This is my entry to the flash fiction challenge What Pegman Saw inspired by any view of a given location on Google maps. The challenge is to write a story in 150 words or less.This week’s location is of Burhanpur, India. To read the other stories inspired by this prompt click here
To view image on Google maps, click here
Buried Alive
Words 149
“Sister?” He whispered. “Sister, it’s me.”
A tinkle and a rustle.
A frail woman emerged from the shadows.
“Did you get any food?” She looked at him hungry eyed.
“A little.” He dug out a bundle from his robes. She fell upon it with eager hands and mouth.
“What news Brother?”
“It is done. The Begum is buried.”
“And the Emperor?”
“Grief stricken.”
“It wasn’t my fault Brother. It was her fourteenth child.”
“If only you had not run away.”
“I panicked Brother. The Emperor’s favorite begum died in my arms. He would have had me buried alive.”
“You should have taken a chance with the Emperor.”
“What do you mean?” She stilled at the bleak look in his eyes.
“We have orders to proceed to Agra.”
“For what?”
“To build a mausoleum for the begum.”
“What about me?”
“You should have taken a chance with the Emperor.”
***
Note: The above is a fictitious account based on the following historical information:- The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan is believed to have spent a lot of time at the Shahi Qila with his favorite Begum Mumtaz Mahal. She died here giving birth to their 14th child. Mumtaz Mahal was buried here until the Taj Mahal was constructed at Agra. Shah Jahan wanted the Taj Mahal to be built in Burhanpur but had to give up the idea because of lack of availability of white marble in this region.
Thank you for reading – comments and critiques welcome.
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Stunning piece. The dialogue rung true to live. I was breathless.
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Thank you for your lovely comment 🙂
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Dear Dahlia,
Beautiful historical piece. I hope the emperor didn’t take it out on the poor midwife. Lovely dialogue.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I hope so too! Thank you Rochelle 🙂
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Wow, that was an interesting read, historical fiction 🙂 And you are a master of conversational style of story telling.
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Aww thank you Sampada for a lovely comment 🙂
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That had a ring of truth, so good it was. I have been looking forward to your stories with a heightened sense of anticipation.
If my guess is not off the mark, English does not seem to be your first language. If that were so, your efforts are all the more commendable. Anyways, to connect with your readers, you need something more than language, which you have in abundance. Best of luck!
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Thank you Neel for your generous (and perceptive) comment. I am from India, and truly speaking I am not quite sure what my first language is. My mother tongue is Bengali but since I was brought up outside Bengal, Hindi is what I grew up hearing while studying in an English medium school. While I speak and read Hindi and Bengali (not so well), English books have been my companions for as far as I can remember. That makes me a Bengali who thinks out dialogues in Hindi and translates to English before writing. Quite a mishmash 😀 But I do love writing and if I can connect, I am happy 🙂
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“You should have taken a chance with the Emperor.”
Your last line tells so much. Well done.
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Thanks Alicia 🙂
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Going by the myth that the emperor had cut off the hands of the labourers who had built the tomb, should we be glad that she didn’t take her chances with him?…history fiction through the eyes of the midwife…a quite unexpected one..but thoroughly enjoyed it’s novelty 🙂
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Exactly what I wanted to highlight MM – One man’s tragic romance is many families’ tragedy…so thank you for picking on it! 🙂
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Hi friends, fastidious article and nice urging commented here, I am in fact enjoying by these.
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Thank you 🙂
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A brilliant sad reality, yet all we apprise and praise is “TAJ MAHAL”, complements to you for writing this , its so believable…
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Thanks for reading and commenting so regularly – really appreciate it 🙂
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