Witty Whispers

 Being confined to home is as boring as watching grass grow. The quarantine situation was making me feel gloomier by the day, and at last, I could not contain myself. I just needed to step out of the house, be it anywhere, and I thought, what better place to go to than the beach. I was certain that as always, the sunrise would delight me and lift up my spirits. I set out early one morning to give myself the break I had been wanting for such a long time. After a ten-minute rickshaw ride, I arrived at the beach.  I set up my beach mat on the soft, brown sand. The waves roared and rolled down, crashing onto the shore with a soft hiss. The horizon seemed to be stitched with a line of silver. A flock of seagulls was squawking over my head, in hope that I might lay out some food for them to feast on. The sun would be rising anytime now, and I prepared myself to watch the promising show that mother nature put up for everyone to see.  The sun rays were like golden petals stretchi...

Lynn, a thirteen-year-old girl, was talented and hardworking. God had blessed her with pretty features, a good memory, and a beautiful melodious voice. However, she possessed a negative trait that always affected her performance. She would procrastinate and would do so in almost everything she undertook. Despite her parents and teachers repeatedly pointing out her flaw and persuading her to improve upon it, she never took them seriously. “What is the hurry” she would often tell her mother. Very soon she graduated to the eighth standard and this habit of procrastinating became a big hindrance in completing her school work. She would often while away her time and thus neither do well in academics nor get time to relax. She would then sit and grumble about the amount of pressure that she was having to undertake. One day, in despair, she prayed to God, “Oh Lord! It is really unfair on your part to give only 24 hours a day and expect us to do so much in such little time. How wonderful...

“A teacher plants the seeds of knowledge, sprinkles them with love, and patiently nurtures their growth to produce tomorrow’s dreams.” My friend Emma and I were once sharing with each other the strangest dreams we had had. She started off by narrating one such dream, where she bought a lion as a pet, and roamed on it’s back, showing off her exotic pet to all the astonished citizens who saw her. After she had finished recounting her dream, I described an uncanny dream that I had had just a few days ago. I dreamt that Spiderman handed over his costume to me, and I went around the world saving people. Both of us had a hearty laugh hearing each other's dreams. Emma then made a wise statement which left me wondering what my dream was. She said, "There are two types of dreams -one that you see in your sleep, and another that do not let you sleep." I spent the next day or two pondering over my life's dream. I finally concluded that my true dream in life was to become a...

It is just another day of online classes on Zoom, Geography being the first period. Our teacher is facing major connectivity issues. The students are of course on cloud nine, because nothing makes them happier than not having to study. Beaming faces can be seen on the screen.  Our teacher finally connects to another network and begins teaching. Hardly ten minutes into the lecture, and she gets disconnected from the meeting. The school observer who supervises the online classes is absent today. Kiara, my classmate, lands up becoming the host. All the boys unmute themselves and scream in a chorus "Enable the chat". She is in a complete dilemma now. Being the teacher's pet, she does not want to land herself in trouble. The constant pinging announces the arrival of messages on our WhatsApp group, and as I check my phone, I see that they force her so much,  that she finally gives in . The chat is enabled, and everyone starts cracking jokes about our teacher. The teacher's ...

When I learned that I would be shifting to another school, I was as pleased as punch.  You must be wondering why I was so untroubled. I'll tell you: My best friend, Anaya, who I had known since preschool, was going to be with me all the way. The first week in our new school went as normal as ever, with us keeping to ourselves, and not mingling too much with the other students. After about two weeks, I  made friends with a group of girls, who everyone considered to be the "most popular group" in school. There was an upcoming school event that we had to attend. I made plans for the event with my new friends, and Anaya was upset with me. She felt that I was neglecting her now that I had made new friends. I blew her off and told her that she was being over-possessive about our friendship. She tried her best to persuade me, but I ignored her. We never really spoke much after that episode. My friends kept telling me that she was not the right person to be my friend.  They made ...

“You are finding this funny? Here I am, in this sticky situation, wondering how to face the wrath of my mother, and you feel it’s a big joke! Your mother must be the 'cool as a cucumber' type, but not mine, okay?!” I threw my phone aside, furiously, wondering why all my friends were acting so chilled out about what had happened to me the previous night. I was neither frightened nor afraid. My feelings were beyond such words. I could imagine my mother gawking at me with a “Severus Snape” expression when I would tell her the truth. I took a deep breath, and put on a brave front before I went into my mother's room. “Mom, I need to have a word with you.” “About what?”- my mom said, raising her eyebrows. “Ummmm, I have a confession to make.”  The atmosphere was tense. I gulped, not knowing how to start. “Mom, I just need you to know that I realize what a grave mistake I have made. I need you to forgive me for this. I promise that I will not repeat this ever again.” – I was plead...