It was time.
He knew what to do. He’d accept whatever came out of it. He stepped forward, then stopped. It had seemed easier in his mind.
He needed to act fast, before he could change his mind. Breathing deep, eyes tightly closed, he dove.
The crowd cheered their olympian.
The story above is for my Flash Fiction series . The second in what I hope to be a long running series.
It’s thanks to Mia, who’s nominated me for the “One Lovely Blog Award.” And I can’t say how surprised I was when I saw that. It lifted my mood.
Things have been going downhill for a while and nothing seemed right. And when you’re sulking around, it’s a pleasure to have something like this happen to you. But I assume news like this, is great to anyone, anytime.
So, without further ranting, the rules of this award:
– Thank the person who nominated you for the award — Check
– Display the One Lovely Blog Award on your blog — Check
– Share 7 things about yourself — Uh oh, this is not my area.
– Nominate 15 bloggers you admire and let them know by commenting on their blog — 15, huh? What do you say we bend the rules? They’re more like guidelines anyway. (Yup. Pirate.)
About me:
*Bonus: I’m not a fan of hearts, and so I’ve used a non-heart image of the One Lovely Blog Award.
My nominees:
I realised something today. I’ve been writing a lot lately, but they’re not conventional blog posts.
They’re more like short stories. Six word stories mostly, and also longer ones. Like 50-100 words. But I won’t limit myself to 6 or 50 or anything like that. If I can, I’ll tell a story exactly in five, seven or fifty one words. And it’ll be deliberate.
I’m not restraining myself with these stories, rather, I’m exploring how I can say a story shortly, without a word limit nagging me.
And so I’ve decided to post short pieces of flash fiction regularly. (I’m terrible with routines, but great with beginnings) Starting this week, I’ll post flash fiction every Thursday. The other days, I’ll post random thoughts as blogs, and it’ll be as chaotic as ever.
I’ve always wanted to be a novelist. And for starters, (yet again!) it’ll be short fiction.
Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. And feedback is welcome, as always.
Here’s the first:
Hand in hand
“She clutched his arm tighter, as she almost stumbled on her heels. He noticed, but didn’t give it away. She sensed his serene look as he walked her down the aisle. He was smiling happily, knowing that from today, his daughter will see the world anew through her husband’s eyes.”
-Inspired by Beautiful in White by Westlife
Update: I’ve discontinued Flash Fiction Thursday, but I’m still posting flash fiction regularly. Only now, it’s more often than every Thursday.
I read a new book.
For a long time now, it’s been artcles and magazines online. It felt so good to feel a physical book again. I’ve been trying so hard to finish reading at least one book, and I’ve been repeatedly failing. But this one was different. I could sense it as soon as I started it.
It’s a work of fiction. From a novice writer; Kavita Kane. It’s “Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen.” And it’s a nice book.
It’s longer than “Immortals of Meluha,” and I can’t help but instinctively compare the two. Comparing in the sense, not as in ‘compare and contrast the stories of…’ (Phew! How glad I am that I’m not in high school) It’s more of musing of how similar both of these novels are.
“Immortals of Meluha,” the first book of the Shiva Trilogy was a fictitious account of the life of Shiva. Whereas this one is a fictitious account of the life of a warrior’s wife.
“Karna’s Wife” is self explanatory. It’s about Karna’s second wife, Uruvi. The whole story is spun from her point of view, but we get a glimpse of the elder wife, Vrushali, and her seven sons. And I didn’t even know Karna was married in the epic! (I like and know of Karna only because of a movie that portrayed him well. And that movie said nothing about Karna’s wives.) The title itself came as a shock, but the story steadily got better.
I also got to know the background story of the Mahabharath. It was the epic I never understood. Yes, I didn’t make too much effort to understand it, but the Ramayana was much simpler.
With a hundred brothers on one side and a quintet (they don’t sing, by the way) on the other, the Mahabharath is a battle of cousins. The “good” predictably wins, but it depends on your perception of good.
It’s a twisted tale. Where the good warrior (Karna) sides with the evil Duryodhana just because he is his friend. Karna knows well that Duryodhana will exploit his brilliant archery skills against the mighty talented opposition. But nothing falters his affection for Duryodhana. Not even the knowledge that he’d walk into Death in the war. Because, Duryodhana was the only person to give Karna the respect he deserved. (Everyone else abhored Karna because they thought he was of a low birth and was not worthy of being a Kshathriya (a warrior))
Ah, the friendship is supposed to make you tear. And even if you know it’s stupid of Karna, you will feel the sadness when he dies.
That’s how great epics work. And the author has captured it well. It was good enough for me.
The more I read about writing, the more I recognized the too many adjectives in the novel. Perhaps I use a lot of adjectives too, but I realised it only while I read the book.
That’s a lesson for me to take as well.
Coming back, “Karna’s Wife” will keep you hooked if you like to know the Mahabharath story. But of course it’s fiction and will contradict with a lot of other versions of the Mahabharath. Overall, this is a good book to read on a lone Saturday afternoon.
People rushing by,
Fields of bean n soy,
Scent of fresh made cake,
All smiles, not so fake.
I’ve signed up for a new online course from the University of Iowa: How Writers Write Poetry. It’s a six-week long course, and that’s my submission for the first class. It was a pretty long video, but it was totally worth it and really enjoyable.
If you’re a poetry fanatic, check this course out.
There’s more from where that came from. How Writers Write Fiction – Starts September 27th 2014.
And hey! If you decide to join either of these courses, do let me know.
The Chaos Within 