Daily Prompt : Evoke

In response to prompt :  Evoke

My Little Cousin

In her little cradle, lay my pretty cousin,

Unaware of me, watching the toy buzzing.

She was pretty, quiet and a contented baby,

Her behavior was just like a nice lady.

Sadly she was a victim of a vicious fire,

Smell of fire evokes  memory of  my cousin Farah!

……………………………. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Vivid

In response to daily post’s one-word prompt : Vivid

Some events in life stay permanently in one’s mind, even though it happened  many years ago. I have a vivid memory of  going to our maternal Grandpa’s home. Walking in his favorite  garden, plucking  fruits I had never seen before. Though  not familiar, how tasty they were.

Then this truly fascinating encounter I had with my little cousin one day.I was walking around  in the courtyard when I suddenly heard my uncle calling me, ‘Ranu would you like a mango?’

I said, ‘Mamu(uncle) where will you get a mango now?’

He pointed at one of Grandpa’s  trees and replied, ‘I’ll pluck from there.’

‘Can you climb a tree?’ was my next question.

‘Okay watch me,’ he said, and started climbing the tree.

While this was happening, my little cousin appeared from out of the blue.

He was probably three or four, he asked me,’Ranu Apa ( Apa is used when the girl is older than the person speaking) can I have the first one?’

I said, ‘Yes.’ Since it was his father up on the tree.

Meanwhile uncle plucked one and threw it down on the ground. I let my cousin have it.

My uncle told me he’d pluck another one for me.

I was pleased, but my little cousin somehow had finished the first one in record time  and asked if he could have the second one too.

I looked down at the curly haired toddler and firmly said, ‘No, you cannot.’

Well his reaction was unbelievable, he looked up, he replied. ‘I will not call you  Ranu Apa, anymore, Ranu O Ranu!’

This was his way of showing disrespect to  his older cousin.

Uncle was still on the tree, when he heard his son, he burst into a roaring laughter.

Whenever I think of it, I picture my curly haired cousin looking up at me with his sweet round face which turned to utter disgust as I refused to let him have his way!

………………………………..:)

 

 

Daily Prompt: Slur

In response to daily post’s  one-word prompt : Slur

I’ve had the experience of coming into contact with little babies and toddlers. Though not all, there are some who speak unclearly. I have no idea what causes this, I know their speech gets clearer as they grow up.

One of my cousins had trouble with the ‘K,’  sound  he’d either replace it with an ‘H’ or a ‘T’. Years later I saw him, I was amazed his problem with the sound of ‘K’ had disappeared.

Curious as I always was I said, ‘hey Sanu, how did you learn the sound of ‘K?’

He told me when he went to school his teacher recognized his problem, who made him say, ‘K’ pointing the sound comes from the throat, the teacher asked him to  pronounce the,  ‘K’ sound  after him, my cousin watched him and then imitated the teacher by repeatedly making the  ‘K’ sound , until he learned not to say ‘H’ but ‘K.’ I thought it was interesting. His teacher was not a ‘Speech Therapist,’  but what he was able to do was remarkable.

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Daily Prompt: Take It From Me

What’s the best piece of advice  you’ve given someone that you failed to take yourself?

I met a cousin of our friend, she was married had two kids and was laid off from her job. Her husband was also laid off. I do not know how they were coping with this.

The cousin once called me and asked what can she do to get a job. When I asked about her qualification, she said she had a Mathematics degree. I told her she should get her teaching licence , that would help her get a job because there was a demand for Mathematics. Her friends discouraged her because they didn’t want her to be busy.They even told her she may not get admission.

She applied was able to complete her education degree and got a job. Now I hear she has moved to Dubai and is teaching there. I wrote to her but got no reply,this is  how valuable she is as a friend. I don’t mind at least I gave her advice and it worked for her.

Some humans are strange, for my part I did what I thought would help her, if she thinks somehow I will gain something from it, she does not know me.

……………………………………..:)

 

Daily Prompt: Greetings, Stranger

You’re sitting at a cafe when a stranger approaches you. This person asks what your name is and for some reason you reply. The stranger nods, “I’ve been looking for you.” What happens next?

I was sitting at ,Second Cup, enjoying my coffee, I suddenly noticed someone coming towards me. I pretended to look sideways, hoping this person will turn around and leave,much to my dismay I heard the word, “Shuprobhat”(good day). I turned around and saw the stranger addressing me.

I wasn’t in a mood to answer in  Bengali. I was irritated  and  said,”Are you talking to me”?

My attitude didn’t deter the stranger from continuing to speak to me, ignoring my reply, he smiled and replied,”Apnar naam ki”?( what’s your name)

Without thinking any further, “I mumbled, Ranu.”

The stranger nodded,”I’ve been looking for you.”

He seemed quite pleased and without hesitation pulled a chair to sit. I felt very uncomfortable as I had never seen him before and wasn’t sure of his motives.

Before settling down he excused himself , stood up to grab a cup of coffee for himself. He  came back and asked  what I was doing in this city. I kept my conversation to a minimum, I wasn’t interested to tell him anymore about me.

He was not willing to give up, he started telling me about his uncle whom he had never seen but heard a lot about. While he was talking I wondered why he was talking to me about his uncle and what’s that got to do with me.

My irritation reached it’s height, I looked at him and could not help asking, “Why are you talking to me about your uncle?”

He frowned and said, “My uncle is your father.”

I was shocked and could not speak for a few minutes, I then replied, “How do you know your uncle was my father?”

“Your father was the older brother of my father.”

I was embarrassed I apologized for my unfriendly behavior.

He invited me to go and meet his wife and children, I happily agreed . I was surprised to know he lived only a few blocks from me.

Meanwhile his wife had cooked a lavish dinner, the aroma of the food reminded me of my mother’s cooking.We had a delicious meal.

After dinner I invited the family to visit me. The stranger amazingly enough turned out to be my cousin, wow I thought!

……………………………………. 🙂

 

Five Sentence Fiction: Fresh

The cold crisp sunny morning was a blessing after days of continuous rain, Patricia  called her cousin Tracy, to find out if she’d be interested to go for a walk,Tracy was thrilled by this offer, Tracy met Pat at her house.

Both looked as fresh as a daisy, the weather makes such a difference to everyone’s mood, they decided to walk to the strip mall nearby, there wasn’t much happening inside, the sun shining after so many days must be the reason, there were fewer  people inside.

Pat and Tracy grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down in a corner of the coffee shop, they were so deep in conversation they failed to notice Tracy’s friend Mark, who  had come to get a cup of coffee and sit outdoors on a bench, when he saw Tracy, he came to say Hi, but did not like to disturb them, besides he didn’t know the girl with Tracy and turned around to leave.

He was about to open the door to go out when he heard Tracy, “Mark” she called, “come here and meet my cousin Patricia”.

Mark came back, after the introduction, Mark sat down, he told Tracy he was offered a job at a posh restaurant to play the piano, it was a decent job so Mark was happy to take it, Patricia who had no idea what Mark did for a living could not stay quiet any longer, “Are you a pianist too, she exclaimed?”

……………………………………….. 🙂

 

Five sentence fiction: Diversions

After the disappointing run at the Boston marathon, Patricia needed some kind of distraction to get over her failure to complete the marathon run.

She was disheartened by her friend Tracy, whose letter at the last minute destroyed her confidence.

Her mother suggested she could spend some time with her cousin Andrea, Andrea was an accomplished pianist ,  she volunteered to give Pat   piano lessons.

The two liked each others company, Pat was doing well  in the  lessons better  than anyone her cousin had taught, within a year Pat was playing the piano well enough to compete in the yearly music festival.

Pat registered in the competition, her cousin warned her not to expect too much,  “enjoy playing for the audience,” Andrea told her cousin, Pat learned from her earlier failure in the marathon  not to expect too much,  she entered  the competition without any expectation, the audience loved her performance, , the adjudicator was impressed with her showing, he placed her third, everything went well, Patricia  gave up running  and  concentrated on becoming an accomplished pianist  like her cousin!

……………………….. 🙂

DP Daily Prompt: Cousin It

We all have that one eccentric relative who always says and does the strangest things. In your family who’s that person, and what is it that earned him that reputation?

My eccentric relative is my first cousin, he never seems to know how to behave in a large gathering. His passion is eating, he does not seem to know, basic courtesy, such as when food is served, he must wait for others to join in before he can dive into the food directly from the dish, he doesn’t have the know how that he must put the food in his plate before devouring it.

We were embarrassed by him a few times but he was completely unaware why we all disliked him.

We were convinced he was lacking the grey matter which we all  need to comprehend how things work. He’d take out his books in the middle of the afternoon and read as loud as was possible, yet when it was  time for results  the loud voice he used to study didn’t help him, he failed each time. I wonder was he trying to let us know he can read or what  compelled him to read so loud when no one paid  attention.

We always wanted to know why he failed repeatedly, and why he was doing so badly when it seemed he was studying diligently,  I think, perhaps this was  his way   to get attention, which the poor guy never got!

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/dp-daily-prompt-6/

365 Writing Prompts: Blank is the new blank

Click over to your favorite blog, and pick out the 4th and 14th words( that aren’t “the” or “an”) Drop them into this phrase .

“Big is the new market.” There’s your post title.Now write!

I know the title of my post is strange, this is what I got when I filled in the blanks from one of my posts.

There was a lot of discussion about the newly constructed market in Churchill square. It was huge, you could buy anything you wanted in this place, children went in droves with their parents to see this magical place, there were posters everywhere announcing the opening of this,”Big New Market.”

Katie, a forlorn spinster, suddenly made up her mind to see this incredible market. No one was able to make her interested in anything, for her to come out and visit this place made plenty of heads turn. Susan her childhood friend also came out to  visit the market, she was curious to see it because if this market caught the attention of her lonely friend it must be terrific.

On her way she met Hazel who was also going to this place, she dressed up as a waitress and rushed to get there on time. Susan asked Hazel, “where are you going dressed up like a waitress?”

“I’m going to the market, I’ve got a job of a waitress in the new,”Smiley’s restaurant.”

Susan walked on to reach the market before her friend Katie leaves it. Luckily she found Katie talking to some stranger, who she introduced as her long lost cousin residing in Scotland.

Katie was pleased to see her friend Susan, who was amazed to see the side of Katie she had never seen before. Three of them decided to go to the restaurant where Hazel an acquaintance of Susan was working.

The menu provided surprised them there were all sorts of exotic dishes, they could choose from, Katie was not too adventurous she settled for steak, but Susan and Katie’s cousin ordered the  famous Indian “Butter chicken.”

They enjoyed their meal and happily left promising to meet soon!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/365-writing-pr…-the-new-blank/

Writing Prompt: Evasive Action

What’s the most significant secret you’ve ever kept? Did the truth ever come out?

 

I am one of those people who is unable to keep any kind of secret, I do not want to  overburden my already tired mind,it can explode any time. 

There are some people who love keeping secrets, once my husband’s friend told him that his niece was getting married and my husband was asked to keep it a secret,  my husband didn’t tell any one. One day the friend visited us and he was talking about his niece’s wedding, I was surprised I said, “I didn’t know your niece was  getting married?”

Wide eyed he replied, “don’t tell me you didn’t know.” Then he turned around and said,

“I didn’t  mean not to tell your wife.”

So this is the example of my husband.

Then there was  my Dad, he worked for the federal government, was very secretive about his job,of course I was too young to be curious about his job. All  I knew he went to work at 8 am and came back at 6 pm. 

The most interesting thing that happened in my closest family was my cousin married someone secretly, we did not find out until six months later. She didn’t let the secret out but the people who helped her gave all kinds of hints.

The truth came out, all the family members were upset for sometime. Eventually it all worked out, the good thing was my aunt and uncle didn’t have to spend any money for the wedding!

 https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/writing-prompt-evasive-action/