Shail's Nest

I lay awake in the darkness, unable to get back to sleep. The sudden cramp in my leg was what had awakened me. The pain had been excruciating. Rubbing my calf vigorously I sat up for some time till the pain had abated. But getting back to sleep was a different story.
It was pre-dawn time [...]

- a small tale

I put the cap back on the pen and laid it on the table slowly. Her eyes moved from me to the pen and then back to me. Hope flickered in them. The tear drops on her long lashes shone like dew drops on the morning grass. Her eyes never ever failed [...]

-  a story
“Do you love me??” she asked.
Her eyes sparkled in anticipation of his answer. She knew what he would say and yet it was something she asked of him often. He never did understand the reason why. Where he came from love was abundant and was understood without words. Her question seemed redundant to [...]

“Heyyyyyyy!!”
A few heads looked up from the consoles being monitored.
“What’s that damn thing doing on that route??!!’ screamed the HEO.
More heads jerked up and looked at each other questioningly.
“It is NOT supposed to be there!”
The Head of Earth Operations seemed to have found an anomaly in the green blips making their way surely and certainly [...]

The girl and her parents reached the village late at night. The storm that had slowed down their bus had now cleared. While her parents talked to Ammavan and Ammayi, the girl’s eyes were searching for Chechi.
A sleepy-eyed older girl entered the room just then and smiled at the assembled guests. [...]

- a story

I lay there in the blue light listening to the rhythm of the train. The rest of the passengers were all fast asleep. I couldn’t sleep. It would soon be time for me to disembark. Outside it was raining. The drizzle made faint patterns on the window pane. My journey was about to [...]

- a 55 word story

“Go inside”
“Why??”
“You can read in your room”
“I want to sit here and read. It’s cooler here…”
“Some boys are loitering outside.”
“So??”
“They are staring at you…”
“So??”
She didn’t see the slap coming.
“Go inside, now!”
She went in quietly.
She learnt: When boys ogled her, it was somehow her fault.

****** ******* ******

The above is a 55-word [...]

– a 55-word story.

“You haven’t done your home-work again!” the paan-chewing teacher spat exasperated.
He smiled insolently, not condescending to answer.
Some girls giggled. His eyes searched for her among them.
“Get out!” shouted the teacher.
He walked out of the class to the previously chosen tree, settling on a branch.
Now he could see her even better.

She fed them herself. Each rice-ball shaped with the right amount of vegetables, dal, rice ….and love that swelled in her heart. She stroked them gently till they slept, peacefully.
In the morning, the police came. As they led her away, she gave her son-in-law a crooked smile of triumph.
He couldn’t hurt them anymore!

- a story

Her cheeks were wet with tears. She stood silently looking at her mother’s face contorted in anger, now blurring as her eyes filled with fresh tears. She had not yet understood how to solve the math problem and her mother was clearly annoyed, chastising her in loud tones. She felt hemmed in by [...]