Nusrat Jahan
A dead life
After months, Simone had finally stepped outside the box of concrete she was used to calling “home”. Her face was as insipid as usual and there was lassitude in every breath she took. Even the little Petunias that she adored failed to make her smile. Nothing but a rusty old bucket of water captivated her. Kneeling down and staring at her reflection in the water as though it was the single most interesting thing in her backyard, Simone sighed on realizing what she had become- her prolonged illness turned her from a spry extrovert into a morose phlegmatic bore.
Brother’s pet-ty friends
I stood nervously before the sink, washing my hands, still disgusted by the revolting sight of dead bodies and the fact that I touched them. The expression on my face looked like something that came out of a horror movie! How will my brother react? When he comes home from his trip, only to find out that I killed his best friends? I was so lost in my thoughts about possible worst case scenarios that, I failed to notice that he was already standing in front of me.
“WHAT DID YOU DO” he yelled. “I forgot to feed your hamsters”- I confessed.
Chance
The unexpected delay made me apoplectic. My brother’s flight was only a few hours away. At this hour, it was beyond impossible to push through the traffic and get myself at the airport in time.
I wanted to give him a bear hug and tell him that we’ll feast upon his return before he embarked on his journey.
He will be gone for a while.
This might have been my last chance to talk with him in person.
What if he never returns? Or the person who will return would not be the brother I knew.
I didn’t care to have a good talk with my brother in a while. But you don’t know what you’ve got till you lose it.
Life often seems God’s jape to me.