The Text Message

It had not happened before to Alexa. Her husband Jonathan had not texted her for the last 2 days. Something that made her think that her fear might just come true. Alexa was born in the suburbs of Texas,  in a relatively poor family. Although her relatives were big businessmen and women Alexa’s family never had the fortune of such luxury as her grandfather only gave a farm to then married newly weds. Alas! Alexa’s father died of heart stroke while her mother was diagnosed with 1st stage cancer. Along with the relative poverty of the family and the loss of manpower Alexa was left in a dire straits situation where she had no clue what to do; until Jonathan came in. While very little is known about his background Jonathan. They started a new innings together very soon. The fear though remained...

Jonathan had gone off to his week long work. Being a very hard and obedient worker Alexa never saw him miss one day. Let that be alone, she used to wake up every morning just to see her breakfast near their bed with a note saying “You are lazy!”

A smile used to spread over her face every morning. Although they spent very less time together but the bond between them seemed strong, or we might say best friends forever. Like all usual days today she got up, fed her angels before going off to wash the dishes. While Mary was home preparing for her exams Jack went off to his Sunday baseball match. A cold shiver ran down Alexa’s back. A fear gripped her. It was then when she picked up her phone and murmured,”No message for two days!” Alexa looked out of the window, dark clouds hovered above, no sunshine whatsoever fell onto the ground. Was that a sign? Perhaps it was just her hallucination and imaginative mind. No wonder Jonathan tells her to see less horror movies and myths.

Opening her gloves she kept them beside basin. Her throat dried up. She sensed danger but why? What was going to happen. A sleepless night and horrific dreams yesterday made her thoughts seem more valid.

Why do they have to leave there families like this? Fighting and serving other people to make them only unsung heroes when they die. Who will remember them? Shot and left there dead. Who will look after their family after that? Simply no one. Just a storm will arise sometimes stronger than a cyclone to shatter the dreams and hopes of the family he left behind.

“Peep-Peep, Peep-Peep” the phone rang. Possibly a message. Her hands shaking she took up the phone and swiped open the screen. There the message was. Tapping on it her whole suspicion became clear. She was right. It was all over. The dreams she witnessed all seemed to be true. Why is it her family always. What has she ever done wrong? Her eyes filled up with sea of tears. She sob-ed, hoping Mary could not hear her from the next room. Breaking to the ground she hugged herself, she knew the treacherous future that laid ahead. She knew the pain...

The writer is a student of A levels.

Yet Another night

Winter asphyxiated the land pale, as the pearly moon filled the sky. Wrapping up the lacerated blanket she tried to close her frozen eyes. A gentle hush cloaked the land. Lying there still like a dead body she noticed some on-lookers pass by. All wearing luxurious jackets, pants and gloves. While one murmured, “Brrr! Such a cold night!” she gaped in astonishment and fear of what the world might go through if they were to live one day like this. The silver grey skies above were bare. No clouds, nothing to shelter her from this treacherous pain she was going through. Straight ahead a glimmer of light covered her face. A family of four sat there enjoying their seasoned vegetables under the lambent light of the fire. When was the last time she ate something? Perhaps, she does not know; or maybe she does not bother. For her a meal once in a day was enough to let her survive a week. As the time goes by the lights shutter off. The one source of heat also disappears. When the whole of the country dozed off under their cozy blankets she laid there, eyes wide open, with tingling fingertips and chattering teeth. Imaginably, she might have insomnia. How beautiful the sky looked? Stars shining, the moon diffusing its heavenly light filling up the long-stretched roads. It is as if a show of mystifying and marvelous beauty was being held for her and only her. As the night went on a cold mist blanketed the atmosphere around. Wrapping herself up like a cocoon she quivered hoping for it all to end. Alas! The world was cruel. For she knew the devastating truth, but she never gives up. Humming her favourite song with broken up lyrics she finally closed her eyes and whispered, “Thank You, for letting me live yet another day…”

The writer is a student of A levels       

Brain-Freeze-d Situations

Whether in an exam hall or in a meeting brain freeze are occasional situations to fall into. It is one of those situations when we seem to forget everything we learned in our life. Sometimes even our own names! 

Now think for an instance that you are with your beloved one, out on a first date, chatting and smiling on various topics, when suddenly you are out of themes to talk about. Yes, the candles are still burning, the violin is still playing and you still got beaten up from your parents last night for not studying, but the brain has freeze-d up! Such an embarrassing situation it becomes that it turns out many times that neither the boy nor the girl has a topic to talk about. They keep staring as if a bulb will shine above someone’s head and they will get the chances to start again. Sadly, that never happens. This is mainly due to the excitement and anxiety that one goes through on their first date.

Perhaps, you are in a very important meeting. One that will give you a pay rise and perhaps on top of that will give you promotion before your disliked so called friendly colleague. You are completely prepared to ace it and even today you went on to say some extra prayers for success; but guess what? You end up just gawking at your slides trying to think what to speak. Wow! Did you forget everything you learned? Or was it never in your head? This is one situation that I guess many hate to get into. The main reason for this is somewhat overconfidence at times, otherwise fear of being dejected. It is painful and the whole hall full of people glaring at you makes it that much tougher.

Then another famous event might be the exam hall. Since this is our best enemy of all time (well for most of us) it is one place to get oneself brain freeze-d very easily. The questions look weird. The sums look huge. History papers turn to calculations of birth and death dates, while math papers turn to pages of antiquity. Whereas, later on you may detect they were rather fairly easy. Sometimes due to strenuous studying and insufficient sleep you might find yourself into such difficult situations. Do not be surprised to discover that even your teachers might look like aliens to you in exam halls. Although after the exam you may find out that you knew all the answers. Alas! It was just a little too late. Better luck next time.  

Did it ever happen that you enter a room for something only to forget what was that something you needed? Moreover, you stand there still looking around your room thinking, “Where am I? is this the maze runner movie?” However, you might end up wasting precious seconds of your life thinking why you arrived at the first place or go away empty handed only to remember it again when it is too late…

Well one of the greatest brain freeze happens when someone is crossing the road and they are confronted with the monstrous machineries which also is driven by the greatest creatures ever created. Usually, the driver drives too fast and the pedestrians crossing the road think of themselves as Usian Bolt. Unfortunately, if they are then in front of the car/bus/truck, they stand still shocked, gaping at it as if they have seen a mythical creature of some kind. Thus the end is disastrous as most of the times the person stands still without even moving an inch as if lightning hit him/her.

On all these situations and many more it is as if the brain has stopped functioning properly and all the clues along with ideas vanish for that instance. This is a complex study in science that is still being researched. Our brain is a paradox itself. It is tough to get to know how it works perfectly, for some secrets perhaps can left untouched!