WoW - 7

It was too dark. Her head still felt heavy. Partial awake but somehow in trance, she tried to recall the course of events. Damn, she can’t remember a thing except the feeling that she was very elated to go out for her first ever date.

Her wrists are hurting with the rope tied around it. She tried to scream but realized that the gag has blocked her voice. Petrified, injured she tried to wriggle out that bond, but failed. Tears oozed and trickled down her cheeks.  Slowly few other incidents flashed in her memory screen. She recollected how she skillfully lied to her parents to go out on this date with her online chat friend. How could have she divulged the truth to them, they still consider her a kid. She is grown up, she is fifteen!!

They had chatted for almost last six months every day without fail. He now understands her so well. Initially bit hesitant but later she became quite comfortable while chatting with him. His thoughtful quotes, humorous one - liners, philosophical reassurances compelled her to go gaga over him. So, when finally he proposed to meet her, she found herself in seventh heaven.

She bunked her tuition classes and reached the scheduled spot almost on time. His tall built & dashing looks completely swayed her mind. She pinched herself to check whether she is still dreaming or what!!. Then after a while they went for a long drive. It was month of May, so they halted near a shop to get some cold-drinks. But, then…. After that….she can’t recall a single thing.

She again wrestled with the bondage but gave up soon. Drenched in sweat she lay there motionless. It was still as cemetery outside. Only sound she can hear is of dry leaves & some crickets creaking. Suddenly, she heard some footsteps and a ray of street light flashed in as the door is opened. All she can see a tall shadow leaning near the door. Suddenly, ‘His laughter broke the silence’. She was zapped. It is him!!! A shiver ran down her spine.

Now she is able to find the missing pieces of the Zigzag puzzle of her abduction. He had laced the drink with something which made her unconscious.

He creepily came near her and tried to feel her body. She squirmed in repugnance & shut her eyes.  Her parents’ faces reeled in front of her. They are so right…she is indeed a kid, a damn stupid kid!!!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

WoW - 3

She cannot remember when actually she started believing this cliché and made it a pattern of her behaviour  Every time she does something which follows an awaited result to be declared, she would keep her fingers crossed. And how cannot she forget to mention the chocolate treat after that!!!

Sneh, a bright girl, always showed her mettle is every aspects of life she explored…be it academics, sports, cultural activities, social networking or even in managing her relations. As a kid her dad always encouraged her girl and somehow she aped him in believing on this cliché. ‘Keeping my fingers crossed….’ she had murmured numerous times,hiding her crossed fingers from public eye while eagerly waiting for the winners list. The moment her name was loudly announced as a winner for various diverse activities as elocution, dancing, dramatics, board exams, various entrance tests….the list is long, her dad has treated her with a big bar of chocolate.

She enjoyed her winnings moments in school prior to which she always ‘kept her fingers crossed’.

She topped the city in her college final year and she does remember herself muttering ‘keeping my fingers crossed….!!’ under her breath the whole morning the day results were out. She duly received the big bar of chocolate from her loving & proud dad.

She made it to best corporate giants of the country in the campus interviews. I was ‘keeping my fingers crossed’ till my name was publicized…she recalls.

She met that tall dark handsome colleague….., it was ‘Love at first sight’ for her!! ‘I had been keeping my fingers crossed so many times while we dated’, she recollected. And it worked…he proposed her in the best romantic way over a beautiful candle lit dinner. She ordered Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake for dessert that night.

Her wedding was a dream come true event for her. Her parents ensured grandest wedding of the city by spending a fortune beyond others imagination. Sneh walked the mandap glittering in diamonds, expensive silk and oodles of gold. Although couple of years has already passed since that eventful day, relatives & guests still talk about that grand extravagant wedding.

But her life took a curvaceous turn from there. Dreams shattered after hitting the harsh world of reality. Her confidence, self-esteem & trust were trampled bit by bit by the same person around whom she has woven her silky dreams. Her soul was insulted each day with worse form of verbal abuse. Her inner self was stripped naked by that beastly alcoholic spouse embellished with filthy abuses. She blamed it all on his addiction to alcohol. She thought ‘Otherwise he is such a nice person…just that this alcohol dependency catalyses his inhuman behavior. I am keeping my fingers crossed…..one day everything would be fine’.

But it did not. Apart from verbal abuses he swung to merciless beating. He did not even budge from his violent behavior when she was pregnant. Sneh tolerated this cruel domestic violence with the hope that the birth of their child might bring the betterment in his personality.

Then on a fateful day, inebriated with alcohol he hit her in her tummy and crushed all bleak hope she ever had. He killed their unborn child. She was numb with mental & physical trauma. He unabashedly projected it as an accident to everyone else. She literally lost her voice after that and never protested his version. He has now the perfect alibi even in front of public for seeking refuge in alcohol and drugs.

After few days, an ambulance had to be called to their house to take him to hospital. Hospital staff carried his unconscious body to the hospital…..She accompanied them with a stoned expression on her face. Doctors diagnosed it as overdose of alcohol. He died within couple of hours.

But during those two hours nobody noticed her crossed fingers beneath her saree’s pallu. She muttered continuously ‘I am keeping my fingers crossed…..’ which everyone misunderstood as a prayer of a devoted wife for her dying husband. Finally doctors released his death certificate citing reason of death as ‘natural’ (overdose of drugs & alcohol).

Sneh rushed to the departmental store next to the hospital.

She asked: Do you have that dark chocolate bar whose advertise campaign says ‘You just don’t buy it, YOU EARN IT’…. Can you give me two of that!!!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

E.T.A. : This also got selected as one of the best entries for the theme. :-)

Challenge...Honey-web

Inspired by the post by Obsessivemom  for the first time in my blog, I am trying something different. I have taken up the challenge given to me by another blogger Desire v/s Destiny in Indiblogger.in. Exactly in his words it says " Challenge for you, Write about a school Time love story! Getting out of which was the best thing happened to the female character ...".

So, I am going to narrate a story which is not fictional and but also not completely real. I knew the characters of this story (though not personally) and has taken up some creative independence to restructure the series of events. All names have been changed. The story timeline is somewhere in early years of this century.

Ankita hurriedly threw her school bag on the bed and rushed to change the uniform. It is already 3:30 PM. Even if she gorges down her food in jet speed then also she is going to be late. 'He leaves the shop by 5PM' she thought in her mind. Anyways, she picked her tuition bag and checked her wallet, 'Wow, with this much money I can buy two cassettes this month'. 

As soon she stepped out of her house, Sonia called her from the neighboring house. Same age, same class although different schools, same tuition classes, good neighbors but still Ankita never felt to bond with her. 'That tuning is not there between us' she always thought. Sonia told her that she is rushing to her friends as there is an accident there but asked Ankita to not to tell this either to her parents or the tuition teacher. 'If Sir asks tell him that I am not well' muttered Sonia in her typical sing-song voice. 'What a big liar.....it was so evident that she is cooking some kind of silly excuse for her absence from classes' Ankita thought but said OKkk and moved ahead to the local market.

'Ohhh Thank GOD it is only 4:10PM', she would surely be able to get a glimpse of him. Who is 'him'? He is the brother of the owner of the biggest & best gift gallery & Variety shop of her so called small town. People call him Champ....'indeed he is, such a good looking hunk and so amiable & friendly...I just looooove the way he ties his bracelet on his wrist' Ankita's mind crooned. His shop is always the happening place of the area. Every month Ankita saves her pocket-money to buy some music cassettes from his shop. Also, buying gifts for friends & usual stationary stuff, all is done from this outlet only. Ankita' mind continues 'His voice pours as music to my ears......Last time also he asked for my phone number....I felt so awkward & scared....Ohh such a goofy I am..Today I would   exchange phone numbers for sure...what if my phone is always guarded by my parents...I can manage to sneak sometime!!'. She reached the shop but found that he has already left for the day. 'What the ...., Why he has leave early today only....her luck never favors her'. She postponed the idea of buying cassettes for some other day....'Searching for a nice album through the catalog takes so much time, she does not want to waste that only opportunity to be with him in vain'.

Heavyhearted, she went to her tuition classes. There she came to know about the 'Gossip of the day'. Priya whispered in a hush-hush tone 'Hey, do you know Sonia is going around with Champ these days!'. 'What!!!' Ankita literally shouted. 'Yesss this news is 100% pakka, they are seeing each other and today also they had gone for a date'. Ankita tried not to listen any more to Priya. She felt so bad. All her beautiful thoughts which she has spanned around him crashed with a jolt.

Next couple of weeks, she tried her best to avoid Sonia and forget her mushy romantic crush for Champ. In spite of her best efforts, her mind wandered multiple times in his thought…'Why luck never favors me, Why it can’t be me in place of that Sonia…life is so unfair' her heart continued to yearn for him…..

 Now, almost a month has passed after that. Ankita has been able to gather herself and continued with her normal life. Yeah...she went to buy those cassettes but after 5PM only....'I cannot face his flirty behavior anymore'...but the shop was closed. She went again after 10 days but still it was closed....'They have closed their business and "bitiya" do not visit this place anymore' one of the neighborhood ageing shop owner told her.

That night while having dinner she started surfing though various TV channels when her fingers paralyzed on one news channel. 'They are flashing a 'Breaking NEWS' and her town's name is there. OMG....What are they showing....it is news coverage of a MMS (obviously dirty!!) flooding the internet where the girl has been identified from her town...these news channel has got other details as well. The news anchor was shouting on the top of his voice.....See where the latest generation is moving....they take everything so casually...this girl studying in Class 11th belongs to a middle-class family and the guy is a local shop-owner. As per our sources, this guy is into this dirty business of luring innocent teenagers, trapping them in his 'honey-web' and after filming them in compromising acts, selling those clippings in market. Police has raided his house and found many other clips & MMS well. He is absconding now. Girl's family is not ready to comment...blah blah. They kept on showing the bits of MMS (blurred though) on their screen...However blurred it is, Ankita can recognize that bracelet on the guy's wrist!!!!

She got up from the sofa and went to her room.....closed her eyes and said 'THANKS a lot GOD.....from now onward, I would never blame my luck...you saved me from falling in that dirty pit'.