Unfurled Parchments

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She was a pristine enigma
In a world of unfurled parchments
A jigsaw puzzle of a million pieces
some discovered, some missing

There were facets of herself
she was yet to fathom
There were mysteries and riddles
she was yet to answer

Far and wide she went
Seeking, deseperately, some lucidity
Praying for the fulfillment
she didn’t know she needed

Drained and exhausted
she ended the ardurous voyage
Only then did she realize,
her answers lay closer

She found them in her heart,
in the hearts of people she loved,
inscribed in the pages
of love letters of her youth

She found them hidden
between the pages of an old book,
in the embrace of her family
and the scent of her home.

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Fervent Goodbyes – A short story.

The soulful symphonies of her last breaths echoed in his ears. Their souls kissed a fervent goodbye, in slow motion.

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This is my attempt at coming up with a short story in exactly 20 words in response to the Twenty Word Tuesday held by Bulbul’s Bubble. (https://bulbulsbubble.home.blog/2020/08/11/twenty-word-tuesday-week-2/)

The prompt for this week was – slow motion.

This was my take at the prompt. I hope I was able to do justice.

Bygone

Around him, she’d learned to dance to the rustle of leaves. He had taught her to wash away every sorrow in the first rainfall of every monsoon.

He had taught her to sing, to the cackling flames. And from him, she’d learned to comfort the howling winds.

Then one night, the celestial light had beckoned him, But she had nowhere to go. The celestial light had showed him the way, but she had lost her path.

The flames had consumed him, But they had burned a part of her too. He was everywhere, But she was nowhere to be found.

Sliver of Hope

Shamelessly, she held onto that sliver of hope. The odds, ludicrously against her. Yet she stood her ground, grasping on to it. Maybe that was her strength.

Her combat had just ended, blood trickled down her skin. Clothes clung to her body, and a thousand scars adorned her form.

Yet she chose to believe, that humanity, the very one that had killed her lover and forced her to battle unknown anonymous heroes at the border was capable of warmth.

Anticipating that the end of the war would mean an end to all sufferings, she returned home, giddy with joy, only to find rubble and debris where her home was.

Dejected and in anguish, she made her way towards the young boy in the middle of the wreckage and as the toddler wrapped his little body around her leg, shrieking with joy, she knew that her sliver of hope had survived.