Storiesoftvb

The next day…       It was the final day at the college. The final project viva was about to begin in a few minutes. The students were waiting outside the seminar hall, dressed professionally. Their faces were filled with apprehension and handsful of papers and reports.      ‘Hey, where is Ram?’ Abi asked the group of boys standing near a wooden desk placed in front of the faculty room.      ‘Uh, what?’ they returned all at once.      ‘Ram. Where is he?’ she asked aloud.      ‘His room was closed. It was locked outside,’ said Siva. One among the boys.      ‘Hey, I saw him at the mess this morning,’ said another.      ‘Why don’t you try calling him?’ he added to his words.      When Abi picked her mobile, she heard a voice from behind. It was a familiar voice that brought a smile of relief to her face. It was Ram. He was walking as slow as a tu...

     It was a Monday night, the day which most of us hate to see in our life. The man of this story is a typical bachelor doing his Mechanical Engineering degree. The hostel was busy with students buzzing hither and thither. But this time, it was different. They were roaming around the hostel, in and out of their rooms with laptops and books in their hands. Preparing for the following day. It was their final project viva and the students were busy doing their reports and other stuff. Like all the students, Ram was also busy preparing his project report for the next day. But, apart from this, they were also preparing for something special. Which will happen only once a year. Yes, it was their farewell celebration. All of them were waiting for the clock to hit midnight. They were counting the final 20 seconds before the celebration. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…. Three, two, one. The boys started shouting all at once and started with their celebration for the night. Right f...

     “So, you were in love,” asked the man sitting in front of me. He was short but quite muscular. He looked like he was from the early 20 th century in his vintage American beard. Despite being muscular, his pumpkin sized belly made him look like a Humpty dumpty with a beard. He was dressed formally like an advocate. A milk-white shirt with black neckwear, which was hanging up to his pumpkin belly, he wore black pant which was as dark as human eyes with a pair of well-polished shoes.      “Were you in love?” he asked again, pointing his pen towards me.      How could he judge this as love? Did I tell him anything about her? I hate this attitude of judging someone.      “I didn’t tell you that it was love,” I said, thudding the table with my fists.      “Apologies. Please continue with your story,” said the man.      I leaned forward to reach to his face and said, “I am done for today. Co...

     On a sunny Monday morning, I was sitting in a place where I never wanted to. It was the place where scholars and students meet to exchange what they have inside their heads. The class was humungous with huge doors and windows with more than a dozen desks. I was seated on one of those which was placed near the window. It was the place where I used to sit for the past three years. Beside me, was a tall, skinny guy with specs seated. I noticed his new hairstyle which resembled the one I had seen in a famous game from Rockstar. I greeted him with a compliment for his new hairstyle earlier this morning when he came to class. Rithick was a man of brands. Whatever he wore, eat, and drink will carry an expensive branding along with it. He was the one who was accompanying me since the first day of college. Mine was a typical Indian engineering classroom filled with people who topped their board exams and had been struggling to qualify after getting into college. The instituti...

    On a terrible evening, where the sky was filled with burning clouds of moisture. The sky lost its beauty of blues and turned sad and dark. I was standing in a place filled with a dozen idiots running here and there to fill their filthy greed filled minds and unsatisfied and never-ending hunger. I was in the middle of a dark blackish grey colour road, holding a face mask on my left hand. In the meanwhile, my right hand was pestering my pockets. The noise from the surrounding started fucking up my mind like a full-fledged psychotic thriller film. Being, already fucked, my mind was ready to bear the bangs from my surroundings. I was dressed in a costume in which all 99 per cent of the people my age would wear. As the proverb says, “Face is the index of mind”, my face replicated my mind being fucked up brutally. A few moments later, it somehow managed to escape the hardcore session and suggested me a marvellous idea. Even a kid in their early teens would’ve said that the ...

    On a rainy evening, I was walking alongside the pavement with my milk-white AirPods plugged into my ears. It was drizzling and a mild wind was rubbing my hair with its cold fingers. I was listening to some acoustics from my favourite playlist. The road was busy with buzzing people and noisy vehicles. I was wearing a green T-Shirt and blue track pants, a bracelet on my right wrist to add some more manliness to my attire. Fortunately, the AirPods muted all the noises from the buzzing world around me. I was walking in my own world, a more beautiful one. I was smiling and I was happy. I was going out to see a person. Most probably, it might be a date, but might not. I was excited as well as afraid. Happy as well as sad. I usually call it a dangerous situation. I hate being in both extremes. I hate being happy as well as being sad. I prefer being inert so that none could predict your inner core. I was thinking that is it good being happy? Right now? Usual thoughts filled w...

     When I tilted my head upwards, Neela was not there. “Neela? are you there?” I shouted from where I was standing. I heard nothing except the rain and thunder around me. With hesitation and fear, I went near the door. I saw a shadow on the ground. Someone is standing by the window. I sneaked out of the room. Neela, what are you doing here? Are you alright?  She was holding a knife in her hand. All I could see was the silhouette of my wife. Her hair was loosely tied and wet. She was breathing heavily, tilting her head forty-five degrees left. She slowly came near me. It ain’t Neela. What’s happening here? I stepped backwards for each step she took towards me. My heart was pounding like it was about to come out tearing my chest and breaking my ribs. After a few steps, I eventually reached the wall. Shit! Am I gonna die tonight?      “Hey? Neela? what the fuck is wrong with you? Put that goddamn knife down.” I shouted.      She came ...

     “Hey, why are you standing here?” asked the woman from behind. I sighed with relief and took a deep breath. It was Neela standing behind me. Her presence gave me some relief. It was still dark. “I’ll go check the power backup. You get yourself seated on the couch,” said Neela. Oh shit! The package. I rushed to the couch and took the package. Inside, there was an envelope with a red seal. I found a parchment inside the envelope. There was something written in that envelope. Come play with me      Fear consumed my head. I felt something wrong is gonna happen tonight. Who wrote this to me? Who was that girl who called me earlier? I took my phone to find her number in the call log. The number was gone. There were no calls to my number. The message I got from that woman also went missing.      The sky started rumbling with thunder and the light from the lightning peeked inside through the windows.      I was nervous sit...

    The sudden knock at the door gave me a heart attack. The humidity inside the room brought down some droplets of sweat from my forehead. I left that package open on the couch and went for the door. Someone was pounding the door so hard. “Hey, why couldn’t you use the calling bell?” I shouted. Suddenly they stopped pounding. When I went near the door to unlock it, I heard someone screeming outside in an eerie voice. That shook me like I was in the heart of an earthquake.      Aaahhhhhhh…..Eeeeeeeee…      What the fuck? Who was it? Was it Neela? a dozen of questions crossed my head. Shit, it was like some psychic maniac screaming at my doorstep. I peeked out through the keyhole. There was none out there. Was it Neela playing tricks on me? With ample hesitation, I unlocked the door and slowly opened it to peek outside. It seemed like the rain lost some pace, water dripping down from the edge of the ceiling forming a small pool under it. T...

    Thunder rumbling like a roar of thousand lions. The sky was getting darker over time. The wind was becoming heavier than usual. The lantern that was hanging on the ceiling of my porch took the place of a pendulum inside a wall clock but a violent one. It seemed like it was about to fall off its hook. The power went down as I was expecting it to happen. At times like these, it is usual that the power goes off. I was glad because I had a power backup for my house. It was around 10 at night, the time when the entire neighbourhood goes to sleep. I was sitting near the closed window of glass, pecking outside waiting for Neela. She was working late and told me she would come home by 10. The rain slowly started replacing the cloud’s roar. Droplets fell on the window leaving a trial of its path to the ground. It took pace over time completely replacing the thunder. The rain was heavier than usual. Was it a cyclone again? Fortunately, I couldn’t turn on my television as there ...

     ‘Alfie, get me some coffee.’ I said, waking up from my bed. I was sitting on my bed bewildered. I noticed that my room was darker than it used to be. I pushed the bed to make myself stand up and walked to the washroom to get rid of my drowsiness. There I felt a mild pain inside my head when I splashed water all over my face. It  was like someone piercing my head with a nail. The pain aggravated as time passes and my vision started fading away into darkness. Out of blue, my entire body went numb and I couldn’t feel anything. All I knew was I was lying on the floor of the bathroom and Alfie was there outside the room, calling out my name. I tried to shout her name but I couldn’t move a muscle. The pain inside my head touched its peak and my vision went black slowly.      ‘Hey? Wake up.’      ‘Doctor check on him.’      ‘Is he alright?’      ‘Ma’am, please wait outside.’      I hea...

     A pleasant piano note was playing in his mind. He was nervous, standing behind the stage adjusting his brand new grey blazer. ‘Hey, good luck,’ a girl beside him wished him some luck. He could feel the vibe of the people sitting in front of the stage. The entire place was filled with people wearing formal outfits. His eyes glittered with some emotion. He was standing on the steps towards the stage and the stage was empty waiting for him. With hesitation on his face, he climbed the stairs one by one. His hands were trembling, the emcee was calling his name out asking him to deliver his farewell note. His pupils got dilated. He couldn’t believe that he has to give his farewell address. The music playing in his mind started fading away. ‘It’s time,’ he said to himself. He grabbed the mic from the emcee, pressed it with his thumb as hard as he could. His heartbeat was at its peak. He cleared his throat and said,      ‘Hi,…      This is m...

       When he turned back, he saw an old man. He couldn’t predict his age. The man doesn’t seem like an earthling. His hair was blonde as others, but his face was quite different from ours. He was holding a long staff, it wasn’t a usual Oldman staff. It resembled those which we would have seen in Hollywood movies and games. The possession of the leader of a tribe or a group of people. The man was standing sturdy, and he was smiling at Ram.      ‘Raaaaammmmm,’ the voice again hit inside my mind.      ‘Is that you? The voice inside my head?’ he asked.      He replied nothing but a smile. His smile was strange. Ram hasn’t seen such a weird smile in his entire life.      ‘Now speak up or you’ll have to answer my fists,’ he said and raised his hands to beat him up.      ‘They are gonna die… hahaha…’ said the old man and laughed.      ‘Hey, old man, what the fuck is wrong...

At present…      Ram was sitting under a tree with his bike parked nearby, his hands were holding his mobile, the photo which he showed Zee a year ago filled the screen. The morning breeze was caressing his messy hair. He didn’t have a haircut for months as the entire world was struggling under the roof.      ‘I am your happiness,’ the words told by her were circling around his ears. His eyes glowed in pain and emotion, but at the end of his eyes, there was a revelation. It showed that he was trying to come out of her thoughts.      He touched the photo which revealed a menu that had options to share, edit and delete. He decided to erase off her from his mind, he deleted that photo. He shut his phone dead and stood up. His suffocation somehow came to an end and the rising sun kissed his face with hope, happiness, and a warm smile that was missing in his face for a long time.      He was looking at the emerging sun’s beaut...

     Ram took his mobile from his pocket. It was a brand new iPhone 11. He clicked the power button to light it up. Inside his gallery, there were a bunch of photos. He showed her one of the photos from his gallery.      ‘Umm… Zee, I haven’t confessed it till now. But I feel that today, it’ll be perfect to confess my love. Look, she’s Nandhini. She’s doing sociology in our college. I went to see her this morning. I lied to my parents that I am going to college today. It’s like a dream you know. We met in a coffee shop, it was like a date. Eventually, I confessed my love to her, and damn, I saw it in her eyes you know? And she said yes to my love. How’s she?’ asked Ram.      Zee was shocked as well as surprised, listening to Ram. Her smile and happiness was shattered into ashes and dust in a fraction of a second.      ‘Uhh, yeah fine. Sorry good…. Uhh hmm she’s good,’ said Zee. Her face went down, eyes looking all around h...

One year ago… In Ram’s house, everyone was hustling and bustling all over the house. Ram’s father Dev was the only person who was sitting idle, reading a newspaper. He was dressed in a grey shirt which was well ironed and stiff, with a white dhoti as pure as it was imported from heaven. The couch he was sitting on was cozy, and good-looking in its maroon colour. ‘Dev? What are you doing?’ a voice blew his ears from behind. It was his wife Megha, she was cooking inside the kitchen, cursing the utensils for not being easy to handle. There were two more people in the house, it was Jo and Zee. They were preparing for Ram’s birthday party. Ram was on his way from college. ‘Can’t you see? I am reading a newspaper, and what is he doing in college on a Sunday?’ he told without even diverting his eyes from the paper. ‘Throw that paper away and help me. There’s a lot to arrange,’ she shouted from behind. Dev was pretending like he didn’t hear any of her rants. Dev threw the paper away ...

       Nine minutes after midnight. Ram was sitting in front of his laptop, staring at the dark screen. He could see nothing as the lights were turned off. The silence inside his room made the ticking sound of the clock louder than usual. He seemed depressed and worried, sitting on a red Nilkamal chair, he understood that there is no use in staring at the empty screen. He shut the lid of his 2 years old Acer Nitro 5 down. He stood up and walked towards the washroom. His face was dull, eyes were red and swollen. His bloodshot eyes were flooded with emotion that made him hard to breathe. He filled the sink with water and splashed it on his wet face. The salty water in his face was replaced by the one in the sink. He was in extreme pain which made him avoid looking at the mirror. A sudden flash of light hit his eyes which attracted him towards the window. The glowing lights of the city greeted him. The road was still populated with some vehicles. The air from outside co...

It was around three hours to midnight. I was walking along a road that was dark and inhabited. I could hear the noise of katydids and crickets chirping here and there. I was afraid to walk alone along that spooky road. I touched my heart to feel how fast it was beating. My skin started releasing the potion of fear. I was biting my lips out of nervousness. I was afraid to take even a single step. Suddenly, I received a call. ‘Hey! Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I am at the entrance, standing alone, afraid to take even a single step.’ I said. ‘I am at the restaurant, waiting for you,’ he said. ‘It’s too dark here, I am afraid of this locality. Can you come and pick me?’ I asked. ‘Hey, you are a brave girl, right? You are just a few metres away from me. Just close your eyes and start walking,’ he said. I felt safe talking to him. His voice drove me mad and it made me do whatever he told me. I was stating my every single step and he was giving me confidence and courage. Eventually,...

On a Monday morning, I was late for the first class of the day. ‘May I get in ma’am?’ I asked. She looked at me, ‘It’s 9:30 in the morning. You missed more than half of the class, I won’t allow you today,’ she said and continued her lecture. My stomach started roaring like a monster. I decided to calm him down, so I went to the canteen to have some breakfast. At the billing counter, I realised that I forgot to withdraw money from the ATM. ‘Do you accept card payment?’ I asked the person sitting on the counter. But, he replied in negative as I expected. My mobile rang when I left the counter. ‘Is this Karthi?’ the girl on the other side asked. ‘Yeah, who’s this?’ I asked. ‘I am Kavitha. I wanna talk to you about something. Can we meet now?’ she asked. I am confused to give a reply. ‘I think you are at the wrong window,’ I said. ‘No, you are the one. I am looking at you right now,’ she said. ‘Hey, wait. Who are you? I didn’t know you,’ I said. ‘Come to open auditori...

    I was sitting in front of an empty sheet of white paper for the past 2 hours with a fountain pen in my hand. I was surrounded by complete silence and darkness. A light in front of my table powered me the vision of the paper. There were hundreds of crushed white sheets around me. ‘How’s your progress?’ a popup glittered on my screen. ‘I couldn’t write even a single word for fuck sake.’ I replied. Blue ticks appeared, I knew what the reply would be. As I assumed, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll rock,’ was the reply. It was the nth time, I am getting this reply. I am a writer and I am suffering from something which a writer should not. ‘Fuck!’ I shouted and threw the pen I was holding. My hands were tapping the table and my eyes were staring at the empty white paper in front of me. A sudden breeze from nowhere blew off the papers from the table. It was my mom who opened the door to check on me. She took the broken pen and when she stood up, a paper came near her feet. It seemed lik...

     It was the first day of the week, the clinic was occupied by a dozen visitors. ‘Doctor Purush is on his way. We request you to wait for some more minutes,’ said the receptionist. I was one among those visitors, waiting for my regular counseling. This was my first session with doctor Purush. My name is Vasu, a typical Indian middle-class youngster. I am under depression for months, which drove me crazy. It took me long to realize that I need help to heal myself.      Twenty minutes later, a black BMW arrived at the entrance of the clinic. A tall, sturdy man stepped out of the car. He was dressed in formals, a white shirt, and grey pants, I assumed that he might be the doctor by noticing the stethoscope on his neck. He greeted the receptionist as he came in. His face was bright, his smile added him a glowing look. The man walked past the visitors, entering the cabin that belongs to doctor Purush. The receptionist called out my name after ten minutes of...