Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Chasm

Please note that this has nothing to do with Rohini, Advait or anybody that belongs to that perfect little universe I've created; Ashi refuses to stop being difficult.

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Chasm

Her silence had once meant warmth: she'd been content to disappear into the kitchen when they'd had guests, to blush modestly at the affectionate compliments on the warm chai and pakodis. And she'd been content to let her husband carry on the conversation.

There was something remote and heavy, now, about her silence. She sat there, head bowed, wishing she had something to say to her visitors. Sometimes, the lull in the conversation would fill with praise of her husband. But silence would creep into the room again, and she’d find herself wishing that they’d leave soon, that they hadn’t come in the first place.

The months rolled by, and visitors thinned, and one evening, when she came back from work to an empty house, she thought that the accident had not just snatched her husband from her, but an entire family.

(145 words)

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