3

CHAPTER 3

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He tried to locate the sound and made his way towards an exit on the right side of the hall way.

“It sounds like a girl” he said to himself grinning widely. He walked down a long stair way to the basement and the crying became more intense. On reaching the basement he saw a woman sitting on a corner with her head bowed down. He had a brief smile on his face as he moved towards her.

“Hey lady” he said, hesitantly putting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with teary eyes.

“Wow! You’re beautiful too!” He said.

“Excuse me?!” the women cried.

“Who are you? Are you one of them? Take me with you! I want to see my family! Please!” she exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

“What are you talking about, woman?!”

“I’m talking about the Ferodiums! You are one of them?! Aren’t you?”

“Hey! Hang on! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am not a Ferodium! I am an Aquadom, just like you!” He exclaimed.

He went down on his knees and looked into her eyes “Why has the entire town disappeared? Tell me. We both need help here”

“Where were you last night?” she said with a little relief in her tone.

‘Ah! I was sleeping to a few extra drinks” he smirked.

She slapped her forehead.

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What a loser our lead character is. Gah.

2

CHAPTER 2

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He made his way towards the castle road. Strangely there wasn’t even a single body lying anywhere. Abandoned houses, open doors, fallen belongings, everything depicted a mysterious devastation. But there was no one to tell him what had actually happened.

The huge castle made up of grey stone came into view, it looked just the same. However, the empty guard posts made the picture look incomplete. Open windows made a creaking sound as winds blew past by them. He saw that the castle door was slightly open and he made his way towards it. A long hall way came into view as he entered the castle. His foot steps echoed through the empty hall way. Somewhere in the middle, The Fountain of Life came into view.

He ran towards it and saw that it had completely dried up. The lotus engraving on the top didn’t have the emerald placed on it. The fountain made up of limestone lay there like a corpse without a single drop of life. As a child he had grown up to stories which claimed that a dried Fountain of Life meant the end of existence.

“Something is terribly wrong here” he whispered, scratching his head. All of a sudden he heard someone crying.

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Who's crying?

1

CHAPTER 1

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“Gracia…Gracia…Gracia…” he heard the whispers echoing in his head. A black beast stared at him from a distance, as it puffed smoke from its nostrils. It had red eyes and a spiked tail. Suddenly, it stood up on its four claws and began racing towards him.

He knew what to do and so he opened his eyes. Sometimes optimism does tell you what’s real and what’s not. He got up from his bed and saw numerous bottles scattered in the room. A light headache brought in vague memories of last night. Surprisingly, the room was weirdly silent and he couldn’t hear his dad cleaning up.

He got up and made his way towards the door kicking the bottles on the way, as they clicked with each other. He was heavily built and tall. He slid the heavy door with one hand and that’s when reality hit him. He looked at the empty view as little patches of fire burnt here and there. The homes were deserted. Distant fields on the hills were emitting out smoke as the grass lands were now pitch black in color.

He made his way on the road spotting flags, bottles and shreds of clothing fallen on the ground. He picked up a flag, it said “Hail Goddess Gracia!” .The winds made the flag flutter and he saw blood stains on its other side.

That’s when he asked himself “What the fuck happened last night?”

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...And so I kick start #StorySeptember. Will be rolling this story all through September. This is just an attempt to push the envelope and break my own creative boundaries. Lets see how it goes. Comments welcomed. =)

The Song and the Smile

There were dark clouds hanging in the sky, but they only brought down a drizzle. Like any rainy day, the coffee shop was full of people who were there to savor the weather more than the coffee.

The lady sitting in the corner finally grabbed her guitar and started singing. With the first strum she gathered attention. Soon her voice pulsated through the surrounding and everyone started swaying from side to side. For sometime she was a savior angel, on her throne, giving little moments of joy to the stressed. She seemed in a different world altogether, with her eyes shut, she sang her heart out. Her blonde hair strands kissed her cheeks whenever she broke into a new verse and shook her head a little.

After every song, she looked at everyone around. They all thanked her with their joyful smiles as they cheerfully applauded her. This one man in the middle, was just staring at her in awe, his eyes were lit up. Song after song, his glances never lost their intensity and his smile never lost its charm.

The final song ended and the coffee shop was more crowded than before. Some people were standing, some were sitting on the couches as they all gave her a much needed final applaud. She kept her guitar on one side and smiled back at the man who was still smiling at her. Moments later she pulled herself up from the stool and cautiously placed herself on the wheel chair that was brought for her. Many came up to her and praised her. She saw the man who was smiling at her, leave from the back door.

That's when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "You are always so lovely, my sweet heart" he said and kissed her.

The temporary smiling faces didn't matter for her. She had someone forever, till the end of time. And that's what matters...

A Deep and Distant Affair

Every morning she would come down to the pond, when all the ladies would've finished their early morning chores and a silence would accumulate on the still waters. She would then take a dip and from a distant depth inside the pond a handsome prince would stare at her. She would then get lost in his beautiful blue eyes.

A lot was said through the exchange of their glances. Her daily shower not only cleansed her physically but the cleansing was spiritual too. It was like meeting a special friend every morning who would give her hope to move on in life.

That one morning was different. She was in the pond, as she took water by her cupped hands and poured it on her head. Her eyes were closed as drops of tears mixed with the pond water flowing down her cheeks.

She opened her eyes and saw the prince staring at her. Even the water's depth couldn't hide his expression of devastation. She sobbed and suddenly saw the prince's face moving towards her. She couldn't resist and moved towards the water bed. There was a moment of utter silence as their lips were about to meet. Just then a flash of light appeared from the water. She closed her eyes and moved away.

After a while she slowly opened her eyes and saw a blue eyed frog floating on top of the water surface.

She angrily slapped the water surface and ran back home. Her early morning bathing routine now happened early, with all the other ladies and with lots of gossip.

= = = = = =

She'll fall in the love with a handsome blue eyed prince but not with an ugly frog. Yep.

The Other Side Of Beauty

There she was draped in white, her hand tenderly held mine. She led me through a dark path way with shadows on either side. Shadows of the past, shadows of the memories, shadows that made me travel through time and made me cherish the memories. Everything looked so complete radiating out a feeling of utter happiness. I saw faces smiling at me from the shadows. She kept walking with my hand tenderly clenched.

Then, for a few moments she stopped and looked back at me. I looked into those beautiful brown eyes and nodded in agreement to something. Her grip around my hand tightened as she started pulling me through the dark pathway. I uttered out a cry but she didn’t lower her pace. Those faces in the shadows weren’t smiling anymore. They were frowning. I tried stopping her but she didn't stop.

Suddenly the shadows sidelining the pathway burst into flames. I jumped off my feet and fell down. I cried for mercy but she did not loosen her grip off my hand. She dragged me through the fiery inferno. On reaching the end of the path she stopped before a cliff. The cliff exposed an endless ocean of fire beneath it. She turned back and looked at me; her look had changed. Those eyes weren’t consoling anymore; they held my worst nightmare beneath them. She started laughing like a lunatic as she pulled me towards the cliff and dropped me into the inferno.

I jumped off my bed, drops of sweat dripping down my forehead. A “beep” tone rang in a rhythmic pattern. Through the glass window straight ahead I saw a worried look on my Dad’s face, as he talked to the Doctor. I spotted a file kept on my bed. I opened it and everything made sense.

In blocked letters I spotted two words: “Alcohol Overdose”

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There’s nothing beautiful than the experience alcohol bestows you with.

It gives you relief and completes you for sometime.

Let the experience be beautiful. Don’t over drink. Yep.

A Priceless Memory

A wind chime danced to the tune of winds as it chimed in an empty balcony. The raindrops created an arrhythmic pattern as they fell on the wooden roof. Both of them had tea cups tightly clenched in their hands. They both wanted to break the ice. As they watched the rainfall, they were silently resisting the temptation to say something.

Finally he gathered some courage and said "I love the rains".

She smiled at him as she sipped her tea.

It was like a beautiful conspiracy of circumstances that had landed them here. Delayed flights, shortage of rooms in the guest houses and the curtain of rainfall which made everything look so beautiful. Now they were here for sometime, as they waited for these circumstances to unfold something beautiful.

He had started the conversation and she was glad he did. They both talked for quite sometime. There were a lot of things that were said. Things that were waiting to be said for a long long time. Like a dusty chest in their hearts which had been unlocked. The tea cups were refilled again and again. Time had stood still for them. Two streams were gushing towards each other and merging together to form a strange river of affection.

Her eyes looked tired and there were still two hours left for the flight's departure. He asked her to go take some rest. She left the balcony as he started emptying his cup of tea.

She was woken up by a knock on the door. It was time for her flight. She headed to the balcony to call him, but there was no one there. She saw a cup kept on the chair where he was sitting. It had a blue ribbon tied to it. In blocked letters he'd written "For a priceless memory".

She hadn't asked where he was headed to. They had talked about everything under the sun. She knew a lot about him, but now he was gone to some place unknown.

Beneath the cup he had signed his name. She smiled and whispered it "Andy".

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Rains and the Romance. Ah. <3