ABSTRACT FEELINGS

                                               (Sketch: Sagar Ghatak ) It is heavy raining outside. This is the fourth time he is dialing. The first two times no one picked up. The third time a man picked up and he disconnects. Every day thousands of people call on me, but I eagerly wait for this time of the day. Every evening he comes to my booth and calls her. She picks up the phone with an eager smile on her face. After a brief talk, they hang up. I love to be a part of these beautiful moments between them. But two days ago, everything was not okay. She was crying, he was sobbing too. Today she is leaving the city with his family. He wished to talk to her for the final time. Someone picked up, a female voice saying “Forget her”, and it disconnects. He settled down onto the floor. I continue to beep. ~ Kusal D.

"Do or do not...there is no try" - Yoda    Agnes settled back to her cubicle. She opened the file which Lauren gave to her. The front page of the file was a welcome note for the new employee … “We are so excited about having you on our team! With your experience, you will be a great addition. Welcome aboard!”   Jordan & Lee      Meanwhile, Liza came to her. “Hey fresher! Still, stuck on the first page? We have a client to care about. Remember?”, Liza said. “Yes off course! I know that very well. Thank you for your concerns.”, she replied ignorantly. “I think you are planning for this assignment on your own? Maybe you should express your thought to Lauren. It’ll be a great help for me as well!”, Liza replied. “I never said that”, she replied. “I don’t have any problem with working together. All I care about is the responsibility I am handed upon.”, she added. “Ohooo ”, Liza said sarcastically. “Then we should go to the lounge area, we need a proper s...

Our  memory  is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.   The tube light was blinking, the majority of the desks were broken and scattered all around the classroom. The overall picture was looking like a horror movie scene. Agnes was heavily gasping after that sprint, she rested her elbow on the teachers’ desk in front of the blackboard. In that dim room, Agnes saw something written on the board, “You shouldn’t!”. Agnes was thinking about the meaning of those words, suddenly she heard a group running towards the room. Three girls storm entered the room, “Among so many rooms in the school, you chose this one for hiding! Oh poor you!”, they said to Agnes. “I will go to the principle if you beat me”, Agnes cried in panic. “Oh! We are so scared”, one girl teased on her comment. “I have to get out of this room”, she murmured and tried to make a speedy exit through those three girls. One girl felled down in that collision and one...

                                               The person who wants a million-dollar has to go beyond their comfort zone and put an effort of one million dollars. Temporary pleasures are all about five-digit income. Discomfort, struggle, and sacrifices bring them to the seven-digit earning. Life brings those opportunities to make a person not believe in fate but to live on “Someday I will”.  Sometimes your destiny takes you to a path where you can’t judge what is right, and what is not, but you have to choose  one. For example, I am now hanging inside her closet among many other clothes of her. I never thought I was destined to be here someday, as well as - Agnes, an ordinary girl from Texas, and this is her story.    Agnes as usual woke up late that morning . “Oh no, how could I just sleep till 9’o clock today! ”, she said in disgust. She got ...

  The National Flag British policemen were searching for him madly. Venkayya with three kids of his locality were hiding inside a house nearby, waiting for a perfect time to show up.      Venkayya planned to climb up to the terrace of the tallest building of their locality and hoist me on his own. But he got his right ankle twisted while being chased by the police. So he handed me over to Ali and said “Now our pride is in your hand!”      Two of the policemen were just outside the house they were hiding. Venkayya kept his nerve for long but not anymore. He showed up like a preying lion, shouting “Vande Mataram!” and held them up tightly with his stout arms. Ali with the other two children ran towards the building like it was the run of their lives. They climbed up to the building, meanwhile, one of the policemen got rid of Venkayya and started towards the building to stop them. The other two children tied my strings around a bamboo, Ali tied the final ...

(Sketch: Sagar Ghatak) Today is Tuesday, that’s why it is quite lonesome here. Otherwise, on weekends, I become fully occupied. People like me, as I am a bit longer and wider than my other folks out here, and got handles on each end for more comfort. That’s why I am the favorite. I know some people who only come here to sit upon me. If they see that I am already occupied, they just leave. The workers here are also fans of mine. They give extra attention to my cleaning than the cleaning of others. I love this attention. But every coin has two sides. I like it when people sit on me, but more the people sit, more they make me dirty. I remember once a couple sitting with their child and suddenly the child puked on me. I couldn't sleep that night. And another day, a boy stuck a chewing gum under me. It took 3 days for the workers to find it and get me rid of it. But these are some minor discomforts I face, not at all comparable the love I get. I am happy here, seeing others having th...

(Sketch: Sagar Ghatak) Your mom gifted me to you on your seventh birthday. You always had a fascination with having a fancy water bottle. You saw your friends bringing very attractive ones in school. So you also expressed the desire to get one of those, even better. Then you got me! When I was new, you took care of me like a little baby. You used to hang me in your neck while you were on the way to school. You put me separated from other bottles as I was special for you. You used t o fight with your classmates if I got any scratch, accidentally or intentionally. But nothing is forever in this world! Days passed, and your concern for me kept on decreasing, with increasing scratches on my head, back, and all over. Now It’s been 3 years! My strap is all dirty and torn from one end. My cap is mi ssing. My body is full of scratc hes. I am now a member of the “No longer needed” club, situated in the backyard of your house, counting days on the way to recycle. Hope we will meet again, as a ...

(Sketch: Sagar Ghatak) Yesterday, after so many days, Mark was here, with John and Katherine. It was the occasion of John’s birthday. They brought some cokes and a cake. There were laughter and joy around each corner of mine. Just like good old days. There was a time when these three were daily visitors of mine. On some days, I was their hiding den. On others, I was their movie theatre. My pillows still bear the signs of Mark’s tears. Katharine’s anger left a permanent mark on my wall. Either it was heavy rain, or it was a blazing sunset, they enjoyed through my window. They used to read horror stories putting up torch lights, I still feel their warmth in my blankets. There were all play and no work! Every day was a happy day for me. But now as they have grown up, their paths have diverged, and hardly come back to my direction. But every day, I still wait for them, running legs, laughter and there my door opens! ~ Kusal D.

Picture: Sagar Ghatak Jack brought me home a week ago, from the nearby ground. He found me when he was playing with his friends, a tiny little creature with a little shoot, and only two leaves. He took me up from the soil and came back home. I am now in a small cup with soft soil under me. Jack feds me lots of water every day. In the ground, I always felt thirsty and suffocated, but now I am all energetic. In the mornings, Jack places me on the window, where I eat lots of light. At nights, I fall asleep beside his bed, seeing the stars in the sky. When the rain comes, I always try to touch those raindrops, but I can’t reach them with my tiny leaves. Don’t know when I will grow big! For the last three days, I haven’t seen Jack. Every day his mom came and watered me. Yesterday his mom took me outside and I saw a big ditch in the backyard. They placed someone wrapped in a white cloth in that ditch and buried it. They took me out of the cup and placed upon that burial. Now I have a big spa...