A Bus Stop Story

It was a normal evening. I walked towards the nearly secluded bus stop. There was a school girl sitting on the bench. She was most probably waiting for the bus. She could have been waiting for her boyfriend. Frankly, whatever reason she was there for, it didn’t concern me. But for all my frankness, if someone asked me about the girl and her looks, I might have lied saying I didn’t notice and ignored her presence. I actually did notice her looks, what she wore, the length of her hairs, the bag she had on her lap. I noticed everything about her because she was beautiful. Enough said, I decided to just observe and be happy. After all, to her I was a total stranger and much older than her. Short term or long term, there was no point in trying to talk to her. A roaring horn interrupted my thoughts. A bus stopped right in front of me. I went into the bus, but noticed the girl was still sitting there with blank eyes. She had beautiful eyes too. I began wondering if she had an older sister like her. The bus sped off instantly. She must have been waiting for her boyfriend after all. And by the blank look on her face, the jerk was late or holding her up.

Two days later, I found myself in Gurgaon. My girlfriend was pretty angry with me for breaking our promise to go on a date this Saturday as my boss sent me to this odd meeting with some other company in Gurgaon. If I had to rise in my job, I had to take up this offer. However the other company turned out to be very co-operative, and the meeting was over in like one hour. It was still afternoon, so I quickly grabbed a burger and fries from McDonalds and went to the bus stop. Unlike the last one, this one was crowded. Heavily crowded. But despite the heavy crowd, something caught my eyes. The same girl I saw two days ago. She was standing in one corner of the bus stop, leaning against a lamp post. She had the same school uniform on her and was holding the same bag. Even the expression of her eyes didn’t change. I looked at my watch. Did she bunk her school or was her school over a long time ago? Good looking girls like her must be from a good family, so there is a high chance that school was over a long time ago. Judging by the look in her eyes I think either she broke up with her boyfriend and didn’t know how to spend her time or her boyfriend was in a perennial habit of being late or holding her up. A bus for Noida stopped. I managed to push through the crowd, got inside the bus and found myself a window seat. Normally, people are thrilled by the achievement of finding a seat in a crowded Indian Bus, but I wasn’t thrilled. I just looked out of the window. The girl was still leaning against the lamp post... with blank eyes.

The next day, after making up with my then angry girlfriend, we decided to meet at a mall in Noida. So, I got early as usual and dressed up like any guy going on a date would. It was still 8:30 in the morning when I reached the bus stop. The Bus stop of Sector Alpha-1 is mostly empty with one or two people at the most waiting for the bus. Today was no different. No. Rather, today should have been no different. Yet it was different. Today, the same girl, in the same school uniform holding the same bag was sitting on the bench. I thought I lost my lower jaw. What is the probability that a girl you saw on a bus stop three days ago and yesterday as well would appear in front of you today. And in the same get up and with the same expression on her face? You do the math. Personally, I’ve had enough of probability while I was in college. I walked up to the bus stop and sat on the bench next to her. My train of thoughts started to rush at supersonic speeds. Firstly, why is she in Greater Noida? I saw her at bus stops in Gurgaon and a rather secluded sector of Noida. What was she doing in Greater Noida?? No, seeing her at Noida and Gurgaon that too in school uniform in two days interval is weird enough. Secondly, I haven’t seen this School Uniform in whole of Greater Noida. No School in Greater Noida has such an elegant girl’s uniform. No. Today is Sunday; she isn’t supposed to be in a School uniform at all! Thirdly why didn’t her expression change? And finally, and the most troubling of all points was – Why did I come across her in Bus Stops only? I mean, if god wanted me to meet my girl of destiny, he could have done it in more romantic spots like a coffee shop or an amusement park. No. Wait. Consider the School Uniform and her looks, she must be in Senior Secondary... 12th grade at the most. That made her too young for me. She could be more like my sister.

But you know, Human Beings have a habit of not saying what they think. I too said something. I know I shouldn’t have said anything at all, but I said something nonetheless, and it wasn’t anything that I was thinking about that time.
“Does your boyfriend have a school uniform fetish?”
Her blank expression changed immediately to total astonishment as she was looking at me with round eyes. I don’t blame her for stumbling verbally; it was an odd question after all.
“I... I don’t have a boyfriend and... “
Her eyes turned into an innocent questioning gaze.
“...what is fetish?”
Huh? Was I too lost in my world of fantasies that I naively assumed that 12th grade girls know what the meaning of fetish is?
“You don’t know what a fetish is?”
“Err... mm... no.” She replied after thinking for a few seconds.
I rubbed my eyes. Either this girl is really that innocent and pure or I was too naive to assume things or maybe she did that on purpose. Whatever the reason was, it’s better if I don’t talk to her.
“It’s OK. Sorry I ever asked you this inappropriate question. Just forget everything about it.”
The girl opened her mouth, but closed it again. She turned her gaze away from me. However, after a couple of minutes passed...
“Excuse me...”
I turned my head towards her. She was still looking away.
“What is it?”
“Mm... nothing...” she looked up at the sky. I think I saw her smile slightly.

I think my curiosity was pretty much out of control now. Firstly I saw this girl in school uniform in three different places. And even though she looked suspicious, strange or whatever... she was good looking. Not only that. Earlier, she had a blank expressionless face. But now she looked... umm... how do I put it in words... content? Yes, that’s it. She looked satisfied and content. I wanted to ask her many questions, like where was she headed to, which school she attended, where she lived, etc. But I decided to bury my curiosity six feet under the ground and pray to God for it to rest in peace. I had already decided to not talk to her. Anyway, it wouldn’t be a good thing to talk to a beautiful girl just before you’re going on a date.

My cellphone rang. It was from a person I didn’t want to talk to. But I picked it up nonetheless.
“Hello Son! Having a blast are you?”
“Dad. Why did you call me?”
“Oh. I wanted you to bring me some drinks the next week. It’s a lot cheaper in Delhi than it is here.”
“Just why do you want all that? I can’t expect or hope any good thing happening with your life.”
“Be more considerate about your father son. I’ve raised you up to be a perfect gentleman.”
Father must have been in a good mood. We usually end up shouting at each other after two lines.
“Not just you. Some part of my life, mom did it”
“Her again? Don’t tell me she contacted you again. I’ll have her killed for this.” Father raised his voice.
“You’d be dead before that. Don’t do anything to mom or say bad stuff about her.”
“Bah! Why don’t you understand the fact that this woman you call your mother is a bad person. She can’t be good at any cost!”
“Go to hell. I thought I’d bring you the booze, but forget it now. I’m not talking to you at all.” I hung off. It’s been a very long time, 17 years I guess, since my mother and father were divorced. I still remember the last time they talked. Or rather it sounded more like a string of loud abuses. I was 9 years old then and was very attached to my mother. She always used to save me from Dad if he thought I had done something wrong or bad... be it a spelling mistake. And then, Dad was mostly at office so I spent more time with Mom. She and I tried to stay in contact after the divorce, but 3 years ago, when I got a job, Dad learnt of this fact and talked to Mom about it. Since then I’ve been unable to call her and she didn’t call me either. It was ever since then that I’ve hated my father. But even then I paid him a visit once in a while. He was after all my father.

...

“Excuse me...” she said in a soft tone again.
“What?” I replied in reflex.
“May I know your name and your occupation?”
Huh? I think this is the second time today that this girl had shot me with an offbeat question. Why would any girl want to know my name, and more so after I have asked a strange question. No wait... This girl didn’t realize that my question was strange. But even so she has no reason to talk to me, let alone know my personal details. Was she trying to flirt with me? Aaarrrghh... I’m thinking too much. It’s rude not to answer if a beautiful girl like her asks for your name. So I told her my name and that I was working as a Manager for an IT company.
“And you?”
“Eh?”
“Well, I’ve introduced myself to you, so naturally I would like to know your name as well.”
“Ah... yes... my name is... umm...”
Oye... why is she having a hard time telling me her name?
“...mm. Yes. My name is Liril.”
I felt my temples. Yes, my body temperature was still normal.
“Are you trying to make fun of me girl? It’s too damn obvious Liril isn’t you’re real name. It’s a very popular soap brand; hence it cannot be anyone’s name.”
“Ah...” she flustered. “Please no! I never meant to make fun of you... it’s just that I...”
“You?”
“I... I can’t tell you my real name. Something bad might happen.”
“Huh?” I shaved and had a proper bath in the morning. Did I still look like a hooligan or a criminal? So I asked her this.
“No... You’re looking fine. You look like a nice man actually.” Her cheeks touched a slight shade of pink.

Man, this was looking more and more like a scenario from those nonsensical Japanese dating games. I just saw one at my friend’s house a week ago, and I still remember the story because my friend had told me the story with full enthusiasm.
“Your bike still not fixed man?” this was the voice of the same guy who played all those nonsense dating sims.
“You, who totalled the bike shouldn’t be the one asking me.”
“Oh... come on now. I wasn’t driving the bike. It was Zee who was driving it.”
“Whoever drove it, I gave it to you. So you’re responsible.”
“Ah! Ok. But I see you’re up early on a date with your girlfriend.” He then faced the strange girl and introduced himself.
“Hi there. I’m Selenium his long time friend. Nice to meet you.”

Damn. This is a real bad situation. The girl was totally thrown back into her confusion or dilemma or whatever, by his sudden introduction. I grabbed his collar and dragged him a meter or two away and finally whispered into his ears.
“Oye, she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Hoh... I thought so because you were chatting quiet cozily. I could see you from a distance.”
“We weren’t chatting cozily. It must have been a figment of your already dangerous imagination. And then, she doesn’t seem like a girl one can trust.”
“Eh? Why is that?”
I let him off. “Because she is innocent and pure as she doesn’t know the meaning of fetish. Yet she won’t tell me her real name. You know what that means right. She has to have a shady past or background.” I turned around. Selenium wasn’t listening to me. He was already facing the soap girl.

“Sorry for the misunderstanding. But what is your name anyway?”
“Mm... my name is Liril.”
“Ah! Unique name. Good. So what grade are you in? Let me guess... 11th?”
“No, I was... no... am in 12th.”
“Hoh... sorry, I thought you were in 11th.”
“Are you also doing a job?”
“Nah... I’m a freelance journalist.”
I had to go and grab Selenium.
“Stop flirting an...”
“Why? She isn’t your girlfriend. That gives me the right to flirt her. Right?” he interrupted me.
“But she could have someone else for a boyfriend.” I said in a matter of fact tone, knowing the fact that she didn’t have any.
“So Liril? Do you have a boyfriend?” Selenium shamelessly asked the soap girl.
“Ah... no.” She was now blusing heavily and shifted away her gaze downward. She finally looked up at Selenium with her head still hung low. “Do you have any girlfriend?”
“Ah! Yes... many. But they don’t compare to you.”
“Ah... please don’t say like that...”
I couldn’t believe how much they were into each other. But honestly, why am I getting angry?

A Bus came and stopped by. I thanked the gods of Buses. I hoped that now the two of them won’t be able to talk. The girl like the last two times would stay back and then I would be at peace.
“The bus is here. Are you gonna come in.”
“The girl looked at the bus. “Ah... yes. I’ll go there too.” Saying this, the girl got up in the bus and so did Selenium. God, take me to the mall as fast as possible.
Having prayed to God, I took a seat by the window. Selenium sat beside me. The soap girl sat at the seat behind us by the window. Why is the bus so damn empty on a Sunday?
“Ya know man...” Selenium said to me in a rather loud tone. Was he loud on purpose?
“... there are many things in life one should do before it’s too late.”
“Where did that come from?”
“The Periodic Table.” This was the prime example of his venomous dialogs. It can kill a 1000 people in 1 second or at least drive them to insanity.
“I’m sorry I even asked you.”
“Well, but think about it. I mean, you were irritated with me for openly flirting Liril, but it is fun when the girl doesn’t mind. Did you mind me Liril?” asked Selenium turning back.
“Umm... no. I think I enjoyed it too. Though...”
Why did she stop?
“Well, see. She understands it. Maybe one day you will too.”
He didn’t notice the incomplete statement. More importantly, I pulled his shoulder towards me. “Hey, her last statement makes it clear now. She has a shady character or background.”
“Hmm... I know that.” Selenium said with a matter of the fact tone. “Say, Liril.” He turned his head to face the soap girl again.
“Err... yes?”
“You know that you sound like a shady character or a trickster when you don’t tell your real name and chat up so easily with strangers?”
The girl looked at him with surprised eyes, but suddenly a smile swept her face. “Yeah. I guess I’m a trickster.” Saying this she looked outside the window.

The bus now stopped at another stop. A few people got in. One particular person sat next to the soap girl and then placed a rather heavy looking bag on her lap. She didn’t even budge. She accepted the heavy looking bag as if she was used to it or knew the person. Well, even if they were close, this didn’t mean that he could do as he wished to her. I believe there are etiquettes one should follow. And this man wasn’t following it. I turned back and was about to lecture him on etiquettes, but Selenium grabbed my shoulders and softly whispered, “Don’t.”
I looked at him. Yes, he was correct. I’m not an acquaintance of that girl or that man. It didn’t matter to me if they were related or not. So I shouldn’t care what the guy is doing to her.

The bus was now a couple of minutes away from my destination. Selenium said something strange again in a rather loud voice.
“Well, when I said that that one should do things before it’s too late... I didn’t mean love alone. There are a lot of things in human relationships that you can realize. For example, if you had to say sorry to someone, you should say it as soon as possible. Maybe the person won’t be there for you to say sorry the next time. Or if you want to talk about promotion with your boss, do it before someone else gets into his good books. It’s with everyone. I met a girl today who didn’t mind me flirting with her, so I flirted. Maybe I won’t have as much fun next time with any girl as I had talking to her today.”

To summarize him, he had fun flirting because Selenium usually never talks to the opposite sex. Why was he having so much fun with her? I turned around to face the soap girl. This time I saw a trail of tears on her cheeks. She was still looking out of the window. “Oye? Are you all right? Why are you crying?”
The man next to her was startled. “Huh? Are you talking to me mister?”
This was annoying. I was clearly facing a girl who was crying next to him. Couldn’t he see? “No, I’m talking abo...”
“Ah! The GIP Mall is here. Let’s get off shall we.” I looked at Selenium in annoyance, then turned back to face the soap girl. But she had already kept the man’s heavy bag on the seat and was already out to follow Selenium. That guy has some good womanizing talents. I wonder why he still doesn’t have a girlfriend.
The bus stopped in front of the mall and we got off.
“I have to go to the On Stage Music Shop. See you some other day.”
“Ya, ok. See you later.” I replied back.
Now the girl was with me alone again. Was it just me or had she really started crying helplessly. She kept sobbing and rubbing her cheeks. And then she did something that shook my conscience at a Richter Scale of 10. She threw herself at me and hugged me tightly digging her face into my chest.
“I’m Sorry. I’m Sorry... I’m very very Sorry. Please forgive me for whatever I’ve done.”
“Heh?” Hold it. Something was very wrong here. Why was she apologizing to me? What did she do?
“But you haven’t done anything to me, why are you apologizing?”
“You may not know... sob ... but I’ve done something bad, so please forgive me. Please... I’m sorry.” The desperate voice resonated through my soul. What did she do? Nothing bad has happened in my life recently. Even if this total stranger of a girl did something bad to me, I felt I could forgive her easily. She did behave like a sweet and obedient girl.
“OK. I forgive you, though I still think it wasn’t necessary. You’ve done nothing.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for forgiving me.” She lifted her face upto me. There was now a content smile on her teary face. She took a few steps backwards, bowed and then said “My real name was Akansha. I’m happy I could meet you while I still could. And Thank you for forgiving me.” She ran away into the crowd. Before I could stabilize my brain and understand my current situation, my sixth sense told me that the Goddess of Death was right behind me to purge my soul to Hell.

“WHO WAS THAT GIRL?” my girlfriend came charging up at me.
“Heh? I don’t know...”
“This is it. I’m sure you must have been having fun with her yesterday. I innocently believed that you were in some meeting... No... Of course, you were in a meeting but with THAT girl! I HATE YOU!! YOU HEAR ME!!! I HATE YOU!!” She shouted all of this in just some odd 10 seconds time. Did that soap girl apologize to me in advance, knowing something like THIS would happen? I was now totally lost, so I decided to use my brain in controlling something more important and immediate.
“Sweety! Wait. It’s not what you think it is. I was in a real company meeting yesterday and this girl was a total stranger...” I pursued my girlfriend and tried to talk her into forgiving me for something I hadn’t done. After one and half hour, she finally calmed down, and made me promise I won’t ever talk to any girl ever again. Then we had our date like any normal couple would have.
After that, the rest of the day, I was upset thinking about that girl. Akansha was her real name. That name suited her. It was soon night time and I fell asleep forgetting everything about her.

The next morning some idiot began ringing my doorbell completely devastating my sleep. I looked at the watch. It was still five ’o clock in the morning. I got up in a sleepy state. The bell kept ringing. It was beyond annoying now. I opened the door and in front of me was Selenium; completely soaked. It was raining rather heavily outside. When had the weather become like this? It was quiet sunny yesterday.
“Give me some shelter man. I was jogging and it suddenly started raining like this.”
I let him in gave him a towel and a change of clothes. While he dried himself, I brewed some tea. Then over tea, I narrated him the incident with the girl after he left.
“So, she was there to say sorry to you.”
This was another living example proving that a guy named Selenium was the most abnormal creature on this planet. Any sane person would think I was joking... at the most show some expression of astonishment. But not only did he not react like that, he even added a statement that made it seem that it was all a commonplace happening.
“Don’t say as if you know everything.”
“No, I don’t know why it said sorry. But I know it was there for some reason.”
“It?” the word caught my attention.
“Ah... well, leave it. Let’s not think about stuff like that. Change topic.”

The phone rang. I got up to answer it. Selenium in the mean time picked up the Economic Times.
“Hello. May I talk to Mr. Srivastava.”
“Hello. Yes, I’m speaking.”
“Mr. Srivastava. I’m Inspector S.K Sinha. I’m an acquaintance of you Late Mother.”
I could feel my body go numb. Did he use the word ‘Late’?
“What the heck are you talking about? What is the meaning of this?”
“Mr. Srivastava. Please listen to me. I’m sorry to break this bad news to you like this. But I felt you absolutely had to know. Your father hasn’t talked about this to you yet has he?”
“No.” I couldn’t say anything else.
“Well, Mr. Srivastava, about your mother’s demise. It was very tragic.”
“Just say it already. I’m running out of patience here.”
“Very well. Actually, five days ago, your sister stabbed your mother with a Kitchen knife before committing suicide by jumping off a bridge. She even wrote a suicide letter in which she took responsibility and asked for your forgiveness in particular.”
Just what was happening here? I could understand the language; I could understand what was that Sinha guy saying... Yet I didn’t understand anything. And then why would that sister of mine ask forgiveness from me particularly?

“...”

“Shit.” I suddenly remembered that soap girl.
“What was her name?” I asked in desperation.
“Whose name?”
“Her daughter’s name? I mean my sister’s name?”
“It is Akansha. You didn’t know it?”
“And what did she write in the letter. Tell me exactly.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember it all. But I can send you a photograph of it. The letter is still in our archives.”
“Please do.” And then I gave him my email address and correspondence address.
I didn’t know if I should thank him or just keep the receiver. After a few moments of silence I just kept the receiver down.
“What happened dude? Something serious?”
“My mother died five days ago.”
“Oh. Sorry...”
“My sister killed her.”
“Ah. That is trag... Eh? You had a sister too?”
“Now that I think about it, when my mother and father got divorced, I had a sister a little less than one year old. She was very small, I and didn’t like her because mom would constantly keep her near to herself. It's been 17 years since then. Of course there is no way I could have remembered her.”
“Sibling rivalry. I have it with my brother too. But I’m amazed. You stayed in contact with your mother even upto your MBA degree didn’t you? She never talked about your sister?”
“She didn’t.” A lot of things weren’t fitting in place. My mind was already numb with the news. Mom, why did you have to die? And above all why did she have to kill her? I felt something trickle down my cheeks. I pictured the time yesterday when the girl cried digging her face on my chest.

I called up my father.
“Hello? Why are you calling so early...”
“Damn You Dad! Couldn’t you tell me what happened to mom! That’s what you were happy about yesterday weren’t you?” I shouted into the receiver.
“Who told you?” replied a cold voice.
“How does that matter? Answer me first. You knew everything about it right? You knew your daughter had killed your ex wife and yet you were happy about it?”
“SHE WAS NOT MY DAUGHTER!”
I was taken aback by his sudden retaliation. He then continued, “Why do you think I divorced your mother in the first place. I had to protect you from her corrupted morals. I could care less about that illegitimate child.”
"..."
I couldn’t say anything. I just kept the receiver back, cursing myself for ever calling my father.
'Why did I ever call him?'
I was upset enough with mom’s news. I didn’t need to know all of this now.

“You’re laptop rang a few bells a few moments ago.”
I went upto my laptop and opened the lid. There was a mail from that Inspector Sinha guy. It had a snapshot of the short letter that she wrote. Her handwriting was shaky, yet way better than mine.

“Mom. I’m sorry I did this to you. But I had enough of you. Enough of myself. Enough of everything. I’ve had enough of you hitting and beating me for coming back home late, when you yourself don’t come back before 10 pm at night. I’ve had enough of your high expectations towards me becoming something I don’t want to be. Even though I worked hard in school to make you happy, you never smiled. But when he calls you, you beam, you smile and you laugh. Why does someone like him bring you happiness, and why does someone like me become a reason for your misery? Why was he the one you thought could save you when you were dying? Why? I don’t know anything now. All I know is that I’ve committed a sin. I don’t regret it. It’s a sin I had to do. And before the Almighty God can punish me; I’ll punish myself. And before I do that, I must apologize to the person who would be hurt the most. Her son, who made her smile in those moments when he phoned her. To him – I’m Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I had to do this. This was the only way out of this hell for me.”

“Mom. Were you that bad?”
I can’t think of anything right now.
“So, now we know what did she say sorry for.” said Selenium who was reading the letter from behind me.

Yes. Now I know why she enjoyed being flirted, why did she say she was a trickster, why didn’t the man notice her, why she left her statements incomplete, why she wept on my chest, and above all, why she said sorry and thanked me for forgiving her.

"She hasn't written everything in this letter. She has still hidden a lot of her feelings. Because of what I observed, she really was a good girl. Even right now I'm unable to fathom why she did this. But well... let it be. I guess you're not going to the office today?" said Selenium.
"Yeah. I guess I can't go." I covered my face with my palms asking myself question I knew I couldn't answer.

=======================================
Author's Note
===============

Well, another short story that is long by blogger standards. I just can't write stories in 2 or 4 pages at all. :(

Well, I was inspired 10% - 15% from "Clannad's Ibuki Fuko's" Arc and the last episode of "School Days". I hoped I would write a realistic "Slice of Life" kind of story but my Unreal imagination did it again and took ideas from these Anime subconsciously. I realized it only after I had finished writing it.

And I got the idea of a girl waiting on a bus stop when a few days ago I saw a good looking college girl waiting for a bus on the bus stop with a sad face. The girl was real beauty though :D

And yes, I've once again showcased my supernatural sensing power... Yay!! ^__^

Please leave comments :)

My never ending list...

Well. It's 12th of February already, and my list of things to do is going already too long... -__-

Well, I have 3 music compositions in the pipeline. One is a simple kind of jolly instrumental (it's the usual stuff when I think about it), one is a song titled "Between Me and I" written by my friend Mr. V. The instrumentation is about 70% complete... I can't make it sound psychedelic enough so I guess it's not gonna finish anytime soon. Finally the last in the pipeline is a song I've titled "The Path of Melancholy" and is this poem/lyric that I've taken from Chocolovers' blog. Well, the song is complete. I just need to sing it. But I won't sing it cause I hate my singing voice just as much as everyone hates my singing voice. I'm right now looking for someone who can sing in the lyrics for me... @_@

Add to that, my new list of Wallpapers to make and my target to 3D-Model my own scene of Unlimited Blade Works and my College and my Exams and the preparations for competitions... *sigh*
I start feeling sad.

Then Mr. V, my old pal enters my room.

Mr. V :: So, are you working on my song.
Me :: Hell with the song. I'm feeling sad. Do something to make me happy.
Mr. V :: Then do what you did last time...
Me :: What did I do last time??
Mr. V :: You wrote a happy happy poem... you said you even posted it in your blog and got praised for it. Try writing a happy poem again...
Me :: Ya, but how come love is the only happy happy topic that appeal to people. I surely won't post stuff on my blog that people won't like. I use it to showcase my creativity. It'll be the end of me if I start writing same kind of stuff all the time.
Mr. V :: Hoh... is love the only thing that can bring happiness to people?
Me :: Hmm... well cold coffee from Cafe Coffee Day works for me... so does Pizza... and some good stuff like KFC and Yo! China...
Mr. V :: Why are you underweight??
Me :: That's not the damn issue here... tell me what thing other than love and relationships can make people write happy poems?
Mr. V :: Why not your coffees and pizzas and KFCs... they can make you happy right? That's all that matters. For the Creator, it doesn't matter what people like when he creates. It matters to him what he should showcase to the people from his vast pool of creations. You agree to this right?
Me :: Hmm... yes. You do have a strong point here. This means you're suggesting I write songs about Coffee, Pizzas and all the junk food.
Mr. V :: Ya sure. It can't be bad knowing it's coming out of you.
Me :: I'm not that confident about myself you know...
Mr. V :: Just give it a try man. See, I can write poems and songs about weed, cigarettes and Alcohols. You can do better and with a more widespread and acceptable theme of "Food"
Me :: ... -__-

This guy convinced me to write something as mundane and abnormal as a happy poem on Junk food.

Add to this fact that I already have a horde of short stories I wanna write so badly... *sigh*
God... why did you give me a brain that just doesn't stop dreaming??

But then, our train of thoughts were immediately destroyed by "WEEDLOVER", my senior who dragged us out from our rooms to play Counter Strike. "@s|-| and >:D, come in 10 minutes to play CS otherwise I'll "..." (Insert objectionable language in place of the three dots). It seems the people love me as a retro player in Counter Strike, so add that to my never ending lists of things to do. *sigh*

We Dreamers have such a tough life...

P.S. By the way... I play Counter Strike with a screen name of >:D or Killy...

An Evening of Confession

A bright orange sunrise
A sparkling velvet ground
"Is this a Dream?"
An near empty side walk

All that was there
Were flowers so colorful
"Is this for real?"
They were smiling and cheerful

A Scent of flowers swept by
The orange sun lit up the smile
"Such beautiful eyes!"
My eyes were hazed for a while

Not just the smile
The whole figure shone
"Is she an angel?"
I was there alone

She walked up to me
My heart is pounding
"This isn't a dream."
She's right in front of me,
Smiling

I was waiting for you
I'm happy you came
"Were you waiting for long?"
No, I know the time you come

I know the time you come here
Because I was always watching you
"And I too couldn't help but watch you"
And that's why I've come here

I can't help but tell you
I wanted you to know
"And I too wanted to tell you"
I want you, I love you

I hugged her gently
I caressed her long hairs
"You are my Angel"
And then she said
You are My World.

=============

Despite my lousy Poem writing skills (or so I think...) I wrote it in 15 minutes - This is the fastest poem I've written till date (which otherwise takes a few days). And yes, I wrote it out of my own mental frustration of not coming across any "Non Sad" poems all over the internet and the blogs I follow. So, thanks to Chocolover and Samadrita for driving me nuts with their really good but really emotional poems about sad girls (No offence or sarcasm to them here... Don't take it the wrong way Please... -__-). This poem is here because they indirectly motivated me somehow...

And yes, I wrote this while listening to the OST of "ef - A Tale of Memories" that is composed by TENMON and Eiichiro Yanagi. Their Beautiful compositions (which include "I'm here...", "Forget me not" and "Countdown") gave me the imagery to write this poem. I recommend this Anime to all anime lovers and the OST to all Music lovers. The music is really superb in this Anime OST... truly inspiring for me. :)

Unforeseen Chronicles of a Smoker

Selenium barged into the room, and for a moment regretted going in there. A fat guy lay on the bed face up with a cigarette between his fingers and smoke coming out from his nose in the already smoke filled room. "Pump? Are you alive?"

"What is the matter?" replied Pump as he placed the cigarette on his lips.

"We have a presentation to give the day after. My bad luck is on the work and you're
in my group."

"Get to the point."

"Choose your part of the presentation."

"Decide it for me."

"Don't come complaining to me later if I choose it for you."

"I won't if you make it an easy one."

Selenium gave a shriek. DG had grabbed his shoulders from behind completely surprising him. "Damn, you scared the crap out of me man"

"And that's why I love you man..." was what DG said

Selenium was naturally grossed out by this reply, but then he noticed DG's blood shot eyes. "You smoked joints again today? How many?"

"Man, just two"

"The God of Cigarettes may one day get angry at you for two timing with weed you know."

"Who is the God of Cigarettes?"

"Who knows. We have 33 million Gods and Goddesses. There has to be one for cigarettes."

"You know what we call him?"

"No. But because we don't know His name, so we can call Him anything we like."

"Like?"

"Smokey. Sounds like an apt name."

"Why is it an apt name?"

"Will you guys shut the hell up." Pump interrupted irritated.

"And just how many joints did you take today?" asked Selenium to Pump

"Just four."

"And you won't believe what this sorry excuse of a human did today?" said DG

"Like what?" asked Selenium

"You know we take the tobacco out from the cigarettes and fill them with weed instead."

"What about it?"

"This guy took all the waste tobacco and rolled himself some cigarettes with the paper from the copy."

"Wha..."

"Told you he is a sorry excuse for a human. Doing this to a class notes copy. Can't forgive him."

"Shut up you two." said Pump with more irritation than before.

"Meaning he must have smoked more than 6 cigarettes by now?"

"14 actually. This was the total number of cigarettes"

"The God of Cigarettes may just as well call him to hell to smoke with him."

"You mean Smokey?"

"Ya, but... Pump. I'll come back tomorrow. So be in your senses... *cough cough* damn, I'm at my limit now." Selenium rushed out of the room.

DG lay beside Pump. "You know Pump, you may die before me."

"That'd be great. At least I won't have to come to your boring Funeral."

"Meaning you would if I die before you?"

"Shut up and go to sleep" said pump with a highly irritated tone.

"..."

Pump's head was spinning in frenzy and the words that Selenium said flashed across his eyes like disco lights.

                                          Gods of Cigarettes?

                                                        Angry?

                                                                      Punishment?

                            Death?

His head kept spinning and spinning. He finally began to feel that smoke was filling
up his room. Who cared about Gods and Goddesses. He just enjoyed the Euphoria and
intoxication of the smoke of cigarettes and weed. The smoke was now too dense... or
was he falling asleep? Either way, he couldn't see anything. There was a booming
sound. Then there was a banging sound. The volume of the banging sound kept increasing by the minute. Finally Pump woke up shouting "WHO THE HELL IS IT??!?!?"

X-------------------X-----------------------X

An old and fragile voice greeted him. "Are you finally Awake?" Pump was startled by a
voice that sounded like it came from an old woman. He couldn't think of any prankster
in the whole hostel who could pull off such an imitation perfectly. He turned his
face left to face the source of his astonishment. Even more astonishment awaited him.
In front of him was really an old lady, clad in a long black robe that covered her
head. Due to this he couldn't see her face properly. All he could make out was the
wrinkled chin and white hairs. There was a small knife kept on her lap... to this Pump
thought - 'Cutting fruits for grand-kids???'

CRASH!

"What the..." Pump's attention now turned to the background and his surroundings. The
sky was a surreal shade of purple studded with bright stars and the horizon not
visible due to a light mist. He was sitting on a glass floor... 'No... it's not a
floor...' was what Pump noticed. He was on something that looked like a glass tree
with a tree house... only with no leaves.

             

BANG!

Pump's attention again turned to the blood curdling banging and crashing sound. His
eyes popped out and his blood didn't just curdle... it froze completely.

"Are they dinosaurs?!?!" he exclaimed in a weak voice. His expression showed fear as
he saw the beast that really resembled dinosaurs, and there were a dozen of them
around. The old woman finally replied "Don't worry, they won't make it till here. The
barrier will burn them."

"Barrier?" Pump was puzzled. However, his face still showed an expression of fear.

Suddenly smoke and steam hissed out from the cracks of the ground. The purple horizon
turned to shades of orange and red, the atmosphere was more misty than it was before.
An inferno of fire reaped out of the ground. The fire was fierce and it's temperature
hit Pump. He in impulse got up to run but a frail voice stopped him. "Don't go. If you
go down, you'll burn to crystals and if you go up, you'll freeze into a crystal." Pump
stopped instantly. 'Well, it makes sense that one may freeze into a Ice crystal, but
burn into crystal???' This time he was more puzzled than afraid. He turned around and
he saw the dinosaurs turn to glass like crystals and crumble to the ground. "I don't
believe it!" was all he could say. His expression was now that of complete awe, yet
his feet trembled. He was maybe too overwhelmed by the emotion of fear and amazement
hitting him together. As the giant beasts crumbled, Pump turned and sat down in front
of the woman.

"Old Lady. Where the heck am I?"

"We should be on the tree of atonement."

"Atonement? What am I atoning for?"

"It's just a name. This tree has no real purpose."

"Hold it! You mean I'm on some tree right now???"

"Yes. Does it not look like a tree to you?"

"Uh..." Pump looked up at the translucent branches. "Tree is made of wood right...
What the hell." Pump shook his head. "That's not what I want to know, tell me what place is this. I was in my room a few moments ago and now I'm here in this... " he paused "... this hell!" he said as he stretched his hands towards the beasts burning in the inferno. "I do not know where you come from son, but I also don't know what place is this, how does it look like or even who or what lives here. You see, I'm blind and my other senses have become very weak." she coughed.

"Huh? Then how did you get up here?"

"A girl brought me here. She said, she'll make me wear a robe, give me a knife and put me in this safe place."

"Anything else that she said?"

"That I've been put here on a purpose. To help lost people like you escape."

"Escape?" Pump's jaw dropped at this statement "This means I'm stuck somewhere and from this somewhere I have to get out."

The fire died down and the sky was slowly turning into it's shade of purple again. The mist cleared a bit but not completely.

"You don't have much time son. Now leave while the barrier is still inactive. Follow the purple sunset from here. You will arrive at a forest that you must cross." She coughed again and then continued "While crossing the forest you will come across a small hut adjoining a lake. You should cross the lake to reach the gates that will allow you to return to your realm."

"But old lady, how do I cross the lake... no... first how do I go from here?"

"Sorry son. I've told you all that I know. You are on your own from this point on. If  you just follow the purple sunset then you should arrive at your destination."

"What the..." Pump looked at the old lady. He was still having a hard time thinking.

'Am I dreaming?' he thought and then shook his head to look at the sky. This sight, the smell of burning ash and this cool weather... no... this felt too real to be a dream.

"Now go son. If you waste your time and run out of it, then you may never be able to leave this place."

"Wha..." Pump's dropped jaw dropped even lower and instantly he got up. He looked around and saw a glass ladder that seem to lead down. He went upto it and put one foot. 'I think it won't break' and then he continued to descend down the ladder. Once he got down, he looked around. 'And this place was burning a few minutes ago??' he pondered as he looked around. He was standing midst a practically dry and flat desert with occasional crystal bushes and... 'Crystal cactus??' he wondered as he looked towards a cactus shaped crystal. 'Just where am I???' he asked himself again and then finally started walking towards the purple sunset.

So his journey to the end of this desert had started. He kept walking without rest. At one point he got tired. He thought he'd sit for a moment but then the picture of the dinosaurs and the fiery inferno flashed across him and he immediately started walking briskly. He was more afraid of the beast than falling dead of exertion. A long time had passed since he had left the Tree of... 'Huh? What the...' he slapped his forehead. 'I even forgot the name of that damned tree.' But something more serious was on his mind. 'Just how long has it been?' and then immediately something even more strange struck him 'Will this purple sunset ever set?' he thought as he looked at the perfect circular sun hanging down from the sky in front of him. He kept walking and walking. 'Was the Old Woman reliable. Or was she having fun out of me...', and just when he was about to loose hope of ever finding a Jungle, he saw a line of trees up ahead of him. He felt relieved. 'No, the Old woman wasn't lying.' and he walked on. But by now he had very well lost track of time.

As he started crossing the jungle, the ground became uneven and difficult to just walk over. He had to jump and run sometimes. His eyes were having a hard time as the jungle didn't look green. It was dark blue and black. Rather, everything was blue, black and purple. 'Is it because of the color of the sunlight?' He continued walking and after some time he became really tired. He sat under a tree. 'Dinosaurs or no dinosaurs, I've done enough workout this time... Mom would be very happy to see me loose some weight.' He was breathing heavily but soon he fell asleep. After some time, he woke up with a startle 'Hospital? What was I doing at a hospital...' he pondered over the dream he had. A dream about him being in a hospital and needles stuck throughout his body. The very thought of it gave him chills and made him uncomfortable. 'Strange... it was a dream in the normal world. So should I be happy?' But something else hit his head like a hammer. 'Damn! How long was I asleep?!' he got up and his blood froze instantly. Towards him, from a far off distance, where three dogs running and drooling. The dogs were nothing like what he had seen or heard of before. Their eyes glimmered. One had glowing green eyes, the other had shining orange and the third had sparkling blue eyes. Despite his frozen blood, Pump made a run for his life. The three dogs too chased him ferociously. He ran with all his might, and turned his head periodically to see how far away was he from them. Strangely enough, the dogs covered the distance slowly. It was natural. Any dog can outrun a person as fat and sluggish as Pump. But he was becoming more and more afraid because as the dogs covered the distance between them, they became larger and larger in size.

Pump didn't run for a very long time. A hut suddenly appeared before him. He didn't stop running and barged into the hut and immediately closed the door shut behind him.

"Whoa!!!" a middle aged speckled man with a long white beard and long white hairs, wearing a Sadhu type dress exclaimed.

"HELP ME! HELP ME! THERE ARE MAD DOGS AFTER ME!!"

"Calm down lad. The dogs you talk of won't harm you here. If you don't believe me you can look out of the window." Pump who was still panting heavily slowly turned his body and looked out of the window that was to the right of the door. "Wha..." Pump's jaw dropped to the floor yet again. The three dogs were sitting, still drooling looking through the window with extreme intent. But Pump's jaw didn't drop because of this. His jaw dropped because he was looking at three dogs that were the size of a Small van.

"Aye lad. Come here now."

Pump turned around. The white bearded man was sitting on a corner with a laptop. Pump walked up to him. "What is it?"

"What is your name?"

Pump told his full name. The man typed something and then looked deeply at the screen.

"Hmm... so you're basically lost."

"Yes." Pump felt a lot like what he felt when talking to the old lady.

"Here, stretch your right arm to me."

Pump complied. The old man stamped his right wrist with two circles.

"Here, now the dogs won't chase you."

"Eh? How come?"

"You were lost up till now. The dogs there serve to protect this area."

"Huh?"

"Ah! Forget it. Now you must retur..."

"HIYA OLD MAN!!!" came a super cheerful voice as the door barged open. Pump noticed a long... really long line of people. 'Where did they come from? They weren't here before...'

"Ah! you two. It took you quiet a while to get them eh? I was getting bored here."

'Two?' Pump looked back at the door. Indeed outside was another cheerful girl in the same dress as the one that came into the room. 'No. Wait. They are the same girl?!?!' Pump's eyes popped out. The two girls were strikingly similar. Pump looked to and fro as the first girl talked to the bearded man. He couldn't find any difference between them save their expression. The girls were exceptionally beautiful and had well toned figures. They were wearing some Chinese-Japanese dress. 'They don't look Chinese to me... more like French.' thought Pump. But his train of thoughts was derailed almost immediately as a brute force grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him outside. It was the first girl.

"You don't have time to be lazing about you know" came a commanding voice.

"Hhe?"

"And Enma... don't forget what I told you. OK?" spoke the old man.

"Aye Aye" instantly replied the first girl.

Pump was (mercilessly) dragged out of the house. The expression of the other girl changed. Her eyebrows were raised and had a look of concern. "Nee-Chan, we could have just asked him to come with us. I'm sure he would have followed..." The three ferocious dogs were nowhere to be seen. "Ai. We'll talk on the boat. And don't worry about him. We'll just drop him at a place before the next batch gets here."

"O... Ok." was all the other girl could say. 'Isn't she adorable...' was what Pump began to think when the other snapped in.

"Hey fatso! No comparing me with my sister OK. I know she's adorable, but you're yet to taste me." Pump who was still being dragged looked up. There was a vicious smile that had evil written around it looked down on him. Something struck him. Did she look familiar. '... like a witch? Where have I seen a witch before?' and then he suddenly remembered the old lady saying that a girl had brought her here.

"Yes, that girl was me." the first girl said. Pump felt a knot tie up his stomach.

'How did she...'

The first girl let go of his collar but didn't turn back. Pump flopped to the ground like a sack of rice. "How did I know what you were thinking? Because in this realm, thoughts don't exist... and neither does speech. However, words and language do. So, in your terms, when you think, you are just conveying a string of words and sentences from your inner self that anyone around you can read or in your terms "hear". We are here right now to take you back to your realm. So, until you get there..." the first girl turned towards Pump who had stood up and was now brushing his jeans "... don't dare to look down upon me or think of bad things about my sister." said the first girl as she gave a smile that froze Pump completely. 'Never before have I seen such a scary expression.'

"And never you will..." the first girl turned her face around and started walking again.

"Errmm... excuse me." The other girl looked at Pump with a lot of concern "Let us go now. You really don't have much time." The girl never opened her lips... she just looked at him. This was when Pump realized that he never saw the old woman's chin move up or down when she talked.

"Ya let's go." said Pump. He said it because he was a human and not used to this realm.

The trio then walked up to the lake's coast. There was a huge ship there.

"Is that the Titanic?" Pump asked in awe.

Pat came the reply "This boat has no name."

'Which one said it?'

"Who cares who said what?"

"Ah... ya... right"

They climbed the stairs to get up the boat. The boat was indeed huge. They walked up to what Pump would recognize as the ship's control room on the top. One among the two pulled a lever and the boat's engines fired up. 'Where is the rest of the crew?' Pump wondered.

"We are the only ones who run the boat. There is no one else"

Pump wasn't getting used to this. 'Better talk than think'

"That's right. Just talk and don't think"

The boat now steered and sailed towards the setting sun.

"Does the sun ever set here?" asked Pump.

"No. This is the land of the eternal sunset."

"Any idea how could I have gotten here?"

"No. But you could go back because you had intentions to come here."

"Heh? How did I intend to come here."

"When you leave this place, you might know. After all it's you who knows how you live your life."

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Who were those people outside the hut?"

"People who need permission to stay in this realm. Otherwise hazards like those three wolves would come and destroy you."

"They were wolves?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"I thought they were dogs."

"If they heard this, they'd come and kill you even if you had permission."

"Ah... well..."

There was silence again. Pump noticed that neither of the two looked at him. Both looked out of the window. One had her hand on the steering and the other stood in front of a different panel of controls. Pump decided to gaze out of the window too. He stood up and started looking out of the window. The Purple color didn't seem to change and the lake looked like some modern painting. But soon the scenery outside started changing color a bit. Things began to turn blue. Initially it was dark blue and now it turned to lighter shades of blue. Pump looked at the sky. 'So finally the sun is rising now... rise??... Hold it...'

"Weren't we leaving the land of eternal sunset? Why is the sun rising now. It should set right?"

"No... the sun is rising because we are on our way to the land of eternal sunrise." the girl on the controls replied.

"Wha..."

"Sis here means that the sun doesn't rise or set because of the time of the day. It doesn't happen here because the time dimension doesn't work here. So, the sun rises or sets by the location." said the other girl on the steering.

"..." Pump was having a hard time finding where his lower jaw dropped off too.

"And we're gonna reach the coast of afternoon soon. See that... at the distance you can see the coast."

Pump got up to see. "Indeed there is a coast... but why were so many people there?"

"They are waiting for us to take them to the land of eternal sunset. Which reminds me..." one of the girls turned around. She had to be the first one as she had a scary smile on her face. Pump got the chills. "... we don't take people for free. We demand proper payment for this journey." she narrowed her eyes on Pump. "What will you pay us?" Instinctively Pump reached for his pocket. But it was empty. "You don't have money... but don't worry. We don't necessarily need money as a payment. We can take other things." continued the girl as she came close to Pump. Maybe a little too close.

Pump was definitely scared now. "L... Like?"

"Like your flesh. In this realm, the flesh tastes better than the soul." and the girl went on to lick Pump's cheeks. He could feel her warm breath on his skin. He was now so freaked out that he pushed her away but fell down as he lost his own balance. "Isn't he cute..." came a similar voice but definitely from somewhere else. The other girl now walked towards him with a smile like a young girl's who was given her favorite doll as a gift. "... acting all shy and scared. He's turning me on."

"OOOHHHH! Now it's done. We'll now definitely have your flesh!" said the other girl in a clear excited voice as she started to go on top of him.

"But why..."

Pump felt something suck him down. His head spun like a cooler fan and he felt he would throw out any moment. He closed his eyes, but soon the spinning stopped and what started felt like a never ending fall. Pump opened his eyes and screamed.

'What?'

In front of him was a nurse trying to push him down. "Sir Please calm down, relax and lie down." Pump suddenly realized... 'I'm in a Hospital?' He felt weak and couldn't resist the nurse's force. He lay flat on the bed now. "That's it sir. Please stay like this while I call the doctor." She immediately rushed out. Pump looked around. There were needles stuck on both his arms and he had a oxygen mask over his face.

'The nurse was good looking. I wonder when will she push me down again?' was all he thought after that.

--------------X-----------------X-------------------

Pump was sitting on the bench in front of the canteen.

"Feeling better dude?" asked Selenium. He was just passing by.

"Ya kinda."

Selenium sat by his side. "So tell me what did you dream about?"

Pump looked at him with some amazement. "How can you say I had a dream?"

"Well, to stay asleep for full 4 days and not dream is simply boring. I'm sure your brain must have dreamt something out of boredom."

"Well, if you care to call that a dream."

"Go on. I'm all too curious to know."

Pump then started his story about the old woman and narrated his tale up to the two twin girls who were going to eat him (or something like that). "Not worth believing. I tell you, I'm happy that it wasn't all too real."

"Are you sure it wasn't real?"

"What?"

"You said in your story that all felt too damn real to be a dream. And then the old man with the laptop, the three wolves, the twin girls, and both are named "Enma and Ai"... damn it's the same name as the anime."

"You mean to say I was in one of your Japanese nonsense?"

"No... maybe you didn't notice. You know who is Chitragupt?"

"Eh? Isn't he the guy who speaks out the karma of all the dead people from a book, so that Yamaraj (God of Death) may decide whether to send him to heaven or hell?"

"Ya... him. That old man with the white beard must have been him."

"Jeez... you..."

"Wait. Let me finish..."

"... Ok."

"And then you said three wolves and the twin girls who steer a huge boat. In Greek mythology, after a person dies, one goes to the underworld which can only be reached by crossing a huge river. There is a boatman who'll give you ride to cross the river, if you can pay him. And guess what? The gates of the underworld is guarded by three dogs."

Pump looked at Selenium with some amazement. "You mean to say that all this time I had been..."

"... yes. I'm afraid you paid a visit to the underworld, or in other words... the realm of death. Now I remember. Mom told me that whenever a person dies two death gods or death messengers come to take the dying person's soul. The fact that the boat was run by some twins seems to fit the description. And then it also fits that Anime... Girl from Hell."

"Selenium..." Pump said putting his hand on his forehead.

"What?"

"Listen. I want to think it was all a dream. And then how do you explain the fact that I had some time to get back here before I was stranded there forever. No... How did I get there in the first place? Can you give me a logic for that? You can't. And hence it was all a dream."

Selenium went into deep thought. After a couple of minutes "Do you know the reason why you went to the hospital?"

"Ya... something like lack of oxygen or something."

"When one's body lacks oxygen, he is nearer to death. You were very near to death. But you fell unconscious and accidentally fell or got lost into the underworld. There you were able to come back because the gates remained open for you but closed to the rest of the world."

"I'm loosing you."

"Well, you know that the girls brought you to some gate to come back to this realm?"

"Yes... something like that did happen..."

"That gate remained open because it was waiting for your body to come here. No... I should say the gates to underworld start opening when you indulge in a habit that shortens your life."

"What habit shortens my life??"

"Smoking."

Pump was aghast. "You mean, because I smoke... I was able to come back to this world. Smoking saved me?"

"No you idiot. You came back to this realm because the Gates to the underworld didn't close yet. The Gates to the Underworld close as slowly as it opens. Because everytime you smoke, you shorten you life... by 7 minutes I think or something like that... and then the Gate opens up a little in anticipation of you to come here. And once you dropped into the Underworld, the Gate started closing slowly for you. Once the Gate closed completely, you wouldn't have come back. But you made it before the Gate closed. I'm happy to see you here man." Selenium patted Pump's back.

"Hey... you're making this all up right?"

"Ah!" Selenium let out a sigh "Yes... kinda. But hey! It fits the description of your dream."

"Damn you! Trying to have fun of the sick me... just get lost!"

"Brr..." Selenium shivered a bit "Some bad presence. I'm going now. Maybe the boat girl came back to get your body."

"Shut the hell up." Pump said in annoyance.

But Selenium had already got up and walked into the canteen. Pump layback on the bench's backrest. He took a deep breath. Then he felt something nibble his ears. He turned around in reflex.

"I still haven't taken your flesh... I'm here to take it."

Pump screamed and started running away.

"No wonder Sis... you like him so much. I guess we'll stay here for a few weeks ne?"

"Yes sure please." came a similar voice from behind. The two girls started walking towards the direction where Pump had run off to. Maybe he was promising to all the 33 Million Gods and Goddesses that he'd quit smoking if they got rid of the twins??


==========================
Author's Note
--------------


Well, I got the idea thanks to a Schrei's Blog about smoking and some of my real life friends who smoke like Hell. Thanks a lot Pump (his name isn't Pump, but then P,U and M are the letters that appear in his name :P) for being my main character (though I didn't take his permission or anything), DG for his strange behavior.


And yes... Selenium is me. I like to show off my supernatural sensing abilities (Yay!)
If you've come this far here. Thank you for reading my story which by blogger standards is really long.
Please do comment about this strange story. Criticism is allowed :D The critics can't make me sad :D


EDIT : I'm writing this on my 12th edit. I've edited this post this many times to fix spelling and grammatical mistakes. If there are still some... forgive me. After all, I'm no Ph.D in English...