The lone trudge home
In 1947 the winds of partition rose up like a maelstrom, furiously whipping through the Indian subcontinent. They left death and destruction...
7 min read
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No story here has been rated by members yet, so these are ordered from the archive: Watchers' Picks first, then the stories readers liked and discussed most. Rate the stories you read and the ranking starts.
Curse of the Corse
1227 AD, Burkhan Khaldun The digging was at its peak. It had started on the thirteenth day, when we had arrived at...
SanB✓
6 min read
No Place to Hide
The game was on. Akansha had started to count. It was her turn to seek and our turn to hide. We, the...
6 min read
I, Anastasia
The basement was dank and smelt of fear, a mixture of breath, sweat, and urine. It was too small for all of...
5 min read
THE CAGED ABODE
I haven’t moved on yet...though they had bid me adieu four days ago. Am I already forgotten, buried as an unwanted past?...
13 min read
Mom
“Mom!” I whisper softly. “Mom…Mom. I am thirsty. Mom…wake up!” still whispering I nudge her gently. Why isn’t she waking up? I...
10 min read
BLACK & WHITE
London, June 1880. The summer sun played around gaily with the honeysuckles and the forget-me-nots. The lilac cornflowers seemed to dance around...
13 min read
200 years of (Soul)itude
Tonight is the night of the blood moon. A Shaman had once told me these nights are marked for marvel. I peered...
15 min read
The Race of Life
The two horse trainers approached the stables on a moonlit night. There was a leap in their step, excitement writ large on...
11 min read
Mango Dreams
My name is Mango, Alphonso a.k.a hapuz Mango. I grew up here in the back yard, owned by an old couple, by...
3 min read
Curse of the Cosmos
Once upon a time there lived a king named Kosm, to whom glory and might were kind. He ruled over a kingdom...
13 min read
Dusk bade Farewell
“Kariim..” Her voice trailed with the fading lights of the day. He wasn’t coming back. Swallowing the huge lump in her throat,...
4 min read
The Drunkard
Once again he was gone, unaware of my existence; soon a heart skipped a beat, a pair of eyes winked and somewhere...
3 min read
Numb
It is a vicious circle. But… In my thirty years of existence, if there is one word that would describe me aptly-...
3 min read
The Road Taken
Kallar Ghat was hardly motorable. Landslides left nearly two scores of people dead and a few more missing. Many remained buried inside...
3 min read
DAY PASS
‘Come and sit here, next to me.’ The teenage boy who boarded the bus at M G Road looked in the direction...
3 min read
An Arachnid Anecdote
"I love spiders....." I spoke aloud to convince myself and failed…. Shoo...shooo….. I cringed in horror…. Three hairy brown arachnids crawled over...
3 min read
Go Fish!
“I will never lie anymore, Ralph. I promise you. Just go with the story this once, okay?” Jack pleaded, mustering as much...
3 min read
Buckroo’s Mane Bane!
“I’ll get’em scamps one day.” Police Constable Buckroo bellowed, as usual, after the village pranksters. ____________________________ A bachelor, he was a portly...
3 min read
His Backup Plan
Trust me! I was very lucky. How many of you could survive a 15 feet fall and live to tell the tale?...
3 min read
In a Rut
Shit, he was in a rut, he needed to get out. ‘How long am I supposed to do this? Everyone else has...
3 min read
Saving the Future
He carried the child on his head in neck deep waters, towards safety. Many many eons ago, heavy rains lashed the town....
3 min read
Piles of Mortification
"Sit quietly!" I said, "Giggling? You idiot." It was Bablu this time. The most notorious of them all. To mind a class...
SanB✓
3 min read
The wait
"When will dad come back?" My five year old son, Ketan, sobbed seeing his father leaving with a suitcase. My husband, Mukesh,...
3 min read