Tag: short story

A dining table being set for a party - a prompt for fiction story

#TellTaleThursday – 7th March 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Here’s the prompt:

An uninvited guest to a party


Word count – 249 Words

A ruined evening

On entering her bedroom suite, Mrs. Wadia noticed the maid had forgotten to shut the window. Mrs. Wadia cursed unladylike and proceeded to shut it.

As soon as she emerged, the maid came running. “Madam! The cook accidentally dropped the soup tureen.”

“Oh! I will order some soup from the restaurant down the lane.” She was shaken but it would do her no good to be upset at tiny things.

The guests arrived except Mr. and Mrs. Irani. The doorbell rang and the latecomers entered.

Now, who was this girl with them? Mrs. Wadia wondered.

“Hello Delnaz, my niece missed her flight. She said she would stay at home alone but I would not hear of it. I told her we are visiting friends and she will be welcome at Delnaz’s.”

Mrs. Wadia was not amused. Little was she to know that this girl was not the only unexpected visitor of the evening. The  dining table was set, not only she would now need to make an extra place for the young girl but also fetch a chair from the study. And that chair would not match the dining chairs.

The guests seated themselves around the table and appreciated the flavourful aromas that filled the room. Mrs. Wadia smiled.

The maid brought the soup tureen and as she began to serve, a fat gecko fell in it. The guests started laughing. Mrs. Wadia on the other hand gasped, she was mortified with shame and rage. And then she fainted.

#TellTaleThursday – 31st January 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Here’s the prompt:

Weekly fiction writing challenge - #TellTaleThursday
Image – Pexels


Word count – 243 Words

Missing Mom

“You are 18 today, I think you are old enough to take care of what is rightfully yours?” Said grandmother placing a shoe-size cardboard box on Joe’s bed.

“What is this, mammy?” Joe asked all curious.

“Some old pictures,” she replied with a flick of her hand as if it was unimportant.

“Does it have mom in it?” There was excitement in his voice.

“Sure. That gold digger who left your father and abandoned her 4-year old when the going became tough,” she gave a snort of disgust.

Joe opened the box. He had never seen his mother before, didn’t remember what she looked like.

He picked up some sepia tinted photos of a couple much in love. He recognized his father immediately, though he was lean and had a fuller head of hair. The woman was in her early twenties, love and happiness shining from her face. He looked closely at his mother. Thick shapely brows, doe eyes, full lips and a pert little nose, she was a timeless beauty. Then he looked at the crescent shaped scar on the side of her cheek.

“That was impossible. How could it be?” Joe shook his head in denial.

This was the same woman he had seen every day outside his school. He thought she waited for her child. Now, he knew why she always stood under the sycamore tree at the other side of the road.

It was time he confronted his mammy.

#TellTaleThursday – 24th January 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Here’s the prompt:

“Mama, there’s someone under my bed!”

Imagine and write what you will do if you ever hear these words.


 

Word count – 233 Words

Nighttime Friend

Horror story based on prompt for #TellTaleThursday
Image: pexels

“Mama, there’s someone under my bed!” Kiara told me as I was going to shut her bedroom door.

“Kiara, enough. Go to sleep, remember we have school tomorrow,” I admonished her.

“Mama, I am not lying. You can see for yourself,” she was adamant. Her voice was shaky too.

“OK, let’s do it.” Switching on the light, I crouched on the floor to look under the bed.

“See. I told you there was nothing. Now just go to sleep, will you?” I was exhausted after a long working day.

“Mama, mama,” she kept on repeating but I turned a deaf ear and went out.

I woke up in the middle of the night. Something was bothering me. I went to Kiara’s bedroom to check up on her.

I turned on the light. The bed was empty.

Where’s Kiara?

I quickly bent and checked under her bed. Kiara was awake and playing. But she was not alone. A little boy of 5-6 years with a ghostly white pallor, unusually red lips and dead blue eyes was sitting beside her.

“Kiara, what are you doing?” I screamed and pulled her towards me. But my hand touched empty air.

I could see her, but not touch her.

“Mama, see I told you there was someone under my bed!” Kiara told me chirpily. Her face was the same pale colour as the boy sitting next to her.

Old Broken Things

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Written for Friday Fictioneer

 

“I bought it with my first salary.” The old man reminisced.

“Papa, I know, but we should sell the car!”

“It got my new bride, your mother home and carried you from the hospital.”

“I know!”

“I have had such good times driving it.”

“Papa, we must sell the car.” This time the steel in the voice was unmistakable.

 

#TellTaleThursday – 17th January 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Here’s the prompt:

#TellTaleThursday - fiction writing and prompt based weekly writing
Image : Pexels


Word count – 198 Words

The Woman

I saw her when I was collecting milk at the door. She had recently moved in. Wearing a black djellaba and a headscarf in the same color, her whole body was covered except her eyes.

Those eyes. They were the color of the sky on a clear day and the deepest blue lake on this earth. I had never seen such striking blue in my life.

I said, ‘Hello!’

She smiled. We met just like that every morning, I while collecting milk, and her while taking the dog out for a walk. A few weeks of smiling and greeting later, I asked her out. She agreed. And started our love story.

She invited me to her place. It was cozy, clean and empty.

“Where is your stuff?”

“I am a minimalist. I like it this way.” I was impressed.

One morning, I opened the door to collect the milk. She was not there. Her dog was sitting on the doormat looking at me, pleading with her eyes. I pushed open the door to her apartment, it was as if no one had ever lived.

I looked for her everywhere. But those azure eyes were one of a kind.

#TellTaleThursday – 10th January 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Here’s the prompt:

You hear a rasping knock at the door at 1 am.

Write a story following this sentence – it can be funny, scary, dramatic! Anything that showcases your writing skills.


Word count – 245 Words

Surprise

Image: Pexels

She heard a rasping knock at the door at 1 am.

It must be the wind. She thought.

She was unable to sleep. She cursed herself for the copious amount of wine she had drunk the whole evening, all by herself.

She went to the living room and decided to switch on the idiot box.

This time there was another knock. Loud, angry and unmistakable.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Who could be knocking at this hour?

Ghost? She gulped in fright.

But a ghost wouldn’t need to knock, would he now? Her mind reasoned.

A killer on the loose. She had heard of a serial killer who had escaped from the prison the previous evening.

Grabbing the meat carver from the kitchen top, she gingerly opened the door inch by inch.

There was no one. Only the unfathomable darkness of the night.

Strange. She thought.

And then she heard the sound.

It was a tiny frightened mew, but her ears got it nonetheless.

She looked down and saw a wicker basket lined with a fleece cloth. On it lying was a tiny kitten in the whitest fur she had ever seen.

She picked up the kitten with utmost care and saw the card attached to a ribbon around her neck.

“And you thought we forgot your birthday!” xoxo Your prank loving Friends

Closing the door, as she was walking back with the kitten, there was a loud rasping sound on the door. Again.

Little Wish

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

PHOTO PROMPT © Priya Bajpai

Written for Friday_Fictioneers 

Little Wish

“Can I read just one wish?” Rita asked.

“No!”

“Just a tiny peek!”

“If you read the wish, then God won’t grant it. You should know better, mum,” Thea answered matter-of-factly.

That night, after Thea went to sleep, Rita couldn’t help herself. She had to see what her daughter wrote meticulously each night and put in the mason jar on the dining table.

She opened a yellow one.

“Please send little Theo back.” It read.

Rita opened another one. The same five words. She read all the chits and all had just one wish.

 

#TellTaleThursday – 3rd January 2019

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Hello Folks! Wish you a very Happy New Year 2019!! May you read more and write more.

This is the picture prompt for today!!

Green Cruiser Beach Bike With Yellow Flower on Basket
Picture Credit: Pexels


Word count – 245 Words

Like old times

As soon as he pushed open the crumbling wooden door and stepped into the courtyard, his eyes fell on the cycle. Throwing his backpack on the ground, he rushed to the cycle. He remembered when his father had bought him this cycle, how excited he was. It was the best day of his life. Jumping on his cycle, he had gone to the village square to meet his friends, Suri and Lallan. The cycle became their flying carpet, the three would be seen driving around the whole village on a triple ride.

Then one day, the inevitable happened. All three of them fell for the village belle. The best friends fought bitterly about who would have her. He lost. The next morning, he left the village to build his destiny.

Something clicked in his mind. Taking off his t-shirt, he dusted the cycle. The chain was rusty and the handle bar was a little askew, otherwise it looked as good as new. He walked to the lone cycle repair shop who mended the cycle within no time.

Riding on the cycle, he took a nostalgic trip down to the village square. The village looked frozen in time. He met Suri and Lallan there. The three looked at one other for a long time, unsure of what to say or do. Overcoming their awkwardness, they at last hugged each other. The three friends sat on the cycle and in a triple ride drove around the village.

 

New beginnings #FridayFictioneers

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

Image by Adam Ickes

Linking to Rochelle Wisoff’s Friday Fictioneers

She delighted in the absence of the shoes. 13 years she had lived with them, seeing them every day parked at the front door, a grim reminder of the hurt, misery and shame of his abandonment. She couldn’t bring herself to throw them.

Many suitors came, but she was wedded to the shoes. Until yesterday, when he decided to show up, all smile and hope. Looking at him, grey and creased, fired an emotion long dead in her. The will to live. She put the shoes in his hands and closed the door on his face.

#TellTaleThursday – 13th December 2018

Posted on by anshubhojnagarwala

The rules are simple:

  • Write a story, complete in itself.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Copy and paste your Story URL to the inLinkz list.
  • The story should be up to 250 words.
  • Add this line < #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya > at the end of the post.
  • Read, comment and share – spread the love.

Today’s prompt is neither a picture nor a sentence but it is an instruction-

Hide at least one truth among lies in your story. Hide it well.

Isn’t it a fun prompt? Let’s write and then guess what is the truth.


Word count – 235 Words

Truth or Dare

#TellTaleThursday with Anshu and Priya - 13th Dec 2018
#TellTaleThursday with Anshu and Priya – 13th Dec 2018

 

The winds had a bitter crispness to it. The group of 6 was ensconced in woollen clothes, leather jackets, gloves, socks and monkey caps. The cold seemed to have settled deep inside their bones and they were huddled together around the now dying embers of the bonfire. The rescue team would reach to them only by morning. The night was long, cold and scary.

Brij suggested, “How about playing a game to take our mind off the cold.” Everyone agreed though not very enthusiastically. “Either that or count the minutes until the first rays of the sun appears.”

“Truth or dare!” Tina suggested. This time the response was warmer.

It was Ritu’s turn. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Rita replied.

“Have you ever thought of killing someone?”

“Yes!” A collective gasp rose from the group. “Who, who, Rita?” They asked.

“That’s for another round,” Rita replied calmly.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Rita replied when it was her turn again.

“I dare you to tell us how did you plan to kill that person?”

Before Rita could answer, Mitali interrupted, “Guys, I want to pee, can someone come with me?”

Rita offered and the two girls disappeared into the darkness of the night. A few minutes later, Rita came back panting and crying.

“Mitali fell down the valley,” She said out aloud. While everyone went searching for Mitali, Rita stayed back, triumph written all over her face.