Saturday, March 14, 2009

The story continues

In the previous post, I had started a story. But I hadn't completed it. I wanted you to speculate what would happen for a while ( yeah I do assume that I have at least one reader ). But now I couldn't wait any longer to put and end to those speculations. Here is what happens :

'Hello there. I was wondering if you could teach me this dance...'
She couldn't believe she had actually said that to the stranger who was holding her in his arms and steering her around the dance floor. And man! was he a good teacher! They sure were getting plenty of curious stares. The shy girl who never danced was dancing with a total stranger and dancing as if she had been born to dance.
The stranger no longer seemed like a stranger to her. He put her at ease with his witty comments about wannabe mother-in-laws who come to the balls to find grooms for their daughters. Sort of like Almacs in the older times. Also, he listened to what she had to say. She could see it in his eyes. Everytime she made some amusing remark, his eyes would light up and his lips would quirk up. Was this a dream or what!

The stranger looked at the girl in his arms. She fit in his embrace so perfectly. She was not only charming but also aware about the current events not only in the country but around the world. He always did have a thing for spunky girls. This one was oozing spunk from her personality. Today sure was his lucky day.
The song got over. Immediately it was followed by a slow song. Then a bit faster cha-cha number. She lost count of the number of songs after a while. This evening, it was just him and his enchanting voice. She was a goner. So it was perfectly natural that she agreed when he suggested they go somewhere private. In fact she had been expecting it.
The stranger led her by the elbow to a garden outside the dance hall. The fresh air was like a messenger of the good times to follow. OR maybe he just felt that because it had been stifling inside the dance hall. Not that he noticed. Though the park was filled with some people , it wasn't as crowded as inside. Most of them were couples who wanted to get away from prying eyes. He needed to get to a place away from these people. After searching for about a quarter of an hour, he found a secluded bench beneath a banyan tree slightly hidden from view. She had been following him like a zombie. Now looking at her seated across him, he knew what she wanted. It was evident from her eyes. And her ragged breathing. And her heated skin when he touched her. Turned her around so that her back was touching his chest. He moved her hair to the side, and his hand made patterns in her neck. His other hand removed something from his coat pocket.
The stranger wrapped the guitar strings around her neck. He had already tightened it sufficiently enough before she realised what was happening and thought to put up a fight. He pulled the strings harder and harder until her fast breathing which had culminated into painful gasps slowed and finally stopped. He didn't use a rod to tighten the death trap like his Spanish ancestors but it was Ok. He would get plenty of chances later. Besides, he had liked this one. She had almost made him change his mind. But mind compelled him. His obssession had won. He wondered if Jack the Ripper or Jeffrey Dahmer had felt the same elation he was feeling right now.
She saw her life flashing before her eyes. And her mother's innumerable unheeded warnings about being wary of strangers with charming tongues. It was too late to tell her mother that she had been right. Too late for her mother. Too late for her. She felt the pain in her chest increasing as the noose tightened. And as she finally gave up, her last thought was , 'today was good.'

MORAL : Do not talk to charming, tall strangers in a crowded ballroom even though you dont have a dance partner. Dont talk to strangers. period. They maybe friends you have not met yet or killers you have avoided so far.


END

PS : This was sure as hell NOT Mills and Boonish. After two people telling me the previous one was, I had a reputation to protect.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Three Word Wednesday in Wordpress

I just came across this thing called ' Three Word Wednesday ' on wordpress.com . Each week ( A wednesday obviously , in case the name wasn't obvious), the author posts three words and we have to write something using those three words. This week's three words are

Recluse
Temper
Cajole

I read what my friend had written on her blog and when she explained to me how the thing worked, I tried something on my own. Take a look:

She looked around for a dance partner seeing she was the only woman in the huge ballroom who didn't have a partner. Then as she was about to give up and sit out the Viennese waltz , her eyes fell on a tall, dark stranger.
What was strange about this stranger was that, instead of looking at the dancers waltzing on the dance floor, he was staring at her! For how long , she couldn't guess.
She had an uncanny ability to judge a person's character by looking at their body postures and hand gestures. Now, all of a sudden , she was the one doing the staring. The stranger looked right back at her without appearing abashed that he had been caught staring.




'Hmmmmm'. She thought as she contemplated the man who didn't seem to belong to the town she lived in. ' A businessman surely. Immeasurably rich, considering the rich material of his elegantly cut suit which he wore with some kind of disdain as if he was used to such luxuries and was merely bored by it. Surely he didn't socialise much seeing as he didn't have an escort either. So a recluse. Fully devoted to his work types. Good manners forced him to be polite with others but otherwise has a terrible temper...'
She went on assuming his traits, not knowing how she knew them, but knew from past experiences that she was right. She didn't know how, but she just knew.
'Right. Now all that remained was to cajole him to dance with her without apperaing to do so. It was risky, she admitted to herself , to talk to a stranger, but it was either this or stand like a fool while others danced to her favourite song.
Having come to a decision, she walked towards the stranger. All this while, he had been staring right back at her. As she approached him, he merely raised his eyebrows in question.
She said ' Hello..
END

PS : This thing just suddenly came to my mind. IMO, it appears too Mills and Boonish.