For Aaki (happy love?)

There was a young man from London
Who was hatched from the egg of a hen
He clucked like a chick
And got hit by a brick
Cos he pooped on the top of Big Ben

A Small Story

Amrai stared miserably out of the kitchen window at the courtyard below. It was full of her family, at their happiest and best dressed. Her mother and younger sisters bustled around offering mithai to the guests, pouring out steaming kulhads of chai and forcing them into the hands of the men and women seated on the family's best divans. They had all been moved into the courtyard the night before, so that today's proceedings could take place under the blue sky and the shade of the family's sacred old peepal tree. In the middle of the group of women sat Paali, Amrai's youngest sister. Her head bowed shyly as was expected, her red sari shimmering in the dappled sunlight under the tree. She was surrounded by the women who would soon become her family, murmuring softly as they asked her questions, and blushing prettily as they teased her. Watching her, Amrai's chest filled with the bitter fluid that she was sure had started running through her veins in the last week, since the engagement had been announced.

A glint of sunlight danced suddenly before her eyes, guiding her gaze across the courtyard, through the crowd of relatives and servants, between low tables weighed down with food and drink, gliding across the distance in a graceful serpentine dance until finally nestling below the feathers in his saafa. Amrai felt her heart, which had been beating sluggishly and painfully for days, break into pieces.

She turned away from the window, and sank her fingers back into the laddoo's she was making for the wedding feast. The batter squirmed under her fingers as she blindly pounded the yellow orange goo, watching in her mind the long corridors of a palace far away, where she had spent a childhood, growing up and falling in love. Tears dripped from her face, tasting strangely of the bitterness inside her, tracking clean channels of skin across the backs of her hands, mixing the laddoo's.

At the wedding feast Amrai's laddoo's were passed out to everyone. She could hear the laughter and singing from the corner of the kitchen where she still cried silently. She hadn’t been allowed to join the wedding or the feast; her presence would have been uncomfortable considering… Anyways, Paali refused to be married if Amrai attended so that matter had been settled early on.

It was after the laddoos had been given out that it happened. One by one the happy laughing people began to weep. Softly and slowly at first, but then, as the memory of the pain grew sharper they wailed and sobbed and beat their chests crying for a love that they had once lost. Everyone who had eaten those laddoos was overcome with the pain of heartbreak they had once felt. Tormented again with that unbearable pain, that many of them thought they had forgotten forever.

Amrai's mother beat her well that night, demanding to know what she had done, and how she had done it. Paali screamed herself into a fever over the ruin of her wedding, and it was only on the orders of their father that Amrai was not beaten anymore. The truth they didn’t believe, no matter how many times she said it. That the only thing she had added to the laddoos were the strangely bitter tears that she hadnt stopped crying.


**This is not an original concept. I heard this story at a reading some years ago, and tried to reproduce it. I dont know who the author is, but if you do, please tell me.

List Thingy (Also a tag) (yeah that means you)

(from MatrixWarrior, sounded like fun)

Name: Misha

Nickname(s): Mish, Em, Chotu, Mishu, Mi and for ten terrible minutes 'Bordo'

Single or Taken? I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

Sex: Female

Birthday: 13th Nov' 84

Blood group: B+

Sign: Scorpio (also, year of the rat)

Siblings: Nope. Dogs though.... lots of dogs...

Hair color: Dark brown usually, but right now more red than anything else

Eye color: Brown

Shoe size: Somewhere in the limbo between 8 & 9 that ensures I can never find shoes to fit

What are you wearing right now? Blue jeans, black tee and black stephanian jumper thingy + Orange satin underwear
Where do you live? Noo Delli

Have You Ever:-

given anyone a bath? Yes *SHUDDERS*
bungee jumped? Noooo... I watched from afar though
broken the law? Ahem. Never. AHEM.
made yourself throw-up? More times than I wish to recall
gone skinny dipping? Nooooo!!!! Hygene people!!!
been in the opposite sex's bathroom? Yes very often. Their loo's are always less cluttered.
eaten a dog biscuit? Yeah.... Dont ask.
put your tongue on a frozen pole? Heeheeheehee nooooooo!
broken a bone? YES!
played truth or dare? I was CHAMP
been in a physical fight? Sorta.....
been in a police car? Forest rangers?
been on a plane? Ive been plane sick too...
been in a hot tub? Yeah, though, sadly, with my mom and my aunt who insisted on talking about their cellulite issues
swam in the ocean? Sorta bobbed around in it actually... I wouldnt call that swimming.
fallen asleep in college? Heh. I had some of my best dreams in college
cried when someone died? Yeah.
flashed someone? *Moans* yesssssss
lied? well everyone lies!
laughed so hard you fell off your chair? yeah... I feel kinda sad thinking about it now, ironically.
sat by the phone all night waiting for a call? Gawd yes. Bloody idiots who never call.
saved e-mails? I have Gmail, I cant freaking help it!
wished you were someone else? mmmmmmmmm yeah....
wished you were a member of the opposite sex? Occasionally... They do tend to have more fun
been rejected? No. Never, EVER. (see 'lied?')
used someone? Yeah
been cheated on? well.... not exactly.... I mean, not technically... Fuck it. Yeah.
done something you regret? Yeah

First Thing That Comes to Mind:-

Yellow: Tulips
Blue: Ocean
Happy: Kumar
Autumn: Rust Gold
Cow: Meadow

Have you ever had:-

chicken pox? yeah
sore throat? yeah
cold? yeah
stitches? nope
bloody nose? no, just short of it.
Sex? yeah

Do you:-

believe in love at first sight? Yeah
enjoy parks? yeah
like picnics? yeah
like school? Loved it
hate anyone? EVERYONE.

Who:-

is the last person that called you? Kartikey
makes you laugh the most? Mom and Dad
Can make you feel better no matter what? Kartikey
was the last person you touched? The last living thing I touched was Leaf, the last preson I touched was the checkout guy at the supermarket
you hugged? Kartikey
you yelled at? Mom
told you they loved you? Kartikey

Do You/Are You:-

like yourself? Ahhh.... Yeah sure.
dye your hair? hehehe occasionally, mostly when Im bored.
have piercings below the waist? Oh dear gawd no....
stolen anything over $50? I never steal. Except for that one time. Ahem.
like ice cream? YES.
Which is your favourite flavour? Chocolate Chip Super Fudge Cookie Dough.... MMMMM
Like Cold Coffee? Yeah I guess... Its ok.
smoke? *mutters ashamedly at the floor*
have beer? NO. cant stand the stuff.
obsessive? Yes
compulsive? Yes
depressed? Naaah.
suicidal? Not since last week! *bright smile*

Random:-

Prized possession: Nothing. Actually, absolutely nothing.
Last thing you said? "NO! Dont freaking pee there! BAD DOG!"
What is beside you? Empty bottle of Snapple Lime Green Iced Tea, Cell Phone, Empty bottle of Benadryl, Pee Soaked Dog Bedding, TV Remote
Last thing you ate? Finger tip full of Sour Cream
Are you right handed or lefty? Right
Favourite song: Right now, Teri Deewani
Worst thing that has happened to you this year: S Fricking OP

The Message That Coulda Changed The World

Deep in the 17th century, a tiny island lay oblivious to the human menace spreading across the globe. Though the most elite of their inhabitants guarded and patrolled their borders, the battle they would have to face could overwhelm them.

On one outpost out at sea, Del, one of the more enthusiastic members of the border police watched the horizon menacingly. He stalked up and down the deck of the wooden outpost, occasionally spinning around on his webbed feet to catch anyone lurking behind him unawares. Del was the original commando, a bird who was truly devoted to duty. And tonight that devotion would be tested.

On the horizon, appeared a ship; a Dutch ship in fact, but as Del had never heard of the Dutch, this is an irrelevant detail.
Ahem.

So a ship appeared on the horizon, and it glinted with an evil light in Del's mind. The island had to be warned! Del plumped his tail feathers, and plunged into the icy waters, paddling determinedly towards the island, his mind focused on the task at hand, and nothing else, the message of danger repeating over and over in his mind. He was so focused on the ship behind him, that he didn’t notice the ship in front of him until he plowed into it beak first. Del let out a startled squawk before his tongue slipped out the side of his mouth and he floated away, webbed feet pointing at the sky, message of danger still rotating in his mind, one beat faster than the little golden stars rotating around his head.

Aboard the ship, a large Dutch man peered down at the stunned bird floating away from his ship in the pre-dawn light.

"Dodo" he muttered disparagingly.