Hello and welcome to another edition of Friday Fictioneers with Rochelle leading the way, this time with a photo from David Stewart for a story in 100 words. If you want to join in, click here. Thank you Rochelle and David.
FF: The Stuff of Dreams
Words 100
A cheer broke out from the crowd as Parul arrived. She had just won the gold in the 5000m after yesterday’s silver in steeplechase.
“Quite a journey from running in sugarcane fields, training with boys, overcoming societal pressures to the top of the victory stand. Congratulations!”
Still out of breath, Parul smiled. “Thank you.”
“What a thrilling finish! Throughout you were trailing and whoosh – in the last 20 m you overtook the lead. How did that happen?”
“It’s been my dream to join the police. It popped into my head that a DSP post is guaranteed for gold medallists.”
***
Inspired by a true story of Parul Chaudhary, the first Indian woman to win gold at the 5000m race, Asian Games 2023. Click to watch her thrilling win!
Hello and welcome to Dawn’s Festival of Leaves challenge. Anything to do with trees, as you perhaps may know by now, I simply cannot resist 🙂
Let’s see what I can find, this week:
This was in the cacti section. I had never seen leaves of this color before. Have you?
“They tell you to turn into a new leaf and then complain about your faded colour.” – Nitya Prakash
I would have never thought a combination of pink and green would look good but they gel well don’t they?
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” – Rabindranath Tagore
There are even brown leaves – who would have thought!
“Art is the flower. Life the green leaf.”- Charles Rennie MacKintosh
with red stems! These are really eye-catching aren’t they. Not quite sure what they are called. Do you know?
“Open the bloom of your heart and become a gift of beauty to the world.”– Bryant McGill
Monstrous leaves, aren’t they? Dont miss the bright yellow stems, almost as if they are mocking the traditional plants 😀
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank
Don’t they look like flowers? The purple leaves were actually bluish in color, when seen with the naked eye. Their shape is also so unique.
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”– Frances Hodgson Burnett
Brown pink and green! I can’t help but wonder how they manage photosynthesis and why the need for such colorful leaves. I did a little bit of research, and as I remembered (ahem) only the green part can do photosynthesis. The tiny green porton is enough for its sustenance. But what about the other leaves and the bare trees? Apparently sunlight penetrates the thin outer bark it can be enough for photosynthesis. You can read more here. I am not very convinced, but perhaps you can tell me more 🙂
“Life is a party; dress like it, dance like it, and make every moment count.” Audrey Hepburn
I found these leaves to be very interesting. It wasnt very clear if it was a creeper or part of the tree
“Why not show off if you’ve got something to show?” J Jones
Well, what do you think? Can you make out?
“It is better to aim high and miss than to aim low and hit.” Les Brown
And this is the showstopper. I couldn’t take a pic initially, then I waited to click it on the return journey. Isn’t it precious? Just like life.
Hello and good day to you. Today I am participating in Eugi’s Moonwashed Weekly Prompt. The prompt is Magical Village. It can be any variation of the prompt or the image (below).
The photo is rather magical and made me throw caution to the wind and attempt a free verse. Actually, I am not even sure, if that’s what it is – anyway, here goes.
The World of Trees
Fireflies line the path
Magical village
Hiding in plain sight
A lush rustling village
No wants and little needs
Strife there was none.
Oblivious of taunts, curses
and betrayals
Partners for life with
ample space for young’uns
Once they grew roots
they too stayed put.
Some were short, some tall
some colorful, some shy
The naked and the bedecked
together, no bite in their bark
Phoenix rising from the ashes,
They were that magical.
Passing travellers stop by
Catch a break,
have a stretch, grab a bite,
Scratch an itch or build a home
They leave without even
A hug, a pat or a backward glance
Once in a while
When the weather is fine,
a light wind blowing
they nod and
wave to each other
going about their daily chores
Day in and day out, these
voiceless master chefs concoct
magic out of thin air
Some make tea, some coffee
Offering children of their heart
an arm, a leg, their whole being
With no expectations
the tireless village plods on
in pursuit of its
Endless thankless task
-- Feed and sustain
20 quintillion lives and counting
***
Thanks for visiting and your kind comments and suggestions. Have a super weekend.
Note (8/10/23): I changed the title of the poem as I felt that otherwise the poem was very obscure for most readers. Do let me know your thoughts. Thanks
Hello, hope you are having a grand day. Today I am attempting to participate in a new challenge hosted by XingfuMama which is about Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge – It could be anything: a picture or you can go into detail and tell it as a reflection, story or poem.
I would like to present a true story. It happened on my recent travels to Gavi near Thekkady, Kerala, India, where I found myself guilty of being biased and judgemental.
Here we were at a viewpoint deep in the midst of the rolling gorgeous greenery of the Gavi inside the Ranni reserve forest. The sky was overcast and breeze was cool and I was in seventh heaven of delight. I gobbled up the sights – the short tree, the light green, the stocky one, the balding one, while the driver-cum-guide attempted to spot wildlife for our perusal.
To be honest, there were none. Just a couple of dogs, mom and child, gambolling about. What do they eat in this wilderness I wondered. I was distracted by another jeep load of chattering tourists that drove up to ‘our’ point and disembarked. There goes our peace and silence.
One of the tourists went straight to the parked truck. Can you imagine? At this scenic sight, all he could think of was food? Or perhaps a try at the balloons? Sheesh. I rolled my eyes.
I flushed and cringed at my petty thinking. He had rushed to buy biscuits for the dogs. Hats off to the kind gentleman with his heart in the right place.
“Individuality should be celebrated, not judged.” From the internet
“Resting? At your age, you should be running.” A middle-aged man chastised Raghu beside him on the park bench. “I do 20 laps and you gave up after just 10,” he snorted.
“I am trying.”
“Yeah right. All you youngsters are lazy lumps. Only good for junk food and video games.” He cast him a scathing look. “No wonder you are overweight. Look at me, so fit. If I were younger,” he broke off staring at the ground, “what’s that? Did you injure your leg? You’re bleeding!”
Raghu looked down. “Ah. Just a bit. I’m still adjusting to my new foot.”
***
Inspired by the Jaipur foot and Sudha Chandran who reclaimed her place on the stage of dance after losing her leg in an accident with the help of the Jaipur foot.
Oh the pain the anguish the isolation – all for what?
Doubts racked me.
Why struggle so much?
Who cared whether I lived or died?
Why not just give up?
Give in.
I tried.
Believe me, I tried hard to give up.
But I didn’t know how.
I only knew one thing.
My time would come.
And it did.
That’s my story. What’s yours?
She swayed and dipped, offering me yet another luscious mango.
***
Written (after eons) for the Friday Fictioneers – a story in 100 words or less. Thanks to Rochelle for hosting the challenge and the photo prompt. To read the other stories inspired by this prompt click here.
This week’s photo challenge is about showing something twisted. So let’s see how twisted one can get…
Twisted metal rods that dot the rural landscape
Fed up with the twisted eyesores, nature takes things into her hands – when you can’t beat them, join them!
“Just a single cord is enough to be tangled” ― Munia Khan
“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather to what he does not say.”Khalil Gibran
Once upon a time, I lived my life in this ‘green room’. Only the bed is missing.
“Man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within him.”Khalil Gibran
“The snow and the storm destroy the flower; but its seed they cannot kill.” Khalil Gibran
“You may chain my hands, you may shackle my feet; you may even throw me into a dark prison; but you shall not enslave my thinking, because it is free!”Khalil Gibran
As I come out of my shell and explore my surroundings I can’t help but notice a unique seasonal feature around these parts. Spring and fall seem to coexist. Leaves carpet the roads and mounds of leaves dot the sides of the roads until they are carted off to their final resting place. And yet gardens are abloom with a riot of colors – pink purple yellow and magenta. The peepal tree outside my office is a case in point. It is almost bare with a few green leaves determinedly hanging on until they turn yellow and reluctantly make their way down to whence they grew to such dizzying heights. And yet whilst this tussle is on, a new unruly batch has already sprung up gung-ho and eager to make their mark in this world. I have been feeling too inhibited to click this particule tree but I did mix and match some photos in an earlier post – Peepal in Spring.
For this post I have captured a few contrasting images from the world around me. Come scroll with me…
Clutching at straws
Brilliant and defiant in death.
Life towers over and mocks at death – it is not for me!
Yet some die before their time
While others bloom despite all odds
Even when there appears to be no hope or escape
Only when we accept that ups and downs, life and death will happen can we move on and live life as she deserves to be led – wholly completely, entirely and unabashedly.