The bus driver looked familiar, but she couldn’t figure out how she knew him.
And then Priya was suddenly catapulted back to her school days. The bus driver was then a peon at her school headmaster’s office.
Those combative and competitive days when every day represented an opportunity to be active, alert and upbeat in an otherwise sluggish life. After all, there was only so much excitement in a railway station master’s daughter’s life.
The bus driver didn’t quite understand why Priya smiled at him.
Little did he know that he had opened up some long lost memories in her.
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This post has been written for the following prompts –
धर्मो हि तॆषामधिको विशेषो धर्मॆण हीनाः पशुभिः समानाः||
Aahaara-nidraa-bhaya-maithunam cha saamaanyam-ethath-pashubhir-naraanaam
Dharmo hi teshaam-adhiko vishesho dharmena heenaaha pashubhihi samaanaaha.
– Hitopadesha, 25.
Meaning:
In the matter of taking food, sleeping, fear and conjugal life there is no difference between the humans and the rest of the creatures in the world. The knowledge associated with Dharma or righteousness is what makes man different and superior to other creatures. Without the wisdom acquired by righteousness he is equal to animals.
Inspired by Swami Bhoomananda TirthaJi’s talks and satsangs.
He had insisted he would not go into the stores on Black Friday, yet there he was pushing his way through the crowd.
He had to do his job as a firefighter.
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This post has been written for the Today’s Author Write Now prompt for November 29. 2013 where the post had to include the term – He had insisted he would not go into the stores on Black Friday, yet there he was pushing his way through the crowd.
This post has also been written for the Trifextra : Week Ninety Six prompt where the post had to be a 33 word free write post.
The citizens of Thyrium had always been under threat from their aggressive war-monging neighbors, Vesuvium ever since they could remember, but the new ruler of Vesuvium, Thromus took things to an entirely new level. His first order as the King was to declare perennial war on Thyrium until such a time as they surrendered to Vesuvium unconditionally and agreed to subject themselves to the rule and sovereignty of Vesuvium.
Now, while the citizens of Thyrium had always been peace loving, they were also fiercely protective of their way of life and their independence. Therefore, Thromus’ latest announcement did not go down too well with them, as he wanted to pluck their independence from them and force the Vesuvian way of life on them. They started preparing for battle and just as they feared, Thromus’ armies soon sailed down the river, took control of the Thyrian docks and cut off all supplies by water to the city.
In rearguard action, the Vesuvian army had also sailed further down river and made their way across to the other side of Thyrium and blocked all possible roads leading into the city. Thyrium was therefore under siege from both sides, land as well as water. They had to rely on their existing supplies of food and firewood while their armies tried to breach the Vesuvian siege.
In the midst of all this action, the noble citizens of Thyrium had forgotten all about the prophecy of Anubis, the Rat God. The city was to be cursed with the plague for a period of exactly seven days every 129 yrs and try as they may, nothing would prevent the plague from spreading through the city during this week. The King of Thyrium was so busy with his battle plans, strategies and tactics to overcome the Vesuvian siege over the past three months now, that he forgot all about the prophesied week which was due to start tomorrow.
The city priest whose family’s duty it was to proactively notify the King of the prophecy so that necessary arrangements could be made to contain the plague had died during the first few days of the Vesuvian siege because regular supply of his medicine had stopped due to the fact that all supplies to the city had been stopped. His son was only thirteen years old and didn’t know what needed to be done in order to contain the plague.
At the stroke of the midnight hour of the prophesized night, the rats started emerging from the wells, the rabbit holes, the forest and every other possible avenue and started pouring out into the city streets. As it is food supplies were depleted due to the three month long siege of the city, and the rats made the situation even worse.
Thromus, the Vesuvian King had heard of the curse of Anubis on Thyrium, and had also calculated the exact date of the prophecy. He had therefore ordered his army to be on full alert on that particular day. As the sun rose over the horizon, he himself led the initial charge of his army on Thyrium. Today was the day that he would run the city over and proclaim himself to be the eternal ruler of Thyrium.
The invasion had already begun, but nobody noticed. The guards on the Thyrian walls were busy trying to save their limited food supplies from the rats which seemed to be everywhere today. And in the confusion that followed, they ended up allowing the Vesuvian army to breach the walls without too much difficulty. Thromus’ long cherished dream of being the King of Thyrium was fulfilled without too much trouble, courtesy Anubis’ rats which had already done more than half his job that day.
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This post has been written for the Today’s Author Write Now prompt for Nov 22, 2013 where the post had to include the phrase – the invasion had already begun, but nobody noticed.
This post has also been written for the Trifecta Week 105 prompt where the post had to include the word pluckwith the following meaning – to move, remove, or separate forcibly or abruptly
Amsterdam in 1942 was not a pleasant place to be, especially if you were a Jew. Netherlands was controlled by the Nazis. The German occupiers implemented a policy of “enforced conformity” especially on the Dutch Jews.
Anne was all of 13 years old and dreamed of becoming an actress when she grew up. But the fact remained that one of the restrictions placed on Jews included restrictions on access to movie theaters.
She took out her diary. She stared at the blank page, unable to write a single word, even though she knew exactly what needed to be said.
The above is an imagination of what might have prompted Anne Frank to write a diary even when she was in hiding in Nazi occupied Netherlands during World War II.
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This post has been written for the Write Now Prompt for October 11, 2013 where the post had to include the line – She stared at the blank page, unable to write a single word, even though she knew exactly what needed to be said.
This is a work of fiction based on a true fact [Link to Wikipedia article]. All references to persons or places living or dead are purely co-incidental and unintentional.
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There was no one in the rest stop, but the parking lot was full.
It was a Thursday just like any other. People were going about their daily tasks as they did on any other normal day. Just a few hours ago, things were going on as usual at Ajidokoroumeshima, the small restaurant. Akihito San, the owner of the restaurant was doing his normal rounds of the table, inquiring his regulars as to whether orders had been delivered correctly, and whether the food was of normal standards.
It started with the drone of a large aircraft approaching. The patrons assumed that the plane was headed towards the Imperial Army base a little more to the east of the island. What they didn’t know was that this aircraft carried “Fat Man” and was headed straight towards them.
They didn’t quite realize what hit them. At first they were blinded by the flash of light, and then in a matter of seconds, the searing heat hit them. Their hair, skin, flesh and bones were melted to pulp. The ones in the epicenter had no clue, and what saved them the horrors was that it was all over for them in a matter of a few seconds.
It was the first time in the history of mankind that one weapon, one bomb had caused so much devastation and havoc. Never again did mankind use that weapon again.
6 hrs after the blast, there was no one in the rest stop, but the parking lot near the restaurant at Nagasaki was full. It was full of cars, with no drivers to drive them.
Mahabore's Mumblings 