ALSphere Foundation
If Only
I gave her the location of my regular joint. As usual, I waited. We sat facing each other on a bench, waiting for tea. We chatted nonsense, and laughed senselessly. Although it was not our first time, it was the first time in over thirty years. When tea arrived, our laughter continued as we sipped it. Hours passed as we caught up on three decades. I went up to pay the bill, and the tea vendor, with a smile on his creased face, said that he had not seen me laughing like that in decades, and I thought, ‘If only’.
Rohit Goel
Forbidden
The dewy grass whined in protest as I slithered over it.
I paused when I spotted her.
“Hail Thee, Beautiful One!” I whispered to her in a voice that shouldn’t have quivered.
She looked in my direction and smiled. “Who are you?”
“I am a wanderer, singing melancholic tales of an exotic fruit yearning for your touch!”
Was it my mesmerizing voice? Or the fabulous poetry? Her beautiful eyes darted around, and of their own accord, her long legs began to move towards the apple tree.
My trip to Paradise didn’t go in vain. My master would be so pleased!
Narayani V Manapadam
