The droplet and the friend

On the yellowy green banana leaf I sprinkled some water. Tiny mirrors suddenly popped. They allowed me to see the world, through their eyes.

Dew drops on a blade of grass can't last long. But when those pearly droplets drop on to the ground, they connect and make tiny puddles. Water can't survive alone, nor can humans.

I then wondered if friends are also like droplets. They may start out as one puddle and dry up to be droplets. Or start as droplets and connect to be a puddle. The more they are the bigger the puddle becomes, from a puddle to a pond, from a river to a great ocean.

Sometimes friends just walk in and out of your life. One time you fee they are your kindred spirits. Soon they prove you are wrong. and it all becomes a mirage. When they don't see you, they forget you. When you don't see them, you forget them. No contacts = no bonds. The friendship becomes a mirage, an ephemeral memory of a lifetime. Like those little droplets who were once left all alone.

Then the end becomes the beginning, and the beginning becomes the end. Both, for the droplet and the friend.

The Kite and the Bird

I thought we were the same.. when I saw him and I, both soaring high... riding the winds in the boundless blue sky.

As I flew higher and higher my frilly long tail fluttered like waves. He glided stretching his coffee brown wings.. and flapped from time to time to catch the current. But soon we parted our ways. 'That was the beginning of the end..' the kind northern wind whispered in my ears. But I simply ignored.

I never believed in the red thread of fate, for I was always attached to a fine white thread with utmost strength.  I was striving hard to escape the dictator at the other end. He knew I was trying to escape. So he tugged, real hard, and I swiftly drifted down.

I think I lost conscious.. though I do not know for how long. When I slowly opened my eyes, the glaring sun rays blinded my sight. I had to squint and look around. Oh but alas! Everything around me was upside down!

No... it didn't take me that long to figure out.. it was I who was upside down. Dangling like a teeny weeny spider on a fibril, I felt the weight of the gravity for the first time. I looked up again.. squinting my eyes. The fine white thread was glistening like a tinsel.. weaving itself in a messy tangle.

And then.. I saw a heartrending sight. The heartless white thread had captured my friend. He was wriggling in pain, on a bough few feet above me. His eyes were both swollen, from all the tears dripping like a fountain. And there it was... the vicious raven with those piercing eyes and razor sharp beak. It was attacking my friend. And all I could do was watch... in silence.

I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my voice. 'Help him, please... somebody... anybody.. just help him. He's my friend. My very first and dear friend.'

Did anyone hear? I looked around. Not even a ghost was in sight. I tried to pull the glittering white thread, but it didn't budge. The raven was circling like an eagle fixed on its prey. It was a chilling sight.

Just then I heard a few footsteps. Was it the dictator who gave me life? No, it was someone else. He called others for help. He brought a long pole, a ladder and a bamboo. With the help of his allies he came to the rescue of my friend.

My friend.. he was in utter pain. Here and there white feathers popped out over the once neat coffee brown plumage. His yellow beak was partly opened, but no voice came out. He was totally worn out. The raven had left. His allies were steadily working hard.

Between my untimely slumbers.. I saw my friend soaring once again. He didn't glide nor flap his wings in grace.. it was all wobbly but he still managed to escape.. from the evil snare that my own white thread of fate had woven in despair. Just as he left out of my sight.. I heaved a long sigh.. and shut my eyes. At last I too was free.. when I slowly drifted and entered the eternal sleep.

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Sorry that I couldn't add a note to this post. Especially since this is a non-fiction, written as a flash fiction.
It was the end of last month.. I heard a commotion outside as I was getting ready to go for work. Our neighbors had gathered round the 'Tree of Life' (if you could still remember that very special tree I introduced in my oldest blog). They were using everything they could to save the life of a poor birdie, a mynah, who was caught up in a cord entangled on high branches. The cord had been broken off from a kite. There was a big crow attacking the mynah, and it was crying loudly in pain.

A couple of babblers tried to help it, but they were soon chased by the crow. It was a terrible sight. Just before I left home I heard the good news, that our neighbor finally was able to free the bird and it flew away with few injuries. This neighbor hardly talk with us but I really appreciate his relentless effort cause he actually came back without going for work to save this birdie, and he struggled with a long steel pole and a bamboo for over half an hour to loosen up the cords and save the birdie's life!

Sunny side of Life

On my way to work.. some months back.. I used to intently scan this heartless gloomy garage filled with metal scraps and old dusty vehicles. I looked for my motivator. The happiest dog in the whole wide world, who'd cheerfully greet his masters skipping on just 3 legs. He peacefully slept outdoors, went for morning walks.. somewhat far from the garage. He was carefree and high spirited despite that conspicuously painful handicap.

For the 2011 CSS contest, I made him my protagonist. I continued to look for him daily, in the same gloomy garage, for months on end.. until about 4 months back I noticed him always sleeping in his favorite spot. The next month.. he was not there.. and the next... and the next.. until it occurred to me... I'll never see my motivator again.

And so.. this is my story which I wrote when he was still alive.

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In the wee hours of morning when the world was sound asleep, old Simon started sweeping.

Shhh, shhhh, shhhh...

The sound of his jagged ekel broom echoed throughout the empty road and the Children’s park. Suddenly he heard a loud screeching noise from the bend and a sleek white car zoomed past him. Simon stared at it and slowly bent to pick up a rotten leaf.

Just then he heard a low groan, coming from the middle of the road. Simon closed in. The sight was so shocking that he collapsed on to the ground. Curling himself up he cried, for the sake of the creature that lay before him.

The skinny dog breathed heavily. Its front right leg was bathed in blood. It wriggled in pain.

Simon wiped his eyes and stood up. He ran into the park and returned with a worn gunny sack. Then he carefully placed the dog on it. While carrying it like a baby, Simon rushed to the nearby three wheeler park.

He shook the red tuk tuk and woke the lad who was dozing on the back seat. The lad grumbled but after hearing the painful groans, he agreed at once.

“Gramps, I know a vet nearby. Let’s go see him.”

The tuk tuk raced to the house of Dr. Jerald, a famous old veterinarian who lived in this suburb. As soon as the vet took the dog in, the lad waved at Simon and left.

Despite his age, Dr. Jerald was swift with his treatments and soon the dog stopped groaning. When Simon peeped over, he saw the skinny brown dog sound asleep. The injured leg didn’t bother it anymore, for it had been removed... completely.

After he freshened up Dr. Jerald offered Simon a warm cup of tea. Then they had a hearty chat. Old Simon painfully smiled, showing his brown teeth. After a while he got up to leave.

“The dog’s going to be fine.” said Dr. Jerald with a bright smile. “He’ll come see you soon.”

Four weeks quickly passed. On one sunny morning, old Simon sat on a bench in the corner of the park. A sleek white car pulled over and a young man in a fine suit walked up to Simon. He then placed a rich fat rice packet on Simon’s hand. It was full of tempting aromas.

“Today’s my dad’s first month alms giving.” said the young man, forcing a smile. “You know he had a stroke that day. I... had to race my car to the hospital... and on the way I think I hit a dog... right around this park. Ugh... felt so bad... had no way of stopping... my dad was unconscious and...”

“Young master,” interrupted old Simon. “Look over there.”

The young man was surprised, but instead of asking why, he turned around. Not too far from them were a bunch of kids happily running about. The boys were throwing a frisbee in turns, throwing it high up and far away. Whenever they threw a frisbee, everyone screamed in chorus,

“Browny fetch!”

Three excited woofs and a dog dived out of no where, almost flying after the speeding frisbee.

“Browny, come here!” shouted Simon with a chuckle.

The dog rushed to old Simon, skipping on its three legs while gripping the frisbee tightly in its mouth. Simon emptied half of the rice packet to a tin plate on the ground. Browny sniffed it excitedly, tossed the frisbee away and chomped up while wagging its tail.

“See that young master, isn’t he doing great?”

The Mobile

During the times of terror.. few years back... I heard this true story from my sister. The visuals popped in my head.. and then they became words. 

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A big crowd rushed into the small ward. The domestic patients were moved out while another set of patients were moved in. Their clothes were blotted in crimson. Some were conscious and twisting in pain, others hardly moved. 

The doctors, nurses and attendants were summoned. Clad in green, they went from bed to bed treating the wounded meticulously. Some had to be operated, but the hospital didn't have a proper theater room. All the surgeries were performed in the same crammed ward. The folks gathered in the corridors started chattering.

"... and they couldn't stop it."

"a truck loaded with bombs?"

"they were all Navy soldiers heading home"

"how could they attack unarmed soldiers?"

During this commotion a nice music was heard. It was a ringing tone of a mobile. No one paid attention. Everyone was busy attending and treating the patients. When the uproar started fading the ringing could be heard a little louder and it became a nuisance.

The burly head nurse shouted at a young nurse to search for that mobile and turn it off. It didn't take long for her to find, for it had fallen off a trouser pocket of a patient nearby.

This patient was breathing heavily, his heartbeat was irregular. The doctors and nurses were doing everything they could. His pale face was turning blue and his clenched fists showed the signs of acute pain he was bearing.

Still the mobile kept ringing. The young nurse, with trembling hands, tried to turn it off. Suddenly the music stopped and she was relieved.

"Daddy, daddy... can you hear me? I've been trying to talk to you for a long time. Where are you now?"

The ward came to a pin drop silence, as if the time has frozen. Everyone wore an expression of surprise and stared at the mobile the young nurse was holding. To her surprise the mobile wasn't turned off, instead to her haste she has pressed the hands-free button. It was a voice of a little girl they heard through the mobile.

"Daddy why aren't you answering me? I'm getting hungry now. Mommy's shouting at me, but I told her I won't eat till you come home. Where are you now?"

The patient's condition was turning critical. Doctors had to give him a heart massage, but all was in vain. His eyes were deeply shut and his face became paler. His clenched fists loosened a bit and his head tilted to a side.

The young nurse gasped. Everyone in the crammed ward was in teary eyes, as they felt sorry for the little girl who was still talking on the mobile, without knowing her dad's condition.

"Daddy it's OK if you're getting late. I'll be a good girl and have lunch with mommy. So daddy, come home safely. We are waiting for you..."

A beep sound came and the mobile turned off automatically. As if by fate, the battery lasted only to deliver this final message. Tears were rolling down and everyone went speechless. The valiant soldier who was lying in front of them has already left this world.

His painful expression has turned into a faint smile, with tear drops shining at the corner of his eyes. Silently expressing his contentment hearing his little daughter's voice, at the same time expressing agony having to leave them without saying goodbye...