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          Every time I shut my eyes close, I see Blake screaming with excruciating pain and lying almost lifelessly on grey tiles covered with blood. Some of which, was my own too. My younger sister Chloe who sat next to Blake's body was yelling at the top of her voice,    "Penny! Do something!"  "Penny?" "PENNY?"  I opened my eyes to face Mr Elliot, accompanied by his daughter Hailey.  "Hello, Elliot" "I have a session right now for 10th grade students, you probably know about it...it's about this---" "yes, I know"  "So, there's this problem. They won't let my six-year-old Hailey enter...and since I don't know any other teacher here...would you mind looking after her if I left her with you? for about 30 mins? until I'm done with the session?" "Oh yes, sure...I'll gladly do it"  "Thanks a lot! You just prevented a disaster" he winked.  "No problem" I smiled ...

T o all those who think they need a wave of a magic wand to get better... More than often, most of us are only being a quarter best of ourselves or still worse- the worst version of ourselves. Each one of us has got the scope to improve and each one of us has the capability to become better than we are. In fact, the improvements to be made are so obvious that we know exactly what and where they are to be made but we just tend to ignore the very idea of being better because of the fear of change or of not being good enough to adapt the change.  In the first case, when we admit we are willing to improve it implies that we are not perfect currently but what we have to realize is that it's totally fine to be imperfect but what is NOT fine is to lie to yourself about being the best and to give up on improving.  Deep down, each one of us knows we can give our best. At times we know we can do better but we don't. Because somewhere deep inside, as much as we know we can make it work w...

  Chapter 1. SpaceNeeded  

Overprotective by nature and anxious by personality, I was the mother of twin daughters, for what I had known, thirty minutes and after that, it was one daughter. The healthier, fairer one. The other one wasn't affordable to cure.  One fine day,  I sat in the kids' area looking after my daughter as she made sand-castles and broke them down to rebuild and kept doing so for a while. I sat a couple of feet apart scanning my phone for emails and after I was done, the sight of her gone made me want to faint, however, I kept myself together. But couldn't help staring at the bucket full of sand and a broken castle, where a couple of seconds ago my daughter was.  I tried to call out her name but the sand made me cough. Sudden strong winds blew sand into my eyes making them water. Tears started spilling with a rapid, inevitable flow carrying physical pain and enormous anxiety. I shouted out her name on top of my lungs and ran all over the park scanning every corner of it. I didn...

Hi, I'm Kamala Venkatesh currently in an intense situation, so take that as an excuse for the poor introduction. My mouth is stuffed with more than two bowls of sweets which my mother believes brings good luck before travelling. ' Good luck'  aside, I'm positive about feeling nauseatic in my long drive, for sure.  "Kamala's father, is there space for three more bags in there? I haven't packed food for Kamala yet. The poor girl shall not need to kill her hunger in the drive or after." "Of course there is! pack five instead of three" And those, are my parents, who're presuming me to eat five handbags full of food like a hungry bear on my way to a family friend's place. I've learnt by now that a vanilla plain "no" doesn't work for refusal according to them. So after a near-violent " NO " we managed to settle for three bags of food, four bags of clothes and five bottles of cold drinks...for a one-day t...

"Two cups of coffee, please" I placed my order before I acknowledged Sean.  "Three, not two" Sean, my friend, is a total foodie too. You see, we acknowledge the waiter before the person we came to meet at restaurants. "Why three?"  He looked down slyly. I knew what that meant. "No please, not again! You cannot have patients visiting you in the middle of a meal!"  "There's an emergency, you know..." "Yeah, right" I couldn't help an eye roll. "Ryan, buddy. I'll keep it short. I'll just listen to her case and that'll be it!" That was a cliché now, but I nodded.  A tall, dark woman entered with the restless aura, she retained. Her hair was a mess and her eyes looked sleepy. Her overall body language didn't mention confidence anywhere. She ran over (literally) the waiter and the plates in his hands made a memorable graffiti on the floor.  "There she is" You wouldn't need to be graduat...

"Underestimate me, it'll be fun"  "Mind if I make a quick call? My cellphone's dead" I reach for the left pocket of my jacket and after half a second of unlocking the phone, hand it to the young man in need. "Thanks a bunch!" he says it like he means it. "The least I could do" I smile. He makes his way to a corner of the park and I continue my early morning workout and smile subconsciously... The young man looks at me from the corner of his eye every now and then as he talks intensely on the phone... he probably thinks I haven't noticed. Not after too long does he return. "Here, thanks again" he says as he returns the phone. As an instinct, I check the recent calls to know that he'd dialed 4355 . "Who's number was that?" I ask naturally. "Hell's" "Sorry?" I ask, puzzled. "Check where the digits lie on the keypad" he doesn't say it like a joke but I treat it like one...b...

     

How are 'Big days' like in the life of adults?  Well, this could be one of the most subjective questions to ask and leave alone the fact that I'm not an adult, hence not quite eligible to answer. But, I've got my guesses, like reaching a high peak in career or marriage or having children (mind you, I have got them in a pretty sophisticated order) and I've got my guest who can know better too! Because the first two cases are still fine for me to describe if I far stretch my imagination but the third?  Oh! The third one my friend is just not my cup of tea to elaborate. Hence I would rather prefer to hand over the control to-the one and only- *** Uhh cut the crap, will you? I can do the introduction part better for me. Firstly, elaborating the situation I am currently in isn't my cup of tea either. Secondly, I am a coffee person. And thirdly, unlike my mate just mentioned, she should've preferred me as the last person to be handed over the control to. Besides, ...

"We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we BORROW it from our children!" -David Brower One day in heaven, he entered, a woodcutter of hundred, deserving by manner, his deeds had to be sacred. For means and family, he did all that he could, no doubt half his life went by, in chopping wood... Providing rigid support to him,  entered his son along too, said his son, "I have weak lungs", of course, he was eighty-two! For means and to nourish the family tree, his son spent half his life working for a factory... Holding his hand, entered his grandson, who was only forty by age, but resembled by looks, an old, tired sage! Only after coughing thrice had he revealed, that he had contributed to a wound which could never be healed! For means and family, he agreed to supply, weapons, on which, for money he would rely... In the man's firm arms,  he held a baby too, leave alone his age, his birth was due, He saw death before the world, for, his ancestors left wit...

Birds started chirping. The world restored its colour which the night had stolen. People began waking up but the Wilsons were wide awake all night. They had put on a composed face but were tenser than ever. Reason had been Mrs Wilson's cardiac surgery which was due that day. On cosy bluish-white sheets rested Mrs Wilson. Her grey hair resting on her face, annoying her. She was too weak to shove them off her face. She sniffed mildly and checked the time. It was what she had expected, except there was something she waited for.  Tring tring-tring tring The phone rang, enlightening her face. "My daughter is always so punctual," she thought to herself with pride. Jennifer hadn't known by then what the rest of the family was going through. She would only ever talk to Mrs Wilson. The news had to reach her late.  After informing Jenny about the surgery, Mrs Willson heard Jenny's encouraging words, enough to help her get through the tide of problems. Mrs Willson then touch...

  Feelings? She never understood the word   She was all about facts and logic She believed emotions were absurd By never accepting her own  She swallowed hard and suppressed Even though deep down  She was way beyond depressed    Such were her ways Of getting through hard days Until one dark night She met someone, a ray of light    In her night sky with no moon He brought the sun and made it a bright noon He saw right through and knew a fix Said,"Fear not, you'll get through this" Poems of hope and joy he wrote In the process of which he made a boat Kept her on it Where in his heart it would float Those poetry hours spent  That optimistic scent Of words so joyful And everything they meant Touched her soul She recovered soon A new girl, as a whole She now saw the noon    The one who drove away the night, she forgot Once in a while, he'd be just another thought   He says he's unaffected He says everything's great ...

It is there deep within, y our heart will enjoy a dose or two in no time it'll turn into an unavoidable habit too few drops of it and you'll feel you are warmed by something whose harm you're never to be informed  you'll be too consumed by it, you'll drink it in lots irony will someday reveal, it was the venom in your thoughts! It will fuel overthinking and make you paranoid you'll feel lost somewhere, in the vast, endless void the world will feel cursed, you'll get back to sip your drink to avoid the reality and the problems in it imposed  by the venom in your thoughts with which you're still dosed! You will hold on to all evil prejudice tight it will provoke you to do so and convince you that doing so is a delight  you'll taint your clean record and replace it with bad deeds then unaware of what you're about to nurture, the venom in your thoughts that will wipe out your future! It will fill your thoughts with jealousy and desire you'll forg...

"Kindness is a gift anyone can afford to give" "You know what? Teenagers are never  understood and if they are at least heard by chance, they are misunderstood!" I started. "Well, that's because your behaviour is beyond one's understanding! Take arrogance, for instance, is that a thing worthy of considering 'cool'?" my grandmother ended. ***** Checkmate! I had nothing to say that could beat her wise remark. It hurt me then and it hurts me now too, to accept it is true. To accept the fact in the teenagers' world that arrogance for teens is cool. That back-answering and passing mean remarks are more playful  and less boring than sweet, kind words. That disrespecting parents is more trendy than getting along well with them. That roasting someone makes you look stronger than supporting someone. That ignoring someone is wiser than acknowledging them. And that, being ignorant, arrogant, and irresponsible is being a perfect mature teenager! Pa...