Daily Prompt : Nest

In response to prompt : Nest

The most important dwelling for humans and insects and animals is their nest,

Humans have a few names, such as, mansion, palace, house, hut or igloo.

Insects call theirs, cobwebs, bee-hive, while animals have their nest, den and more,

Each of us are comfortable spending our daily lives in our abode.

Rich or poor, man or woman, animal or insect we prize our possession,

Not realizing we all are here temporarily and not to get attached with it.

We are creatures of habit and we love to think this is our final destination!

………………………………… 🙂

 

Daily Prompt: The Early Years

Write page three of your autobiography.

Six months after my father passed away, we packed our bags and left Rawalpindi and arrived in Dhaka city, capital of Bangladesh. We stayed with my Dad’s youngest brother for a few days.

My eldest brother made arrangements to go by train to my maternal grandpa’s village home. We stayed in grandpa’s home for almost a year.

My brother took several trips to the little town named Comilla in Bangladesh. After months of looking around he found a home which in his estimation, was perfect for us. He bought the house and came back to the village to take us, my mom and the siblings to live in our new home.

It was nothing extraordinary it was a relatively smaller house than the one we lived in Rawalpindi. My mom was happy, we the siblings felt all right, it was a home we had to get used to , that we did in a very short time.

Next thing was to find a school for us to get registered in, my brother located a school which was near our home.It was run by nuns, they offered both English and Bengali medium of instruction.

The school was divided into two sections, one was for students who registered for English medium, the other one was  for Bengali medium students.

My brother told me to take my siblings to school to get registered , the three older ones for English medium and the two younger ones in Bengali medium. Upon questioning my brother’s intentions for  registering the siblings in two different mediums, I was told it was cost effective. I was fourteen then and didn’t quite comprehend what he meant, but did as I was told.

I was yet to know what will happen to me, the school only had up to six grades, I could not register in a lower grade because I was in third standard when we left Rawalpindi, it was equivalent to grade eight. My brother hired a tutor to coach me at home to prepare me for high school exams privately.

The tutor’s whole appearance gave me a very negative attitude, his demeanor, the way he spoke, his English pronunciation, everything was distasteful to me.

After about three days I announced I did not want a tutor, I’ll study by myself. My brother was not convinced he arranged with one of the nuns in the school where my younger siblings were studying to give me private lessons once or twice a week.

The Principal agreed, my attitude towards homework annoyed them, they declared they didn’t have enough time to give me private lessons.

I was glad with my freedom from two tutors I knew were not capable of helping me, and the fees they charged was more than my mom could afford.

Thus began my journey of helping myself to get through the ordeal of preparation for high school exams or face the possibility of ending up married to someone who’d be close to my Dad’s age. It wasn’t a rosy picture for me.

I wrote page three of my autobiography. For now I’ll end here. If anyone is interested I’d be more than glad to continue!

…………………………………… 🙂

365 Writing Prompt: Tell us your story

Tell us about a journey — whether a physical trip you took or an emotional one.

This trip was physical as well as emotional. It was one of those trips you hope no one will ever have to take. It was necessary for the family to find out whether there was any hope to get their most important family member get well. The first trip was within the country, where the physician without hesitation gave his verdict, it was pointless to have heart surgery because the patient would not be able to survive it.

Next step was to go somewhere else, the said patient was already too weak to undergo any kind of surgical procedure. The physician treating him was the best one, who admitted it won’t be easy, but he’d be able to operate.

The day of surgery was tense for the family members, on the appointed time the guy came to the hospital room to take the patient to the operating room  for surgery. As he was leaving he said, “do not wait in the hospital, go to your hotel, it will take hours to operate.”

The family members went back to the hotel but came back a few hours later. This is when the waiting game started. All the family members of the patients were leaving with a smile on their faces.

This family had no idea whether the surgery was completed, how was the patient, there was no one to give an answer. At about 10 pm the family was called, the physician showed up and gave his account of how the surgery went. The surgery was successful but the family needed to wait for seventy-two hours, before the physician would be able to say, if the patient will be okay.

After seventy-two hours the family was told the patient will be okay and he’d have to stay in the hospital for a month to recuperate.

A month later the patient was released and was allowed to take the flight home!

……………………………….:)

DP Daily Prompts: Most precious thing(pet)I ever lost

I know when you lose a thing you can always somehow replace it.

I will write about the most precious pet I  ever lost and in my  mind she can never be replaced. Her name was Thursday,my daughter named her because she got her , one Thursday morning. She was a  tabby, she loved to eat, if there was leftovers Thursday was too glad to oblige. This habit made her overweight but she didn’t care, neither did we, let’s face it she wouldn’t compete in the “Beauty ” show . She was a tabby and loved everyone which includes us and her fellow cats.

One of my daughters was extremely allergic to cat hair, we moved her and JD to our home in Gander. JD loved our Gander home, Thursday did not. I am sure if she could talk she’d definitely complain. She had to adjust, but did she really I thought one day.

We were visiting St. John’s for a few days we brought the pets with us too. As soon as we arrived I noticed Thursday was very happy, she went up to the porch lay down and stretched herself, she recognized her favorite place and relaxed. JD came in, moved around, didn’t seem happy or sad.

Then we decided to sell our home in Gander and move to St John’s, Thursday was happy to be back in her home. We had a lot of fun with her. She knew what we do not allow, she never sat on the sofa but loved to be in the same room with us, so she was contented to lie on her bed on the carpet.

Whenever I lay down on the sofa, she’d jump and sit on my tummy, as far as she was concerned she was not breaking any rules. I thought how cute and clever she is.

A time came when Thursday like the other cats had her time on earth and it was time to say goodbye to us . We took her to the vet,but there was nothing they could do. My daughter went to bring her home, as soon as they were in the driveway, Thursday lifted herself up to make sure she was home, she then closed her eyes and was gone ):

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/dp-daily-promp…peti-ever-lost

DP Daily Prompts: My Hero

Who’s your Hero? Tell us a story about why that person plays such an important role in your life.

After my father passed away, my mother took care of us, she cooked for us, she kept our house in order. She looked after our needs and made sure we had everything, i.e, clothes,books,  and a safe environment.

My Dad left sufficient funds in my mother’s name. My mother used some of the money to buy  a house in Comilla, it’s a small town in Bangladesh, we grew up there.

My mom was a very religious lady, she told me stories of the Prophet, and taught all of us that we must never tell a lie. A lie is never forgiven by God unless our life is in danger.

She reminded us that if we  do not like someone we  must never talk behind his/her back.

She was a very kind lady, the beggars who came to our house called her Ma, my mother fed them when they asked for food.

One evening someone came to our house and said, “Ma please give me some food.”

My mom immediately sent the food for this person, she was curious she knew no one comes this late in the evening and asks for food, out of curiosity she opened the door to see who it was, she was surprised to see the rickshaw driver eating, when she asked him why he begged for food at that hour, he said he finished his job , he was hungry, he knew if he came to our house my mom will give him something to eat.

My mom had a very important role in our lives, she was always there when we needed her. She filled the role of a Mom and a Dad.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/dp-daily-prompts-my-hero

 

365 Writing Prompts: The best day ever

You get to enjoy the best day ever–describe in detail what that means to you, where are you?What will you do? What’s the weather like? What will you eat? Who will you see?

To me the best day is when there is peace all over the world, there is no crime, the citizens of the world would live in peace and harmony, there is no sadness, no one goes hungry, kids can enjoy themselves without fear of pedophiles or kidnappers, it would be an ideal world for me.

A bright sunny day with no clouds in the sky would be my preference for the weather.I’d then love to sing the song”Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam where the deer and the antelope play.”

The song below tells it all:

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/365-writing-pr…-best-day-ever/

DP Daily Prompts: All or Nothing?

“Perhaps if we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.”—-Sylvia Plath

In my estimation, a human being by nature wants a place of his/ her own, next thing is  someone to share it  with and child/ children to raise. When these things are accomplished the other material things are desired because of necessity.

Things I consider important to run a house smoothly are 1. A stove, 2. A refrigerator, 3. pots and pans, 4. dishes, 5. glasses, 6. cups or mugs.

A dishwasher is an appliance one can do without, it though is convenient to have especially when we have company.

When we successfully acquire all the above things, what more can anyone want, we need food and drink to survive, they are life saving things. Tea and coffee to me is optional, we won’t die if we decide not to drink them.

I hope Sylvia Plath when she said, “Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.” She did not mean the most important things to live.

Right now there are a variety of things for sale, each store is competing to make more money, they are slashing prices to tempt the consumers. Each store window has a large sale sign of products on sale, it attracts our attention, we go in and find things that look so awesome we are trying not to get tempted, to be successful we step out of one store and go to another, we find this one has more things on sale which is irresistible, we check our wallet, there is not enough, but we have that faithful card which beckons us to use it.

We think for a moment and realize yes we can use the card but we’ll have to pay for the things we buy at the end of the month, we think some more about our savings, no we cannot afford it we tell ourselves, quietly we come out and say, “I don’t think I want anything.”

It really is true some of the things we buy are not necessary!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/dp-daily-promp…all-or-nothing

365 Writing Prompts: First

Tell us your first day at something___ your first day of school, first day of work, first day living on your own,first day blogging, first day as a parent,whatever.

My first experience of a snowstorm was on November 13th I was in Montreal ,Canada , I was on my way  to the typing school as usual, while walking to the bus stop I noticed the sky was white and calm ,I didn’t know anything about snow then, yes I knew they have snow but how much or when I had no idea. I also didn’t think of the famous phrase, “it’s the calm before the storm.”

I entered the school building and went straight to the typing class, some of the girls were already there,I sat in my seat and began typing, our teacher came an hour later, she looked at me and said, “girls I hope you brought your boots today, there is a lot of snow on the ground, it is turning out to be very stormy.”

I heard it but had no reaction , I wasn’t quite sure what a snowstorm meant, I continued my typing, at four pm we all got up to get ready to go home, the teacher looked at me and said, “Don’t you have boots?”

Of course I wasn’t wearing boots, I was wearing sandals and my  sari, it still didn’t strike me that I’d have trouble getting home.

As usual I got out of the building and walked towards the bus stop, one gentleman came and asked me if I saw  any buses moving, I wasn’t looking for any buses moving, I was waiting for the one I took daily to go to school and back home.The gentleman could tell by the way I was dressed I had no idea of what a snowstorm means. He mumbled something which sounded like there are no buses moving, he then left.

I stood there and tried to understand the situation I was in, I was still not aware it would be difficult for me to get home. I saw a cab I raised my hand to stop him, he stopped and asked, “Where will you go?”

As soon as I uttered ‘Victoria Avenue’ he said , “none of the cabs will go there, it’s too dangerous.”

This scared me I walked back to the school building , called my husband, my brother-in-law picked up the phone, he told me my husband wanted me to stay in the school building,he will get me when the snowstorm stops and the buses start moving.

After waiting for several hours my husband came to pick me up, I was relieved to see him and told him I will not go to the typing school anymore.

It was the first time I saw so much snow, I also learned it was a blizzard and one has to be properly dressed to be out in one!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/365-writing-prompts-first/

365 Writing Prompts: Home sweet home

When you’re away from home, what person,thing, or place do you miss the most?

I was away from home recently, the most I missed was Raphael and Gabriel, our feline pets. Although we left them with my daughter’s friend, we missed them a lot we could not wait to come home and bring them back the same evening.

Raphael was not happy, he showed his anger by staying away, he did the silent treatment. Gabriel was happy to be back in his familiar surrounding.

Today is the third day we’re back both the felines are back in their usual self i.e., chewing paper, sitting on the keyboard of my daughter’s computer,putting their paw on the computer screen.

Just now they’re barred in my room, so Selina can do her work.

Next I missed my bedroom, my clothes, I did not take my warm clothes which was a mistake. I was so cold and wished I had my warm clothes.

I also missed my home, I don’t have so many stairs to get into my house. The apartment had more than thirty spiral stair case, I had to be careful going up and down.

When we arrived home I breathed a sigh of relief, no matter where I go, ‘I miss my home,sweet home.’

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/365-writing-pr…ome-sweet-home/

365 Writing Prompts: Freaky Friday

You experience your own Freaky Friday, and switch bodies with someone you love/hate.Tell us what happens.

I always wondered how the marathon runners run the distance of twenty-six miles with such ease. I imagined  covering half that distance one  Friday. It was freaky after the first one kilometer, I felt my legs were not co-operating with me, I walked a yard, hopped half the distance and ran to complete the one kilometer. I came to the realization running is not for me, I may as well quit while I am ahead.

Then my mind thought of a plan, why don’t I switch my body with the marathon runner Susan. It was a Friday morning, there was a cool breeze blowing perfect to run the marathon I was attempting to accomplish in my body, but now that I have switched let me see how it feels with a different body.

I went to the starting line, there were a lot of runners each deep in thought and then there was me. We all lined up, I was feeling excited I thought I’m actually going to run this marathon I’ve been dreaming of.

As soon as the whistle was blown, I started running,at first I was slow, then I felt my body was getting lighter and I was able to run faster and faster, all the runners were behind me I had taken off, all I was thinking was I’m going to beat everyone in this race.

I’m not sure how much distance I covered, abruptly Susan’s body switched back to mine, I felt heavy, I couldn’t even walk. I felt the spectators  encouraging me to keep on going, it was no use, I was tired, discouraged, found myself a place where I sat down away from the crowd to gather my thoughts,I looked around,luckily I spotted a cab,raised my hand to get his attention, he slowed down, I got in and asked him to drive me home!

Permalink: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/365-writing-pr…-freaky-friday/