Spinner of Tales

Ram sat on the window sill contemplating what to do, while trying to keep his mind from screaming in panic. It first started as a mere irritation, turned into a bit of anger and slowly metamorphosed into the panic that was beginning to gnaw at every cell in his body. He suddenly felt so helpless, so small, so….in need of her. Today was Wednesday, when Geetha had her weekly meetings, hence came home after 7pm. It was Ram’s duty to make sure that he came home early to take care of little Sid. The barely five yet child came home from school at 2, stayed in the neighbor’s house with another kid his age till about 5, when Geetha would pick him up from there as she came back home from office. That was the routine everyday, except on Wednesdays. That was Ram’s day. He knew that the child loved these days when, to give him and himself a break from routine, father and son would go to the beach, eat ice cream, talk about the day and after several attempts at restraining the little boy, the fathe...

She had never believed in fate. It never appealed to her, to think that something else, someone else held control over her life, her joys and sorrows. If she cried, it was because ‘she’ had done something not right and if she laughed, it was because ‘she’ had found it funny. There were only two words in the depths of her heart. That place where very few are allowed to enter. ‘I’ and ‘me’. It wasn’t like she was a selfish girl; on the contrary, she gave a lot to charity, in secret. But in the waking hours of her life, there was only one person she was concerned about, and that was her. But what was happening to her now was a cruel, very cruel work of fate. She bit her tongue as she said the forbidden word in her mind. But what else could it be, if not the work of someone ‘out there’ who had a very silly sense of humor. She shook herself. No, she cannot let herself be confused like this. Tonight was going to be a difficult night and she needed all her senses intact, if she were going to ...

He was tall. He reached up to the heavens. Everyone looked up to him, like he was God or something. I saw him from a distance. There was something about him that drew women to him like magnets. He would smile politely, joke lightly and move on. Never allowing their passes or their open invites to rest on him. I saw the look on the faces of those women. Imagining how it would be if they were in his arms, giggling in groups, discussing what they would do to him ‘when’ he agreed. I would smile at their girlishness. A dismally small number wondered if he were homosexual. “No way” the rest of them said, someone like him, who could make the knees of any girl go jelly, he could never be gay. There was so much excitement about him. The way he walked, the way he observed people, the way he stared at his laptop while he worked. It left the women gaping and wanting. I always watched from distance. I was small before him, in stature, in everything. There were no men lining up to get a word with me...