Sangeetha Kamath

The warm grainy expanse was all there was after being hit by a massive sandstorm. It must have been a tsunami of crusty winds blowing into their eyes and lungs. Half the city is buried underneath this sandy grave. What we call ground level now used to be the 10th floor of a high rise! Seems like an apocalypse had struck them. There's only one big orange sky, hot summers and an endless stretch of nothingness as far as the eyes can see. Inside this derelict, abandoned structure are hulking sand dunes around which I have to maneuver. What a wreck! The doors are almost dangling out of their hinges and the windows are totally non-existent. Where was everyone? There was no escape from this desert baked town. We've been sent on a rescue mission but I think we all have to return with a heavy heart. There's unlikely to be any survivors here…what a terrible way to go! The draperies on what used to be a window, flutter in the desert breeze… I look out to see a shimmering sky pond in t

Some princesses are locked up high in the castle towers and I'm in a lockdown in my towering building. If the princes were led to Disney princesses for the dulcet songs they sang, I only had a hoarse voice hearing which, even the frog prince would make a hurried exit. A dreadful disease had overtaken the world and people stayed away from each other. Who would come to rescue me, and why would he? My heart did a double take as I saw a smiling tall, dark, handsome man in an unusual attire outside my window. I was on the 22nd floor! Was he a ghost? I was about to black out when he quickly said, "Sangeetha, fear not! Don't you know me? I'm Aladdin. Come, hop on! We have no time to lose!" Hop on?? Where??  I gingerly opened my window and there he was on his flying carpet. He took my hand and before I knew it, we were flying through the night sky, high above the skyscrapers and twinkling lights below. I gasped. "Aladdin, where are we going in a hurry?"  "S

  Screaming and struggling, she was dragged to the pyre. The manic crowd hauled her over a stake and shackled her to it. As the men piled more bracken around her, the women hollered, "Burn! Heathen!" There was a roar of victory as the lit torch was flung into the kindling. The flames danced with a celebration of its own along with the barbaric mob.  Her eyes were terror stricken and her mouth was frozen in a wordless gasp as the flames started lacing the tips of her boots and kept rising to her feet.  She strained against the metal, even as her wails and shrieks were drowned in a flood of clangor and ruckus.  The uproar and sacrificial drumbeats reached a blood-curdling crescendo to match the intensity of the raging fire. Her lips formed unheard words—" I'm not a vampire. You're all mistaken. I don't deserve to die like this …please… MERCY!…" She was about to drift into oblivion when the black shapes shrouded the moon. Cascades of water from above douse

Browsing through a quaint market on the streets of Aramza, Veron stopped at stall which sold souvenirs at discounted prices. An oval shaped mirror with a gem studded edging caught her eye. The vendor told her those were only imitation stones and not real gems. He sold it to her at a throwaway price. With a glint in his eyes, he counted the money and flashed her a wide toothed smile.  Back home after a weary journey by air, she unpacked her belongings and hung the exotic mirror in the hallway. The next evening, as she went to switch on the lights in the foyer, she noticed something strange. The glass had clouded over! Unable to understand what was going on, she rubbed it with her sleeve. Nothing! The fogging seemed to get denser. The weather was clear and there was no way a mirror in the hallway could get steamed over. Panic rose inside her when she realized that a mist was swirling inside the mirror! She clamped her palms to her mouth when a faint writing appeared on the glass. “Don