Daily Prompts: Imaginary Friend

Many of us had imaginary friends as young children. If your imaginary friend grew up alongside you, what would his/her/its life be like today? ( Didn’t have one? Write about a non-imaginary friend you haven’t seen since childhood).

I did not have imaginary friends, I was busy playing with my siblings, there was never a moment when I could think of imaginary friends. If I wasn’t busy with my siblings, I was doing chores for my Mom.It hardly left enough time for me to imagine anything.

I had a friend in school in the lower grades. She was quite nice, but her attendance in school, left a lot to be desired. Her parents were wealthy, she was the only child. I presume they didn’t care much about her education.

During our summer vacation,  my Dad passed away. I didn’t get  a chance to say  goodbye to my friend.

We were in the process of leaving the city to go to Bangladesh, my parents’ original home. I  lost contact with her, but wondered what she was doing.

My guess is she may not have continued her education after high school. Her parents  probably were anxious to see her married, if nothing else she could produce grand kids for them.

My non-imaginary friend I think is happily married, she has multiple servants at her beck and call; she certainly has no time to think of her childhood friend.

…………………………….. 🙂

Writing 101,Day Nineteen: Don’t stop the Rockin’

Today is a free writing day.Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing don’t stop. No self-editing,no trash talking, and no second-guessing : just go. Bonus points if you tackle the idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about.

Four-hundred words one at a time Go.

I spend hours thinking how my childhood could have been if it was not cut short by my father’s passing. I know we’d live in the same house, we had to my father was working and we’d need a place to live. We lived in an ideal place at least my memory of childhood tells me so.

A large house, a race course nearby to walk and watch the horse race, the jockeys trying hard to win it for their owners. It was wonderful to watch, then we’d walk further to see if there were other things that would catch our fancy, oh yes, one after the other life was showing us the beauty of the place we lived.

Then the worst happened Dad was with us no longer. We moved to a far away place  we knew nothing about. The people sold vegetables ,fish, chicken from door to door. While I watched and complained to mom that the potatoes were too tiny and the onions were unattractive, mom would laugh and say the reason is the soil, the weather and things like that.

I’m not sure she convinced me but I know I did not like the place so I picked everything negative about it. We started growing up all the while thinking Dad would come back because he cannot leave us forever.

Then big brother was married, he changed, he did not love us anymore. He was always angry with us. I was terribly scared of him and stayed quiet thinking if I say anything he’d hit me. At the same time wondered would he have changed so much if Dad was alive, my mind said, no . Dad certainly would not let him do so.

I wished we’d be the happy family we once were, but things did not let us be happy. Mom was constantly worried about money, she had to spend as little as possible to save some of it.

I finished high school, went to college, I did not like how the boys used to tease me. I managed to get admission in a girls college, to avoid getting teased everyday, it was awful.

…………………………………

 

DP Daily Prompts: Greetings, Stranger

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

I’m sitting in “Second Cup” waiting for my cup of coffee, it is crowded, I’m bored so I took out my book which I recently purchased, I read the title,”Atlas Shrugged” what a strange title I thought, I began reading it, told myself not bad, this will take me a while to finish reading, eleven hundred and six pages, wow, I said and looked up to see if the girl was calling me, no she wasn’t but I’m amazed to see someone approaching me, I never saw this woman in my life, what could she want from me. I stay seated and am pretending to look elsewhere, “Hello I hear a rather unusually hoarse voice.”

I look up, she is actually addressing me, “What’s your name, is the first question?

By this time I’m perturbed, “What?” I say, rather impolitely.

I want to know your name, she repeated.

What makes you think, I’ll tell you my name, I’ve never seen you before, I said.

Oh I am so sorry, I should have introduced myself before asking you a question, I was so  thrilled to see you I couldn’t wait to ask you your name, I am your student Heather, I was looking for you to give my good news, I’m finally ready to start studies in the school of medicine. You know how long I tried to get in.

Heather I’m so pleased I said, my name is Ranu. Yes I taught you in grade school, how wonderful to know you’ll prepare yourself to be a physician.

We talked for a while, I told her I was waiting for my coffee, she invited me to go to a restaurant, so we could talk. I found out she was engaged, would be married in a couple of months and I must attend her wedding.

I felt embarrassed I didn’t recognize my former student, she didn’t seem to mind. We had a delicious lunch in”Bistro Sofia” she dropped me off at my house and promised to get in touch with me.

At home I felt glad I went for that coffee I ended up not getting it but was pleased I met Heather, what a beautiful coincidence, is all I told myself!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/dp-daily-promp…tings-stranger/

DP Daily Prompts: On Bees And Effs

Do you or did you ever –have a Best Friend? do you believe in the idea of one person whose friendship matters the most? Tell us a story of your BFF( or a lack thereof.

I do have a best friend, it just happened I wasn’t looking for one. I am not sure I believed in the idea of having a BFF.

I met her in the university, she enrolled a year before me in the post graduate course in History, she opted not to write the first year exam because she felt she was not prepared . She repeated the course, I met her then. By nature I’m very quiet when in a public place as in the university. My silence was mistakenly read as, ‘I am a very proud person’.

Her name is Mini, she comes from a wealthy family, in contrast my parents were not rich, my Dad was a civil servant who had a 9 to 5 job.

I am not a very social person, therefore I do not make friends easily. How she and I became friends is strange. One day she volunteered to go with me to the library, it surprised me, she didn’t strike me as someone studious. Anyway her reason was to let me know about our other classmate. Mini was one of those people who believed her classmates should share their notes with each other, it wasn’t the case with this person, she complained, I listened. She also wanted to find out what sort of a person was I, she was not disappointed I shared all of my notes.

We were room-mates also in the dormitory, we became friends, she took me to her sister’s house, she had another sister who sent cooked food for us, we were having a great time. Our friendship was stronger, I was invited by her sisters whenever they had a party. Things went well we saw each other regularly.

I had to move to Canada after I got married, we didn’t write to each other, our friendship did not end, lack of correspondence with each other drifted us apart. I do visit her when I go to Dhaka, we have long conversation, she is still as nice as she was the first time I met her!

//sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/dp-daily-promp…-bees-and-effs/

 

365 Writing Prompt: The road less traveled

Pinpoint a moment in your past where you had to make a big decision. Write about that other alternate life that could have unfolded.

There was a moment in my past when I was torn between getting married or continue my education. I chose to get married. I thought I could study as well. It didn’t happen .

My aim was to study M.Ed after B.Ed , I completed B.Ed and was lucky to be accepted in the M.Ed program, even though I did not qualify, because the prof. Dr. Elliott told me I was too young, I did not have teaching experience which was one of the prerequisites. I remember arguing with him, he looked at me and agreed if I passed the battery of tests each candidate has to go through. I passed the tests and a week later got my acceptance letter.

When we are young we never think of the consequences of our decisions, without thinking I took a job in a school, it was my biggest mistake, I thought I could leave the job anytime to continue my education, I wrote my resignation letter but it wasn’t accepted. I never gave up hope for sometime,in the end I had to bow down to the phrase, “Man proposes ,God disposes.”

Had I stuck to the decision of completing my M.Ed degree things could be different, we were guaranteed a scholarship to the States for   further studies after completing the M.Ed. Research program. I’d  probably get to teach in the States and who knows how my life would be.

That was the past and I have no regrets I’m happy how things are for me now.

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/365-writing-pr…-less-traveled/

five sentence fiction: Anchor

 

Savitri a young woman was married to a man she never knew, in trying to agree to her parents wishes she at times wondered if she had made a fair choice for herself.

Her husband worked outside the country in a place she’d never seen, she needed stability in her life so she was willing to go the distance.

She received her documents in the mail, she was excited to see the new home where her husband lived, she landed in this city with high hopes of a comfortable future with her husband.

The things were rocky in the beginning, her husband was a bachelor for years, he had girl friends,Savitri knew nothing about, she was afraid, she didn’t know how to deal with this knowledge, she could not make a rash decision, months later her husband had an offer to work in a small community, Savitri was delighted, she immediately gave her consent to move out of the big city.

She and her husband moved to a small town of ten thousand people, it was okay for Savitri, the girl friends were back in the big city, Savitri was glad to have the stability she wanted.

 https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/five-sentence-fiction-anchor/

DP Daily Prompt: Sweet Dreams( Are made of…

Sweet dreams are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. I have day dreams, which gives me great pleasure if they turn out as I want them to be.

There was a time I dreamed about living in a country other than my own. The political situation,the constant worry of living in a place with fear, was diminishing my  patriotic spirit to a point where I was having nightmares, I was looking for an opportunity to get out and live somewhere I could live in peace.

The opportunity although some might call weird I grabbed it. Now what was grand about it, I married a man who lived in North America, who  had a decent job. That meant I won’t starve, there won’t be general strikes, procession by students, or someone robbing us.

It was a beautiful city, I met a lady soon after I came. She and I became good friends,each morning we went for long walks  to get fresh air and also much needed exercise.

I watched the first snowstorm which paralyzed the city. It was not as bad as frequent strikes and turmoil in my native land.

People were friendly, my husband’s boss was a delightful gentleman. When he heard I intended to learn driving he very gently told me not to practice on his street.

There were a lot of new places to see and enjoy. I relished living in a country other than my own.

A year later we moved to a different province,my husband got a job in a small town of ten thousand people. I was lucky I was hired to teach in a local elementary school.

It was not all rosy, a colleague of mine was jealous when she found out my salary was higher than hers. She was never nice to me. I carried out my duties the best way I knew. The kids were excited to have me as a teacher. I had long hair, I wore a sari to school, I was different. The other children had  Mrs Hill, Mrs. Fogarty, Mrs. Bluebell and so on.

I was Mrs. Nasheman, they had a bit of trouble pronouncing it , the unique name made them happy. If you ever teach kids you’ll find out how unique they themselves are.

My dream is fulfilled I am so happy!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/daily-prompt-sweet-dreams/

DP Daily Prompt: Ready For Your Close-up Post by Ranu

This is the most ordinary movie of my life. I am the middle daughter of my parents. I grew up a happy person.I liked to sing and play with my siblings.The happiness of mine was short. My Dad died when I was twelve. I cannot say if I ever thought what my future will be.I lived one day at a time.

Before I knew it was time for me to go to college. I was lucky my two older brothers took care of my expenses. I was not ambitious at all. When I completed my education,I suddenly wanted to go to England to study.I knew it was expensive, none of my siblings could help me.I have a strong belief that if you want something bad enough, Almighty God helps you out. My desire was fulfilled. I taught for sometime.

I got married,had three children. Everything worked out the way I wanted. I left my home and came to live in a foreign country with my husband. The locals tell me this is my home now. I agree with them.