POEM: AS FAST AS HE CAN

-MS

“And in the end, we were all just humans.. drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.”

― Christopher Poindexter

The Story Of A Peculiar Girl: Chapter 4

                                         ~Chapter 4~
                                          IN A LOOP

A week and a half later, Jay found himself unable to concentrate on the daily routine of his life.
The second day he had witnessed the figure retreating into the woods at midnight, he dismissed the incident as a coincidence; or at least tried to.
But night after night as he saw the incident reoccur through his window, Jay found his curiosity growing up to dangerous levels.
One night, a few days later, as he waited for the mysterious hunched figure, no one came. The clock struck one and yet nothing changed. No eerie shadow fell upon the road.
On an impulse, Jay found himself sneaking out of his house. He ran to the road that seperated his house from the woods and came to a stop beside the crooked street lamp.
Aside from his labored panting breaths and the constant humming of insects, all was quite.
He was starting to feel silly and cursing himself for his impulsiveness. Yet he stood on.
It was a gut feeling, something sharp and blunt at the same time, something he knew not how to phrase into words. Something was going to happen tonight.
He was shaken out of his reverie when he heard footsteps. 
Someone was running. And he was heading straight towards Jay.

The Story Of A Peculiar Girl: Chapter 3

                                          Chapter 3                                                                                                 MIDNIGHT STROLLER

Jay glanced at the time on his cell phone and stood up, feeling apprehensive. He pressed the headphones harder over his ears, hoping the loud beats would drown the throbbing at the back of his head.
For some reason he found himself walking to the window at his bedside. 
The curtain had been drawn off of it, and bright moonlight filtered through the glass and into his room.
With each passing second he felt more and more silly standing there aimlessly, shuffling his feet.
At 12.10 am, his sanity returned. Just as he was about to turn away, an elongated shadow appeared on the road, followed by a mysterious hunched figure. He had been waiting for this, Jay realized now that it was actually happening, and wondered whom it could be. In front of his disbelieving eyes, the hunched figure once again vanished into the woods..
That night as he went to his bed, his sleep was restless by the vague nightmares that plagued him.

The Story Of A Peculiar Girl: Chapter 2

                                                       ~CHAPTER 2~
                                               STRANGE

School goes by in a blur of slow, tedious hours for every child, but for Jay it was more so than most.

His lack of interest in studies was on a par with his keen liking of anything with even the remotest possibility of adventure. His parents, however, were mollified by his mysterious habit of never studying and yet somehow attaining satisfying grades.

In looks he was decent enough to have caught the hearts of a few girls, but the feat was achieved in more probability due to his kind nature.

Most of Jay's peers considered him a good friend. His only great flaw, according to them, was that he acted so detached sometimes- as if lots of sports, decent marks, friendly girls, and good food wasn't enough.
And enough it wasn't, not for Jay. There was a zeal in his eyes for life that none of the people close to him shared.
As expected, what people can't understand, they ridicule and tag as strange.

SHORT STORY: The Story Of A Peculiar Girl

Bonjour mes amis! J'espere vous allez bien. I've been learning French lately, so I thought  i'd (unnecessarily) show off a little. Not that there is much to show off here, I've barely started with the course. As people who can speak a third language would know, it really does come handy- especially for secret communication with your friends. The only downside is that my sentences are now a mix of Hindi, English and French ( like, 'Tu es tres mechant. Maa kasam, je veux donner tu un punch sur ton face).

Anyway, I've sincerely been meaning to whip up some stuff for the blog and I do have some unfinished material.I know you guys probably think that's just an excuse and in actuality I'm as lazy as a sloth. (If so, really, that's rather unfair to the sloths. I may be a teeny-tiny bit lazy; but Sloths aren't lazy, guys, they're just slow so as to conserve their energy)

Anyway, in the meanwhile, I thought maybe I'd try posting some of my previous attempts at story writing. This particular one is a short story called THE STORY OF A PECULIAR GIRL.  I'm still trying to work my way up though, so please don't mind any mistakes there might be. Since I'm not too good at briefing things up and giving a summary (as i'm sure you've already noticed by now), I'll be starting with the story itself. Hope you enjoy!

                                THE STORY OF A PECULIAR GIRL

                                        ~Prologue~

Once upon a time, there lived a girl, with eyes deep and dark as a pit and hair the colour of a raven. Her slender form remained in a perpetual defensive posture, her shoulders weighed down as if with invisible burdens.Despite it all, she was a beauty; as there is beauty in the cold and bleak winter's moon.

What made her different, however, was her smile.

Or rather, the lack of it.

Her vacant stares gained her some amount of curiosity. Few were repulsed, others intrigued .

What could be the cause behind the grimly set face? What great miseries must she have suffered such that not a single smile graced her lips?

But, as is the basic human tendency, such thoughts crossed their minds for only a short while and were soon replaced by more important things like the laundry they had forgotten to take out and the cats they had forgotten to feed.

Like everybody, she had a name, but no one seemed to call her by it.

She was known simply as 'The Girl'; or as "The Peculiar Girl' by less generous souls.

                                       ~ Chapter 1~
                                   NIGHTLY STROLLS

Jay stood at his bedside, shuffling his feet restlessly. He felt rather sure he was forgetting something important, only he couldn't bring himself to remember what. The more he tried to, the more it faded away.

He glanced at the clock that hung just above his Eminem poster and felt unease creep into him. Two minutes to eleven. A strong breeze blew through the trees outside eerily, bringing to his attention the wide open window at his bedside.

Slowly, he walked to it; on the way stepping onto his younger sisters toy that let out a loud squeak, causing him to start in alarm. He pulled the window panes in, carefully bolting them in place.

As he was about to pull the curtains over it, a slight movement outside caught his attention.

Squinting though the dimness, Jay saw a figure crossing the road that separated his yard from the woods. He looked on as the figure gradually melted into the shadows in the woods and wondered why someone would want to go to such a creepy place at such a late hour.

An owl hooted at that precise moment, as if in agreement with him.

With an uneasy last glance at the woods, he drew the curtains over the window, blocking out the moonless night.

...To be continued

                                           

10 REASONS TO LOVE BOOKS

I get asked a lot about why I like reading so much. Honestly though, what is there not to love about books? You might think I am biased, given my near addiction to books. But hey, you know what they always say - 'Better be a book addict than a drug addict.' (Yes they do, chez moi.) So out of the thousands, I bring to you 10 absolutely legit reasons to adore books. Do keep in mind that these are my personal views, and its absolutely alright if you don't agree to them. :)

 1.  THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN MAGIC WILL NEVER FIND IT :

What is the daily routine of an average person? Get up in the morning, clean up, eat, work, work, work, eat, sleep and repeat. 
Now is the time for some quick soul searching. Ask yourselves, do you really want this to be all there is to the world and your life?
Not to imply that every person leads a dull life or that there is no adventure. But personally, I could not bear living in a world with no possibility of the existence of Wizards and Elves and Ghosts, or anything supernatural. (On second thought, I can probably manage without ghosts). 
It makes life so much more worth living when you believe there is more to it.

Books do that for me. Serious though, the inspiration for all that supernatural stuff had to come from somewhere, right? (Or should I say something...).

2.  BEAT THE BOREDOM :

Boredom becomes the mortal enemy of many a person when there is no internet connection to be found. In such situations, fear not; for I have a solution for you - Books!  No matter what, you’ll never run out of awesome books to read.

3.  KNOWLEDGE GALORE :

You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn simply by reading books. For example, I learned a great deal about Nazi occupation of Europe in WW 2 from Anne Frank’s ‘Dairy of a young girl'; about the American Civil War from Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the wind',  and about Greek and Roman mythology from the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riodan. If you've read Dan Brown’s books you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. So you get to enjoy and learn. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.  Just  like the frying pans- Who knew,right?! (Please tell me you get that reference.)

4.   THE SMELL :

Have you ever sniffed an old book? If not, I strongly suggest you try it. It smells divine. Sniffing books is a part of my book reading ritual basically.

Which makes me wonder why  there isn't a book-scented perfume yet? That would make millions.

(This point though is not valid for  books with those glossy sheets, like from a magazine. Sniffing that would only give you a massive headache. Fair warning.)

5.  ESCAPE ALERT :

Had a bad day? Perpetually tired due your to endless work/ school assignments? Want to provide your over-strained brain some rest? We give you one of the best stress busters ever- Books ! (Hey, the last 2 lines sound like an old-school advertisement. )

Yes, it is true that procrastinating your problems will make them all the more hard to deal with later. But lets face it -  sometimes all  you  need  is a soft bed, a great book and a cup of coffee to face the world. (Preferably followed by a nap.)

6.  ADVENTURE AND THRILL :

Books are definitely the cheapest vacation you can buy, as Charlaine Harris once said.  For all those people who love adventure - books are probably the fastest and cheapest place to start looking for it.

7.  EXPERIENCE :

Not only does reading books help you learn new and cool stuff, it also helps you gain experience. That’s the beauty of books. You are exposed to situations that may or may not be entirely favorable, and given access to thinking mechanisms of the protagonists as well as antagonists in detail. 
If you read books, you’ll  find yourself thinking about a lot of things that you had never given much thought to before. Having known a sticky situation in a story plot, if a similar problem arises in your life, you are better prepared to tackle it.

8.  ENHANCE CREATIVITY :

By a first hand experience I can assure you that reading  will also help improve not only your vocabulary, but also your imagination. And the more you imagine, the more you get the power  to create. It is seen  that a lot of people who love to read develop good writing skills as well.

9.  SELF DEFENSE :

Suppose you are walking through an almost deserted alley. You hear fast approaching footsteps behind you, followed by some lame catcalling.  
What do you do? I’ll tell you what. Pull out the thickest book you have (And have you will, if you love reading). Find and hit the jerk on the face hard enough to shove his nose right into his brain, and walk away. (Preferably before he regains his senses.) See, the infinite advantages of always carrying a book to read.

On a more realistic note, this point is actually an extension of point number 7. Since reading makes you familiar with the basic characteristics of different kind of people, you’ll always know which ones to steer clear of.

10. CONNECTION :

Okay, this point might be a bit hard to explain, but it is also one of the biggest reason I love reading books. Sometimes, there is that one thought or feeling that you think is strange or even unique to you. Then one day you come across a certain paragraph written in a certain book and you see your own thoughts reflected on those sheets, written by a completely different person that may be half a world away from you, at a completely different time. At that moment, you feel an indescribable sense of belonging and connection not just with that author, but also all those millions of other people who have read and loved the same book as you have. Its an incredible thing, really. Not sure if I was able to explain it right, but I sure hope you got it anyway :D

These are the top 10 reasons why I love reading books. Hope you could relate to this article!

Have a nice day :)

BIRTHDAY CARD FOR FRIENDS

So, one of my best friends turned 18 recently. Some of my other friends and I decided to surprise the b'day girl by going to her place at 7 in the morning along with cake and gifts, and decorating her terrace with balloons and streamers while she slept.  One of the gifts was the handmade card I will be showing you.

I started out by digging up a cardboard box that I had received as a wedding invitation  a few months ago, which looked something like this-

Any sort of cardboard box of a small width would work just as well. If you don't already have something like that, you can always make one, with a cardboard and some tape.

At the base of the empty box, I glued together 9 pieces of  rings that i had cut from a cardboard shuttlecock-holder tube thingy. Make sure that the width of the rings are about 3/4th the width of the box. All the rings have been covered with glazed paper. I have taken small cutouts from a normal blank sheet to fit inside these rings and written quotes on them before placing the chocolates on it. The empty spaces between the rings have been filled with Styrofoam balls.

These rings have been used to store different kinds of chocolates and stuff. I kept the chocolates inside small  string pouches before placing them. You can omit the pouches and foam balls if you want as they are  for decorative purposes only.

A tracing paper has been glued to one edge of the box to separate this section from the card that is to be kept above it.

Again, I have used a wedding invitation to made the actual card that says 'SC' on the front (Which are my friend's initials).

For making the card, I have used colored papers, ribbons, stickers, glitter pens, etc for decoration.

On one side,  I have glued a chocolate at the center that says 'I <3 U' on its wrapper. The other side is again a tracing paper with some designs on it. Beneath it I have placed an inner card in which three decorated same-sized  colored sheets have been placed. These three sheets are looped together with silver ribbons  so that we can turn them over, much like in a table calendar.

The card is then placed over the tracing paper partition in the box. 

On the cover of the box, colored sheet and some pictures have been glued. To liven up the sparse decoration on the colored sheet, I have written "friends forever<3" in a string with a silver glitter pen.

( This blog is anonymous, hence the smileys instead of actual faces. 'Ek Villain' style, which i haven't yet seen by the way)

So that's the card/gift, completed. All that's left is to wrap it up, and then you're good to go.

(The card is the one with the white wrapping paper . How you present your gift matters too, in my opinion ).

Handmade cards do take considerable time and effort to complete, but that's exactly what makes them so much more valuable to the person receiving it. 

And yes, my friend WAS surprised when we called her up to her terrace, in case you were wondering. It was epic :)

Hope you enjoyed the post!

Poem: BOOKS AND ME

Welcome to my world,the dreamy world of Books.
Where books fill my whole heart, every corner, all the nooks.
Its a world of fiery dragons,filled with magic and Prince Charming.
Each story is a thrill - pure and very disarming!

Drown yourself in a book, it is the best place to be in;
Beauty in every turned page, the place where all the dreams begin.
Throw away the worries, loose that frown and smile;
Be at ease my friend, pick a book - it is worthwhile!

Woven strands of thrill and horror will wreathe around your mind;
Unimaginable adventures hidden in those pages will you find.
Love so true is found,without the shadow of a cleave;
These stories will stay with you long after you take a leave.

Stories filled with knowledge, spells, places of different kind;
Sunken treasures, lost islands and of ancient Gods will they remind.
In these piles of books you learn the secrets of the world;
Just take a book in hand - sit on a sofa , snugly curled.

My world is true and whole, my world of Books is magic.
Sometimes its full of joy, sometimes its sad and tragic.
Be it old or young, every one enjoys a book.
Each new plot is a suspense, you will find yourself on hook.

It teaches of undying faith, tireless efforts and endless hope;
About how Love is the greatest power, strong as an iron rope.
So run and grab a book - just trust me on this one;
You'd never want to leave, reading books is so much fun!

- MissMalvikaBennet