SAM

She was sitting near the window seat in the train listening to the songs in her I-pod when she heard some people laughing. She turned her head and saw two friends sitting and guffawing at their funny tales. Some old ladies were looking at the friends in disgust as in our society it’s morally bad for a girl to befriend a boy but here a boy and girl were doing hi-fives and laughing with each other in public. She smiled at herself closed her eyes and tried to get back to what her I-pod was playing. Unfortunately she could not do that now. Instead her mind wandered through a whole lot of memories and she went back almost 15 years in her life. Jia was sitting on her bed reading a book when she saw Dev standing by her door with tears in his eyes. “She broke up with me, Jia,” he spoke and fell down on the bed beside her. Jia closed her book and gave her full attention to Dev. “What happened?” she asked softly. “I don’t know. She just said we shouldn’t be together anymore...

She was sitting in the corner of her room looking out the window. Spring was blooming all around the city. The flowers were smiling at her through the glass window panes. She could not feel the cool breeze that was continuously trying to come inside but instead was being shoed away by the hard-hearted windows. She saw a young girl playing with her brother. The girl looked inside and smiled at her. She wanted to smile back at the girl but the lips denied her order. She thought about how she used to play outside in the sun with her friends and siblings. She thought about all the good things that had happened to her in all these years. How could she be in such a condition? What was wrong with her? How could this be happening to her? It seemed only yesterday that Omar had proposed to her. She was so happy with the idea of getting married to the person she loved. Both the families were happily preparing for the wedding when it happened. Was it her fault that she had to cover a sto...

She did not know where she was going but still she kept walking in the unknown city where a thousand strangers were roaming around her. She was not afraid of those strangers, she was afraid of the people she already know. Though Shilz was a small hill station, still she knew that no one from her family would ever come to this corner of the country to search for her. She was fed up of her life where the bickering of her elder brothers and father left her no other option than running away from home. She somehow knew that had her mother been alive today she would have been living a peaceful life. But even the thought of her mother would bring tears to her eyes because she herself was the reason her mother died. If she would have listened to her mother and would not have been near that lake she would never have slipped and her mother would never have rescued her only to drown herself. Her father always blamed her for killing his wife and her elder brothers were never supportive afte...

She was walking from one shop to another never buying anything when she saw this mirror. She had seen this face every day from the past 27 years now, but there was something mystical. She was not the prettiest girl in town still she knew she was beautiful. But in this mirror all she could see was a sad face with brown depressive eyes. Why didn’t she notice this earlier? Was she sad? Was she depressed? And why would she be sad anyway? The questions were flooding her mind and she stood still trying to decipher the answer to at least any one of them. It was a long time since she thought about her own life. All she did was to please her parents, relatives, friends… but what about her own self? When was the last time she bought something for herself? When did she laugh or cry for herself? She kept looking at the mirror when she felt someone staring at her. She turned to see an old lady smiling. She said. “I discovered this mirror very late in my life. You are very lucky to discover it so ea...

He woke up when the alarm beeped and sat upright on the bed . He was glad to be on leave. He had made plans for the whole day. He would meet all his friends and have a blast. He was having his breakfast when his phone rang. ‘Hello?’ ‘Is this Dex Carr?’ a stern voice demanded. ‘Yes, I’m speaking. And you?’ ‘It’s your boss,’ the voice fumed. ‘Oh,’ Dex was confused, ‘Good morning sir. I’m sorry I couldn’t recognize your voice. Is everything fine? How did you like my report?’ ‘You call that a report?’ the voice thundered. ‘Come to the office immediately. I think we have serious matters to discuss.’ ‘But sir,’ Dex was helpless, ‘I’m on a two-day leave.’ ‘I don’t care if you are on a month’s vacation. Come immediately or be ready to get fired tomorrow.’ The phone was disconnected. Dex did not know what to do. He had waited so long for this day. But now his job was at stake. He quickly went for a shower and got dressed. Then he opened his briefcase and filled some files in it. ...