Knee on his throat, the cleaver held high above her head, breasts heaving, her bloodshot eyes bore into the terrified eyes of her husband of 17 years. She blinked, the fury, the power went out of her as if a switch had been flicked off. The cleaver clattered onto the stone floor and she rolled away trembling with the aftermath of her fury. She buried her face in her hands, unable to stand the image of herself, what had she been going to do. Faintly she heard him scramble to safety, sniffling pathetically.
Later, Smriti narrated the scene to her friend, Nidhi.
βIt was as if I had been possessed. I donβt know what came over me.βΒ Smriti said slowly. The memory of those horrific moments jolted her and the clatter of the knife still rang eerily in her ears.
There was a stunned pause before Nidhi rallied enough to speak.
βNever mind,β Nidhi brushed it away, βit happens to the best of us, a moment of madness when we are all but pushed over the edge,” she babbled, “but the best part is that you recovered at the last minute, regained your sanity and allβs well that ends well.
Smriti looked at Nidhi with tormented eyes, βBut Nidhi, what ifβ¦?β
βNo Smriti, you are not to think like that,β Nidhi was firm, βyou just said as if you were possessed. It was a one off instance β you know you would never do such a thing again. So stop worryingβ¦
βNo, you donβt understand Nidhi,β Smriti whispered through cracked lips, βthat is exactly what I am worried about.β
βWhat do you mean?β
βI am afraid that I will never be possessed again, that I missed my chance at freedom. I am condemned to spend the rest of my life with him.β
***
This week Daily Post’s Discover Challenge is In the Style of i.e. try out someone else’s style. Going through a few of my half finished drafts I came across this story which I have no recollection of writing. I was a bit taken aback and felt it (i.e the bloodthirstiness π ) was rather different from my usual style. What do you think?
For readers of Moonshine, here's Chapter 100 and Calvin and Hobbes
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Hmmmmmmm I like blood thirsty you, but then again I feel for her, she was doomed if she killed him and doomed that she didn’t, she never had a chance to win.
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Who knows prison may have been a better option for her? Thanks Joy π
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Maybe… π
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Wow, that was a indeed a graphic description of the murderous scene!
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Thank you Vivek Hari for visiting and commenting.
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Oww! that was quite a narration Dahlia. Loved the twist. It might have been a rash act, but her confession makes me believe she is in a hell-hole. Maybe she should have killed him.
You have beautifully captured her state of mind.
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Thanks so much Sampada π
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Hmmm…this was so real! The agony at losing yourself for some moment and then wishing you had stayed in it for a moment longer to finish what you started! She must’ve been pushed to feel that strongly! Great piece!
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Thank you so much Marie π
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You’re welcome. βΊοΈ
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For a moment I had thought it’s a dream…her dream of achieving freedom…her confession in the end was a nice twist…very close to the real feeling
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I am glad it resonated!
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Many women in our country some time or the other in their life feel like this but they are not able to carry out the deed. The consience in them stops them from doing so.
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Thanks so much Swati for reading and commenting π
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Many woman might be feeling every inch of every word written in this piece but stopped only when the little fingers touched your fingers and silently say…MAA chalo na..walk karke aate hain….
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Aww – take care
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Some women do take the drastic measure to end the abusive relationship but end up in the jail. I am sure jail is no bed of roses either. It happened here in the UK when an Indian woman killed her husband after suffering a lot of abuse from him. She was found guilty of murder and sentenced but she was lucky. There was a campaign to free her and even our prime minister got involved and she was pardoned. But there is a third choice. Leave the abusive relationship. It takes a lot of courage to leave because sometimes there are children involved and they may not get any support from family or society. It is a dilemma.
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A movie was made wasn’t it? Provoked I think. Children are often the reason why women take so much of nonsense, with another to care for she has little choice. Particularly in India where there are little to no option for single mothers who don’t have family support.
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Yes, the movie was called Provoked. Karanjit was lucky she was befriended by a good mate in jail who asked her brother to campaign for her and rest is the history. Even daily soap Coronation street did a story line based on the similar incident, In Deadrie’s case, it was the viewers and news papers took up campaigning to get her released. The case was discussed in the parliament and even the Prime Minister joined the campaign to release Deagrie Barlow. Could not believe the whole nation was campaigning to release a fictional character. Of course, she was pardoned and everyone was happy.
But in reality, even here a lot of women are living in intolerable conditions because they have children and because the family hold them to ransom.Sometimes the only release is to take their own life and some take children with them and commit suicide.
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Parliament arguing for release of a fictional character – Wow! Unbelievable π And I was embarrassed to pen 500 chapters on a tele-serial! Wish I had known about it earlier π I read up on Coronation Street – fascinating stuff wonder how everyone kept up with it. But yes what you say is correct, the reality is painful and intolerable for many, particularly India. The worst is when they have children, then they literally have no choice but to kill them and oneself. There is an urgent need for a safe haven for women to stay with their children. Did you know there is no such facility – single women yes, with children no.
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That was a bloody description of a blood thirsty moment… But what made her go to the brink and what brought in her sanity back! But the pick of this story is her sense of bereft at the missed opportunity… Must be really a pathetic state to become like that…
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It is so easy to react in the heat of the moment and regret it for the rest of ones life. But what if one didnt…? Her life was still doomed…
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