For the Love of Books!

While the music blasted away in my ears, I noticed humongous black clouds in the sky. Within minutes, it started raining cats and dogs. Even after repeated reminders from my room-mate, I never carry an umbrella in my bag. Today, I cursed myself for this blunder that I love to repeat.

To my respite however, a row of shops were in sight at a stone’s throw. I dashed into the first shop, without caring to check the hoarding on the facade. Once safely inside, I stopped for a second to catch my breath and shake off whatever water possible from myself.

My eyes surveyed around, to familiarise myself with the surrounding. I noticed a small, stout balding man standing behind a low counter. He smiled – a full- fledged genuine smile. It was an antique store that housed vintage- classic books, old artefacts and a lot of dust.

Books entice me. We connect instantly. I glanced at the nearest bookshelf and took a few steps in the direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the owner smile and settle down with a newspaper. Reassured, I moved with determination and made contact with one of the shelves.

Sure enough, the books were lined with a thick layer of grime, but I was past caring. Picking them one by one, I scoured for the one that piqued my interest. My hands fell on a book of Greek Mythology. I felt my lips break into one happy smile.

I saw one withered old armchair near another tottering pile of books. I looked over to the counter and the owner was watching me. I pursed my lips and pointed towards the armchair. He nodded. I made myself comfortable to devour the whole book. The time flew by.

Soon, it was evening and the downpour had settled into a slight drizzle. I went upto the counter to bill the book and continue my romance with the words. The owner however was very kind. He asked me if I wanted to keep the book for further reading and return it back on a later date. I assured him that the book will be safe with me and I would return it back.

As we were talking, the door of the shop tingled to announce the arrival of another customer. I turned to look back. I squinted to look at the figure silhouetted against the light in the doorway.

And there I was lying on the floor in my bedroom, awakened by an almighty fall from my bed as I tipped over the edge. I recognised my roommate standing over me with a puzzled look.

What a rude awakening!

However, the weather outside brought a huge smile to my sleepy face. It was raining cats and dogs.

Stay With Me

He walked in into the driveway of his home.

“That after game discussion took unusually long today” he mused.

Wincing slightly as he climbed the stairs on the porch, he cursed under his breath. The leg had started troubling again.

He walked into the dimly lit sitting room of his cozy little house. He squinted until his eyes adjusted. And there he saw, sitting on the comfortable leather sofa was the woman he loved, his partner for last 53 years, his companion in the journey of life. His wrinkled face automatically broke into a smile which was reciprocated from the other end.

He walked to the sofa, to her. He bent to kiss her lightly on the cheek as she inclined her face towards him. “It still makes her smile affectionately” he thought as his hand lingered to caress her hair for a second.

She shifted a little, so that he could sit next to her. He sighed slightly as the weight on his knees shifted in the process of sitting. He settled next to her and put his arm around her.

She pressed the play button on the remote in her hand. She gave him another happy look as if to say “Stay here with me”. The collage continued in a myriad of frames and colours. It was familiar, he had seen it before.

On the screen, it was them. Younger. The scene was from their wedding. All smiles, laughter, little bit of teasing. Next up, the screen played the moments when they bought their first car. The frames kept shifting to depict the timeline of their lives – together. Their kids, birthdays, anniversaries, graduation days – small clips from all the important events.

He looked at her. He saw a tear escape from the corners of her eye. He immediately took her face in his hands. He hated to see her cry. She sniffed. And continued to smile up at his face, lovingly.

He shook his head, forbidding her to cry. She gave a small laugh and turned towards the screen again, this time holding his hands in hers and resting her head on his shoulders.

He spoke, “What do feel, when you see yourself, us in those frames?” “Happy” she said. “I feel happy, I have lived a full life, had amazing companion in you. I am satisfied with everything in life. We have great kids, who have great kids. They respect us, care for us. We have lived respectfully. Life has been good with you”.

She raised her head to give him a light peck on his check. He smiled. “His smile is still so beautiful”, she thought.

Inspired by the Daily Prompt

Relive? No Thanks, I’ll Pass.

I usually try to keep myself happy. I smile often and easily. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.  There have been such short springs of happiness in the last few weeks. But mostly it has not been great. Reason – You can read all about it here. Don’t want to bore you again with it 🙂

If there is one line that can describe what exterior I put up these fast few weeks, it is this line from one of Kelly Clarkson’s songs – “So together, but so broken up inside”. This has been a clear departure from last couple of years, where I was really happy with my place in life. So, nothing does really stay the same forever.

But if given a chance to relive the past week again, I would pass the offer in the blink of an eye.

My buzzword these days: “When going gets tough – the tough get going”

If you want to listen to the song I mentioned earlier – click here. And here if you would like to see what others have to say.

I may be an Escapist!

A new room! A room that disappears! Only three things allowed!

This one’s come straight out of the fantastic world of Harry Potter. What will be the occupants of this room – besides me?

The first thing that springs to my mind is a cabinet that can store thoughts/memories.  It will serve as a one stop destination for all the ‘thoughts in passing ’and dilemmas that I can keep filing away.  This way, it will all still be at my disposal, whenever I am ready to deal with it and take it all in, maybe make some of the thoughts actionable.

What if I could store some sleep? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to store your everyday quota of sleep in one bucket? Use that time to do all the other wonderful things – read, explore, experiment. And then come back, use the collected sleep – hours at your leisure.

And then, to allow doing the two things above, I would need a comfortable couch with an inbuilt music system. That’ll calm my nerves and put me at ease.

Here’s what others would like to keep in the mysterious room.

Being Animated!

Which emotions can I not contain? Well, All of it.

Being emotional is one thing, and being able to express it is another. I don’t really know if that’s good or bad, but I have been told at quite a few instances that my face shows all that is going inside my mind. All the turmoil, emotions, mood swings and feelings manifest themselves freely on the mirror that my face is. Combined with gestures, that can be a handful. So much so that, quite recently somebody told me ‘You are so animated’.

I laugh heartily, cry easily, fly off the handle in a jiffy, apologise in a heartbeat and forgive without a second thought. This does not stem from the desire of letting people know what I feel about them. But probably from my desire to not pretend 😛

Want to know, what other people find easy to contain, click here

Gateway to Happiness

What if you could travel to where ever you wanted- anytime of the day, without having to worry about money and all sorts of permits/permissions & paperwork? If you could fold that door into a small bag like Hermione Granger and carry it around everywhere you went? Wouldn’t that be…what would that be? In my terms that would be my own Gateway to Happiness! 😀

If I had to choose from the three luxuries of Invisibility Helmet, Time Machine and Anywhere Doors I would pick the later in a heartbeat. I would use it to visit, explore and experience all the places that I have ever wanted – Hogwarts being the priority.

Oh, and then there would also be the bucket list- the list of real places on earth to visit. You can read all about it here 🙂

Want to see what others have picked- click here!