January 2017
"What's cooking gals?" asked Shelly. With her experience, she could tell when her daughters etched a naughty plot. Their eyes would pop out, and there would be a hush-hush air around.
"Nothin' Mom," said Molly, the nine year old, plain faced.
"None whatsoever," Jolly suppressed an upcoming giggle. She was to have her sixth birthday in a couple of days.
Must be some gimmick for the forthcoming birthday, thought Shelly. She adored the girls. Her life revolved around her two daughters, more so after the death of her husband three years back in a car accident. She teaches in the school of the village, a quaint hamlet bordering on a huge forest. She has lived here since last fifteen years or so since she came here as a newlywed bride of twenty-five. Molly and Jolly are full of life and pranks, keeping the household vibrant all along. The only thing that worries Shelly is the daredevil attitude of the sisters that bordered on foolhardiness at times.
"Make sure to be decent on Jolly's birthday. I want your behaviour exemplary in front of the guests," warned Shelly.
"Sure Mom." The girls told in unison.
Shelly remained unsure. Whenever they agreed easily, it did not augur well. She kept her fingers crossed.
It was Sunday. Shelly could afford a nap following lunch. At five in the afternoon, she started for the special Sunday market.
"I'm off to market," she announced. "Don't go out of the house and behave properly." The girls tilted their heads obediently.
They were waiting for this opportunity. The plan chalked out in the morning had nothing to do with birthday plans. They wanted to visit the Forbidden Fortress. It is a place they are told to stay off. Reportedly, it is occupied by an old witch who can transform any human into an animal like wolf, deer or sheep as per her fancies. Disobedient children were converted into lambs as per folklore of the village.
Molly and Jolly were keen to learn magic so that they could play the tricks on some of their wicked friends, especially Robin, who is a big bully. Today was the day they would meet the witch and learn a few tricks in wizardry!
It was about half an hour's run for them through the bushes to reach the fortress. They were panting as they entered it.
"Supposing the witch turns us into lambs?" confidence of Jolly took a dent for the first time ever since they planned the adventure.
Molly thought for a second. She wanted to put up a brave face in front of her baby sister. "Don't worry. I know how to come out of that."
Jolly had immense faith in her elder sibling. She looked reassured. They tiptoed inside the left out edifice.
The half-built walls and the floor made of stones looked unusually clean for an abandoned place. The courtyard in front remained visible in the faint light of the setting sun. They peeped in leaning against a wall.
An eerie silence prevailed in the open space beyond. At a distance stood a stone hut where a ram and a couple of ewe stood in silence.
"These are the humans transformed into animals." Molly was excited, yet nervous.
"The ram looks like Uncle-Stewart." Jolly giggled, referring to the short-tempered grocery owner of the village.
"Hush!" Molly kept her finger on her lips. The door of the hut was opening.
The witch emerged from within. She was frail, old, with jute-like dishevelled hair, and shrivelled skin. Her small face had a pair of large, bright eyes, and she wore a charming smile. A wolf and a deer were at her heels. She had a large robe on, like a witch; but had no wand in her hand. She noticed the girls and stretched her arms in welcome.
"Come, little girls," she smiled.
The girls hesitated, looking at the scary wolf.
"He is Zingo," the woman patted the wolf's head. "He won't do any harm to you."
There was something in the old woman's ways. The girls proceeded towards her in hesitant steps. Zingo did not move. The woman caressed the girls' hair.
"Who are you girls?" she asked in a quivering, but a pretty voice.
"I'm jolly, and she's Molly," grinned Jolly exposing her missing incisors.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" the woman smiled. "Don't you know I'm a witch?"
"No, you are Grandma," Jolly embraced the woman.
"Sweet Grandma," repeated Molly.
"Dear! O dear," tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of the witch as she kissed their faces in turn.
"Have you turned them into animals, Grandma?" asked Molly as she looked around.
"So, that's how the wind blows! Witch turning humans to animals!" she started laughing. She was edentulous. "No dears, I can't perform any trick like that. They are simply my pets. I'm only a grandma who has lost her family and who makes a living by selling pickles." She went inside the hut to come out with mango pickles to hand it over to them.
"Don't you know any magic?" asked Molly, disheartened.
"Magic?" she pondered. "Yes, I know only one magic. Come with me." She moved near a wall and emitted a sweet cooing sound cupping her hands over her face.
And lo! Birds of different colours flew in to sit on her sprayed hands and started pecking her lovingly. The animals around started licking her feet.
"See," she smiled ever so sweetly, "this is the best magic we can do. It's called Love." The girls kept gazing amazed.
"Didn't I tell you not to leave the house?" Shelly was back by the time they returned.
"We'd just been to a friend's house Mom," said Molly. "She is so sweet!"
"Ve-e-e-ry sweet!" echoed Jolly.
These children! Wondered Shelly, relaxing on her armchair.
"Debaprasad Mukherjee is a doctor by profession and author by passion. He is from Bilaspur, India. He has authored four books and keeps contributing regularly in dailies and periodicals."
Sarba Roy
September 2018
I knew the basics of survival. My mother had already given up on trying to confine my unmanageable bouts of adventure and had resigned instead to teaching me a few life hacks in the hope of preventing my untimely death.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
March 2018
Ahiliya, the beautiful princess of Magadha, was sitting on the balcony of her palace brooding over her loneliness. She had a score of girls to keep company though. Yet, everything looked so lacklustre.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
June 2017
"There are two lives that can be lived," said Mother Cat to her kittens, "the one you have with me safe at home, nestled in comfort... or ..."
Debaprasad Mukherjee
June 2017
Sam does not smoke; at least no more at present. In his boyhood days, he used to inhale an occasional puff or two from a friend maybe, but not now.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
June 2017
It was a regular Friday morning, the last working day of the week. As much as my little princess Ziva, I was also pretty excited about the weekend.
Aanchal Bharara
June 2017
There was a 12-year-old boy who had a lot of money to spend and enjoy his life. He lived in a mansion like house and studied in one of the best schools in the country.
(Voinks) Val Portelli
April 2017
Let me see dear. Oh yes, I should do. I've lived there for nearly fifty years. Was there anyone in particular you were looking for? I might know them.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
April 2017
'Handle with care' used to be written on the bottles into which my father poured his finest blends. My brewer father and simpleton mother handled me with utmost care.
Amina Bezzazi
April 2017
First shot for the late Hero... Second shot for the noble mission he died for... Third shot for the honorable corpse he so bravely served... Fourth shot for the departed Martyr.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
March 2017
Word had come through the mountains, along the long winding trails of our jungle and finally along the river, Yenzi was coming.
Hákon Gunnarsson
March 2017
It's evening, and we are walking on the beach. The sun is going down, and the sky is so beautiful. She is beautiful too, and laughs like a pixie.Of course, I've never seen or heard a pixie, but I love her.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
March 2017
Molly: Hey Tommy! You, goody-goody! Why on earth you're peeping through the window?
Cheryl Russell
March 2017
Lou looked up from her school exercise book and looked across at her gorgeous teddy she called Eddie bear.
Cheryl Russell
February 2017
She looked around uncertainly. The station was crowded, how was she supposed to find her daughter amongst the crowds.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
February 2017
Look at this snap, I say. Isn't it so telltale? Doesn't it speak volumes on our closeness? Our relationship could be the subject of a great novel of romances.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
February 2017
Although it was dangerous, I had no choice. We needed to eat and there was nothing left in our old habitat.
Joshua Hedges
January 2017
Life is complex, putting most answers on a spectrum, which I suppose places me between ordinary and special, smack dab in the middle of average.
Sheenah Middle
January 2017
God! He had been lucky, what if he had not walked back into that place today? Tomorrow would have been a disaster; his life would have changed completely.
Cheryl Russell
January 2017
The two girls Grace and Charlotte stood watching, fascinated by what they were seeing. Grace put her hand over her mouth to stop herself crying out.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
January 2017
The plan chalked out in the morning had nothing to do with birthday plans. They wanted to visit the Forbidden Fortress. It is a place they are told to stay off.
Joshua Roberts
December 2016
Janette was a head and half taller than her sister Susan who stood just in front of her under an arching entrance to an alleyway off the side of a cobbled street.
C. M. Turner
December 2016
Scarlet and Ashley had been told not to leave the castle. They stood in the doorway watching something flying overhead. It wasn't all that large as dragons go.
Sheenah Middle
December 2016
"Fred! How are you?" Jim said to the man that had stopped in the street before him. He had been cycling down the road trying to keep warm...
Val Portelli (Voinks)
December 2016
I can imagine you in a pinny. I've just been up to the cemetery; it would have been Ethel's birthday today so I took her a few flowers.
Cheryl Russell
November 2016
The enormous looking egg sat there with a look of abject horror on its face. A human was trying to take the layer of shell off.
Hákon Gunnarsson
November 2016
Charlie came running out of the woods in the morning mist. When he saw the lake pier, he slowed down to a walking pace.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
November 2016
We trees are pretty awesome. Don't you think so? Just look at me! How blessed I am to have these orange beauties all over me.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
November 2016
His niece turned to her teddy bear. A notebook opened upon her lap. She had been scribbling along pretending she knew how to write.
Cheryl Russell
November 2016
He walked along the road, arm out hoping to catch the eye of a passing motorist. It was a lonely stretch of road with trees lining it.
Drew Hill
November 2016
Two young girls, one looked to be ten while the other looked no older than six, were running around the tavern with trays over their heads.
Margaret Jennings
October 2016
Darkness in the trees that reflect his mood. A match that will not light. Thoughts that take him far from serenity.
Kelley Mether
October 2016
He tried to judge her accent. Possibly Spanish. Definitely another backpacker, like himself. If she wondered about him, she didn't show it.
Janice Joseph
October 2016
He pressed his face on the fence very hard. He looked far into the empty street to see if there were any signs of life.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
October 2016
I was beginning to go stir-crazy being cooped up indoors. All the things you take for granted suddenly became insurmountable mountains.
Keith Dwyer
October 2016
It had started in college. In the summers Jake had worked for a catering company in the resort area south of his hometown.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
September 2016
I was a mathlete, my teachers always called me the Bell Curve Breaker.
Cheryl Russell
September 2016
They were camping. It was supposed to be a relaxing break from the hectic pace of the last few weeks.
Joanna Hunter
September 2016
They say there is no such thing as the Bogeyman. But I know different. And right now we are playing hide and seek.
Janice Joseph
September 2016
"Why are you staring at the water? We pass by this stream daily and I can't see anything new. Are you ok?"
Lisa Wood
September 2016
He'd been waiting for hours for God only knows what. Frank wasn't an information guy. They told him to wait here, so here he waited.
Ajay Gregory Antony
September 2016
"Why did I leave home? Why am I here? Does any of this make sense?" I kept questioning myself over and again.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
September 2016
"You came all this way just for college?" Cody said to his little brother. Cody looked around himself.
Cheryl Russell
September 2016
Father and son were enjoying some quality time together. It was late September but still the weather was nice.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
August 2016
"Sometimes it is not the person we miss; it is the feeling you had when you were with them."
Voinks (Val Portelli)
August 2016
My romantic nature pondered whether the 'special something' he wanted to buy me would be an engagement ring.
Janice Joseph
August 2016
For me, the bridge was a gateway to a new life and for Ryan; the bridge was something he never wanted to cross.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
August 2016
I kept flapping around my house with similar haplessness until the quake subsided. I empathise with the bird.
Tiffany C. Lockhart
August 2016
A blonde-haired woman wearing a bright green trench coat walked down the streets of a bustling city, her nose buried in her phone.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
August 2016
Rambo came into Maggie's life a couple of weeks ago. The moment she saw him, she fell in love with him.
Janice Joseph
August 2016
I lay in the bathtub with my eyes closed. I pressed the straight razor against my wrist.
Janice Joseph
July 2016
"No, not again", I sighed. It has been a routine now to search for my pen in the morning before leaving for work.
Joshua Hedges
July 2016
Yumi couldn't feel her hands. She pushed her fingers through her hair. Nothing. Her heart didn't beat.
Michael "Fynn" Lange
July 2016
My fingers caressing its strings like they once caressed the only woman's skin that I have ever loved.
Janice Joseph
July 2016
No one would give a job to a homeless young man. Prejudices never gave an opportunity for survival for the homeless.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
July 2016
If I tell you, 'I've made this bridge', you will laugh at me; because you know me. I have never done anything constructive.
Aishwarya Chandrasekhar
July 2016
I am here at the park; taking a stroll with the person I love the most, My Dad!
Janine W. Cox
July 2016
This love started many years ago when they lived in the same neighborhood, a couple of houses away from each other.
Debaprasad Mukherjee
June 2016
Croaka was pensive as he sat down on the slimy stone near a puddle formed by a steady stream at a corner of Mughal Gardens.
Steve Brown
June 2016
It was just past midnight when she arrived at the cordoned off station. There was a yellow Ka parked by the front.
Gerry Hounchell
June 2016
Not sure who took that picture, but it's me hitching a ride, my backside anyway, age 17, running away from home.
Janice Joseph
June 2016
I am Wahid. I came here nearly 40 years ago. I live in the next street. Are you here with your family?", the old man asked.
Sarah GC David
June 2016
It is a typical evening; a cool breeze surrounds the insides of the subway. Never do they notice the intentions of each other.
Joshua Roberts
June 2016
The cold winter air stung his nostrils as Stephan walked along the brick covered sidewalk next to the tracks.
Voinks (Val Portelli)
June 2016
It had started innocently enough; the place had been packed, he had asked if he could share my table. The hour flew by as we started talking.
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Sam was on that lonely stretch of road and he had his thumb leading the way. He was out there all morning.
Jacqueline Driggers
June 2016
What if all the books were worlds, and when she opened one, she opened a door to that world that she could go through? Wouldn't that be awesome?
Joshua Hedges
June 2016
John's wheezed as he ran through the forest. He was a runner, why was he wheezing? Couldn't he outrun his six-year-old?
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Pete was at a cross roads and he had to make a decision fast or else he was going to lose everything.
Ajay Gregory Antony
June 2016
The narrow road at the corner is the way to the blissful nature, where one will find true bliss.
Janice Joseph
June 2016
The fight is over forever. It is all numb now. There is no more pain. Life is setting me free. Let me fly...float in the clouds and forget my wounds.
Janine W. Cox
June 2016
Marty's number was called and he had to report to Parris Island, South Carolina for 12 weeks of basic training.
Steve Brown
May 2016
Bruno knew something was wrong long before I did. He was a dog amongst dogs and saw things before anyone else.