was happening through keyboards and screens.

Who had the time to find a pen or a paper?

Theme: Consequences
The liftman closed the lift even after noticing her come.

As soon as he came down again, she shouted and abused him a lot.

He didn't say a thing. Two days later, her body was found with a slit on her neck. She didn't know the consequences of a small incident would be so fatal. 

Theme: Lost
The year was 1995. Rajeev's father had got him a CD player from his US visit and Rajeev wanted to show it off in school.

In all the excitement, he forgot it in his classroom that day. He tried checking the 'Lost and Found' section next day but he knew it was a lost cause. 

Theme: Risque

Shoaib trudged back home after a tiring day expecting another emotionless session at home as usual.

Simar looked different today and was very sweet to Shoaib, surprising him. After dinner, she switched off the TV and called Shoaib to the bedroom.

Shoaib did not notice that the book on Simar's table was '50 Shades of Grey'.