Sangeetha Kamath

Prompt: In 500 words, write a story you always wanted to. No genre constraints. Pull the rug with the last line such that it changes the entire context of your story. ***** Plodding through the ankle deep snow in the fading light, Zoe couldn't wait to get indoors. The street leading to the colony was deserted and the neighboring houses were empty as everyone was away for the holidays.  The shadows cast by the streetlights looked unusually eerie in the icy silence. A slight ruffle in the breeze made her jump out of her skin! As she turned her head warily, a flier fluttering on the lamppost outside the house caught her attention. Zoe ripped it off to have a closer look and her eyes widened.   Serial killer at large! Extra caution for girls especially if you're a redhead residing in and around Lyndale District. Report to the nearest police station if sighted.  A familiar face, the same one doing the rounds on primetime on this sensational news was now on fliers. These...

Dang it, you oaf! Now look at what you've done! Why are people like you even allowed to drive cars! Couldn't you see that sprawling rain puddle, you blind bat? Now I'm drenched to the bone when I had an important matter to attend to. The car screeched to a halt past the puddle. The man stuck his head out briefly in the pelting rain, shook his head sadly at me, wound up his window and sped away.  Whaaaattt! He ignored me?  I balled my fist at him and grumbled under my breath. I needed to get inside the warmth of my home. Mum was sure to get mad with me dripping water and wet mud all over her freshly washed floor. **** Where on earth could Lola have disappeared to? It's almost dinner time… Will my worries never end? This morning, it was my emerald ring which went missing right off my dresser. And now, Lola is adding creases on my forehead. I turned around at the flapping sound of the cat door to see the truant Persian, walking in, tail high in the air and looking like so...

                TO...FRO... CAN'T LET GO  It was that high summer day in August when I had left the classroom to stop by the water cooler.  My eyes had wandered to the school playground and the swings. I never got a chance to play, with the roughshod kids like Jerome making their way there first.  He beat everyone to it and hogged it for the entire recess. The only time I sat on it yesterday, Jerome had stormed across, his eyes throwing daggers at me.  Clutching my collar, Jerome had yanked me off. Even before I could get my bearings, I was face down, his meaty hand pushing my head into the ground and raining blows on me with the other.  Tasting blood and gritty sand in my mouth, I wished I was stronger than him to fight him back.  Raucous laughter and snide remarks from Jerome followed me as I meekly staggered away. That lowdown worm! I wish I could squish him underfoot until his innards spread out like jelly and mar...

                                              SHE LIGHTS ME UP  The hallways and chambers of the ancestral mansion are bathed in an orange sheen cast by the setting sun. Soon, it will be awash with the palest of hues as twilight streaks the sky. A faint fragrance of Parijat flowers floats in from the backyard. Through the wide windows overlooking the garden, I see her sitting under the blossoming tree. Although lost in thoughts, her fingers are deftly weaving the flowers to adorn her hair.  I hear the tinkle of her anklets approaching me from where I'm sprawled out, suspended from the high ceiling in all my splendor, crystal pendants chiming softly in the light breeze and casting prismatic splashes on the marble floor. She lowers me down to light my candles. I'm facing her now. Romila, the lady of this mansion. An ethnic beauty with an oval face and pools of ...