Shail's Nest

I was all sunshine and smiles at the party. The storm that had wreaked havoc just a few hours back was well hidden beneath the cheerful facade. My friends urged me on and I obliged, downing one drink after another. No one had any idea about the volcano that raged beneath the surface. I fiercely [...]

There was something about the way she looked at him. Her kohled eyes seemed to see through him and decipher his thoughts. He felt parched and longed for a drink. “Can you give me some water??” he asked her. “Did you walk all the way to my house to ask for water??” she asked a [...]

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 [...]

- 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 [...]

- a short story “Vulgar!” she screeched in distaste looking at the frock I had taken out for her. That was the latest word in her vocabulary, vulgar. Anything and everything she didn’t like was vulgar. The milk was no longer yuck, it was vulgar. The vegetable she did not want to eat was vulgar. [...]

-  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 [...]

The little boy screwed his face in distaste as the acrid smell of the smoke entered his nostrils. He was glad his parents were out visiting. They were a bane when around, always interrupting him. Their words of caution were an impediment to his quest for knowledge. He despaired at their tepid reaction to his [...]

“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 [...]

- a 55-word story They needed a chauffeur to take her to school. “Not the young man.” said the over-cautious mother. The father nodded sagely. They hired the older man, who was old enough to be her grandfather. Their daughter was safe, they thought in parental wisdom. Days later, they wondered why she was obsessed [...]

- 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 [...]