Everyday Inspiration, Day Ten : Let the Scene Write Itself

Day Ten: Let the Scene Write Itself

   “On Location,”

It’s Monday morning, I get ready to walk over to the distant mailbox to pick up my mail. It took me a while to get there, I noticed people going to work, a girl walking with her  book- bag  on her back, she seemed unhappy, perhaps forgot to do her homework or something else. Who cares I tell myself I must concentrate on walking and picking up my mail.

I open the box, the mail I expected were smiling, yes Ranu here we are, time to catch the bus to pay the bills. 

I look at my watch, the route number Two is coming in five minutes. I thank God, I’m so pleased I did not miss it. Waiting along with me are three women each doing their own thing, one is smoking, oh dear I say, second-hand  smoking is more dangerous than actually smoking. I have no choice I cannot move, it’s no use telling the woman to stop.

I see route number Two coming, I get on scan my card, turn around to get a seat, suddenly I thought there was no seat, they were full . I wait, next minute I saw a small vacant space, beside it I see a teeny tiny little girl sitting quietly. I sat down and said, Hello, her head started to lower, I’m puzzled I look at the lady sitting on the other side, she smiled, this is my daughter, she’s very shy with strangers, she won’t lift her head until it’s time to get off.

A voice in me reminds , hey you taught kids for eons, come on speak to her. I say, ‘Hi,’ It’s time for me to get off. She lifts her little head, extends her hand, I hold it and shake it, but she held on wouldn’t let go. I said I have to go, suddenly she releases my hand and raises her palm, Oh I say hi five, mom says yes, the older sister nods, we smile I get up and get off the bus.

On my way to the bank I kept thinking about the little girl and felt pleased that I spent all those years teaching little kids, they are truly amazing!

……………………………………. 🙂 

 

Daily Prompt: Middle Seat

It turns out your neighbor on the plane/bus/train(or the person sitting at the next table at the coffee shop)is a very chatty tourist.Do you try to switch seats, go for a non-committal brief small talk, or make this person your new best friend?

Only recently I was traveling to Montreal with my daughter, my seat was in the middle, my daughter took the aisle seat, the occupant of the window seat hadn’t arrived yet. I was hoping it would stay vacant, squeezing herself in the aisle was the occupant, there was hardly any room for me to stand to let her in. I could only apologize and say, ” I’m Sorry, there is no room for me  to stand, can you hop on over?”

She seemed a delightful person, she replied, “yes I can.”

I thought she will say something, from the time she sat down which was two and a half hours, till the time the plane landed, she stayed quiet. Occasionally I saw her taking pictures of what she could see outside,which didn’t seem much.

I didn’t have to change my seat, I was happy I didn’t have to, the airline charges $30.00 dollars if the passengers want to change seats. I know because we had to pay that amount  they put us far away from each other,even though we bought the tickets at the same time, not separately, my daughter bought both the tickets.

……………………………… 🙂

Writing 101, day one: Unlock your mind

I got ready to pick up my prescription from the pharmacy. I was out of the house in a jiffy, as I turned the corner of my house to get to the bus stop , I saw the bus whizzing by me. Thirty minutes , I had to wait for the next one, to get the time moving I went to the next stop . I noticed I had twenty two more minutes to kill, I came back to my stop, still there was more time left.

I was frustrated but chose to wait the ten minutes I was required to. The bus came I got on and after five minutes I was in front of the pharmacy. I walked in picked up my medicine. I turned around and started walking to the bus stop to get on the bus and get home. I checked my watch and realized I didn’t have to walk so fast to get to the stop for the bus. There was ten minutes left for the bus to arrive. The bus came late. Sometimes I feel the hands of the clock refuses to move when I want it to.

Finally I saw the bus coming, I was the first to get on. The anxiety of waiting took a toll on my mind I was exhausted when I got home.

The felines were sleeping sound, I tried to wake them up, they were not in a mood, “come on Gabriel, Raphael wake up and eat your lunch,” they didn’t care.

I turned on my computer to send an email, I got the most tiresome message,”sorry we cannot connect to the internet try again later.”

I went to the kitchen and made a sandwich for me. “This was my day, tell me if yours was better.”

DP Daily Prompt: Once Upon a Time

Tell us about something that happened to you in real life last week–but write it in the style of a fairy tale.

It was a very chilly and windy morning, I dressed up to go out to pay my bill,I thought I did not need to take my scarf, I made a wrong decision despite my warm Eddie Bauer long coat and a hood to go with it,I should have taken my scarf because the cold wind found a way to reach my neck.I stood waiting for the bus, which I thought would come in ten minutes , this was not my day, the bus took twenty minutes and I was cold, the bus finally arrived I managed to get to my destination.

I found the teller  free,  paid my bill. I knew I had to go to the mall to take care of some chores, I crossed the street to get the bus again, it was the same story I had to wait for the bus this time fifteen minutes,the wind was slightly calmer. When I reached the mall I went to get my chore done ,found the woman busy and  not in a hurry to serve me. I told myself “it’s all right, after this I’d go straight  in the comforts of my warm home.”

My home is not too far from the mall, there are four stops and then my stop, I do not remember ever being so eager to get home, the cold wind,snowbanks everywhere, was enough to encourage me to go home.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/dp-daily-promp…ce-upon-a-time/

DP Daily Prompts: Trio No. 3

Today you can write about anything,in whatever genre or form, but you must mention a dark night, your fridge, and tears(of joy or sadness your call).

Yesterday was a hectic day for me, I went out to run some errands that I put off to do later, it suddenly struck me those are very important things I’ve neglected to do.

Actually I was unmotivated to do them because the weather wasn’t conducive to go out, I waited Monday and  Tuesday for the weather to clear up, it wasn’t showing any signs of improvement.

I gave up expecting for  a decent day to do the  things, so yesterday I went, it was cold, windy and unpleasant. I ignored all that and took the bus to one of the stores to get a piece of hardware I needed, there were two places I planned to go, the hardware store was closed with a large sign which said,”Grand opening on the 30th October.”

I went to the second place and luckily it was open , there was only one person working and the line was long. When my turn came I asked to see someone, to get my things done. I took care of it with the help of a nice lady.

I came out, walked over to the bus stop, luckily the bus arrived a few minutes later, I decided instead of going home I must go to the Mall to see the store general manager, he was not available so, “I was unable to kill two birds with one stone.”

I came home tired, I didn’t take a nap but watched tennis lying down, I don’t recall how I fell asleep I did have the intention to continue watching the match, I cannot remember how long I napped, when I opened my eyes it was already past my bedtime, I was hungry , it was a dark night, it looked even darker because of the thick clouds, I thought I’d stay in bed and go back to sleep.

I could not go back to sleep I was too hungry I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t eat something, I went to the kitchen and opened my fridge door hoping to find something delicious to eat, there in the fridge was a dish of Biriyani (rice, meat and potatoes) it was left by my daughter. Tears of joy came directly from my heart, how thoughtful is she, “God bless you” I said quietly.

I warmed up  the food in the microwave oven and sat down to eat, after the meal, I thanked God for providing me the best food that night!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/dp-daily-prompts-trio-no-3

 

DP Daily Prompts: Ready,Set,Done

Our weekly free-write is back: take ten minutes– no pause–to write about anything–unfiltered and unedited.You can publish the post as-is or edit a bit first–your call.

It is 4.52 p.m. in my neck of the woods. I went out to run an errand. I had to wait for twenty minutes to the  place I intended to go.the bus took its time to show up I was freezing, it seems winter cannot  wait to show its face. Well the bus came i boarded it got off several stops later. Got my stuff, came to the stop to catch the bus to come home. Another twenty minutes it took for the bus to arrive.

I was on my way home, unfortunately I rang the bell one stop earlier, stayed in my seat and pull the string again for the stop, apologized to the bus driver for my mistake, came home and fed the kittens, they were glad to see me I think.

Now I am writing this, the time allowed is ten minutes only, oh I have two minutes left,the kittens are sleeping I am writing, still writing, I am nervous I do no know how many mistakes I made still writing, writing , done!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/02/dp-daily-prompts-readysetdon

 

DP Daily Prompts: Middle Seat

It turns out that your neighbor on the plane/bus/train( or the person sitting at the next table at the coffee shop) is a very, very chatty tourist.Do you try to switch seats, go for a non-committal small talk, or make this person your new best friend?

On a plane sitting in the middle is very uncomfortable,the planes now a days have very little room to stretch your legs, so when I’m stuck in the middle it means I do not have the privilege of changing my seat,because no one wants to sit in the middle.

Then there is the problem of getting out of the middle because my neighbor finds it inconvenient to stand and let me go out of my seat,worst case scenario is when I come back the same passenger would have to get up to let me get to my middle seat.The inconvenience of sitting in the middle and a talkative neighbor on my side is something I try to avoid, I usually find a magazine and read the articles more than once to send a signal to my neighbor I am not in a mood to listen to whatever he/she is saying.

Since the neighbor is a stranger I won’t make small talk, I’ll probably watch the TV in front of me to let the neighbor know I am not friendly. I don’t think I’ll make friends with a completely unknown person.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/dp-daily-prompts/

365 days Writing Prompt: HA ha ha

Tell us a joke knock–knock joke, long story with an unexpected punchline, great zinger— all jokes are welcome.

There was a passenger aboard a bus, he didn’t know the local language except a few words, he thought the few words he knew would be quite sufficient for him.

As he was thinking he noticed his stop was not too far, he pondered about the two words he knew, one was “Girega” , meant fall and “hum” meaning I, feeling confident and proud of himself, he approached the driver, he looked out his stop was close and he didn’t make his move yet i.e didn’t tell the driver   his stop was close and that’s where he wanted to get off. 

 In   a moment of panic he yelled “hum girega” meaning I will fall.

The bus driver tried to calm him down and replied,”Nahin Babu tum nahin girega” meaning, ” No sir you won’t fall.”

This dialogue went on for a minute or two, realizing that he would miss his stop, the passenger jumped off the bus!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/365-days-writi…rompt-ha-ha-ha/

DP Daily Prompt: Mind Reader

Who’s the first person you saw before reading this prompt? Whether it’s a family member, a co-worker, or a total stranger, write a post about what that person is thinking right now.

Oh it’s my favorite brother,I know what he’s thinking right now, I could use some sleep now but this stupid work that popped up in my brain right now spoiled it. I didn’t have enough sleep, I did my school duty, what’s that you’d like to know eh, I take my son to school at the crack of dawn, then I have my catnap. Today the stars must not be aligned properly, I am unable to catch up on my sleep. I can see me walking like a zombie and talking like one. The passers by will have a field day making fun of me. Life aint fair yes it aint.

Now I’ll have to answer a barrage of questions why I didn’t show up on my blog. Siblings they can make one’s life miserable. Don’t pray for them, they make your life a living hell. I hope she doesn’t tell me she did not receive the book yet if she does, I’ll say, “it is not my fault, it’s your rotten postal system.”

Where did the hours go, it was only a few minutes ago I took him to school, it’s time to bring him back already? I tell ya life sucks, I cannot remember if I had my breakfast, probably not, why am I hungry? 

“Hey bus driver I’m having a bad day today, don’t make me miss the bus too?”

“I’m going to get my son now, with the kind of day I’m having I won’t be surprised if he tells me he needs my help to do his homework.”

“Watch my sister giggling instead of extending her hand to help, she is standing in the corner amused to see me so out of sorts, I’ll get you one day dear sis. but for now I must put my house in order.”

Hear me out folks, my son needs to go to Cambridge for some kind of activity, why Cambridge why not here in Coventry, both words begin with a C,I asked?

‘ You’re ridiculous Dad, are you all right, is something bothering you?’

“Nothing’s bothering me, let’s go home!”  

ttp://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/dp-daily-prompt-4/

 

DP Daily Prompt: Land Of Confusion

This is a good one, thank you for this prompt. Well to be completely honest, Mathematics did not give me hives, English did not make me scream. I loved English, I wasn’t scared of Math.

What did scare me was Physiology,yes I had this subject in school, the layers of the skin, and heart lungs and blood circulation gave me nightmares. No I did not do this in college it was in school, if you can believe it.

How did this happen, we were preparing for junior Cambridge exams in our school.

There was piano lessons too,I did not take it because the girls who had it said,the nuns would hit their fingers if they played the notes wrong. Hearing about it made my fingers sore,imagine if I was actually hit what would happen then.

But the positives in that school outweighed the negatives. We were a happy bunch,if we spoke Urdu we paid a fine,but that’s to be expected you do not go to an English school to be able to speak Urdu, we all spoke Urdu well.

We had school buses that were so long none of us wanted to go to the back,because when your turn came to get off you had to walk all of those yards to get to the front. Oh we only had one door which was in the front.

Sister Alavishes used to come running and would hit the girls who wouldn’t go to the back of the bus,she didn’t come inside the bus she took care of it from outside,the windows were open and she didn’t mind punching those who were breaking the rules.

I still think we had a lot of fun, we amazed our parents by speaking fluent English. What more could they want, the tuition fees they paid brought them good dividends and they never complained.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/prompt-land-of-confusion/