Fiction: The beginning of the end.
She remembered the first year she did not win the best cadet award. She denied the fact that age interfered in her candidature. She had won the best cadet award for 4 years in a row. She had craved for a 5th one, but had lost it in a close call to that tiny chit of a rookie who was hailed to be the next her. She remembered rushing back home after the ceremony (almost unceremoniously), only to stand and stare at her full length mirror wondering - Is this the beginning of the end?
She opened the envelope lying on the table counter next to the mirror:
Dear Anya,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to join St. Stephen's business academy for the undergraduate program.........
She thought back to the nastiest fight she had ever had with David. The fact that this was her first major fight and not just a clash of ideologies disturbed her. What bugged her even more was that even after the nastiest of all fights so far, either he or she herself had sucked up to the fact that it did not matter and had pulled the sorry line first. Now, the simple silly fact that they hadn't made up, let alone made out for almost a whole quarter of a year was bugging the life out of her. She remembered sitting by her mirror on her stool waiting for the phone to ring in her crammed room wondering - Is this the beginning of the end?
She looked at the white envelope lying on her dressing table with tears in her eyes. Of all the things, she had stupid credit card offers to tear up now. She opened the envelope and something fell out of it with a clank. She opened the letter and read it out of instinct:
Dearest Anya,
Marry me....
She reflected back to the first time she consciously felt her heart flutter when she played the stock market. She was called the 'Midas touch' madame for a reason. But like all good things that can ever happen to a person, her bullish run had turned bearish the 12th year she was in the game. The pressure from her corporate counterparts and the media was getting to her nerves. For instance, she remembered this one particular day when the headlines of the top magazine read: Is there an oil slick in 'Midas touch' madame's backyard? Her 'oily' investments had become the butt of a joke in the Street these days. She sat on her dressing stool pondering into her favourite mirror if she had done the right thing at all or if this is just the beginning of the end?
A few moments later, her red faced 8 year old rushed in shouting 'Mommy' 'Mommy' the letterman dropped this off for you. Her heart raced in anticipation as she grew to understand the pattern around her life. She tore the envelope in earnest and it read:
Murphy Page,
M.D Rockwell Oil Enterprises,
SA.
Mrs Anya,
We are pleased to inform you of our discovery of about 300,000 acres of crude oil deposits in TZ. Your fruit of labour in helping us VC our endeavour is greatly appreciated. We will start our payments as agreed upon ...
Sixty years had since passed when she first felt both anticipation and anguish in her heart beat. The grand kids were pooled all around her for instance and were chiding her even this very moment for not taking good care of her health. She asked them to politely leave her alone as she needed to rest. She stood in the loneliness of her bedroom in front of her mirror and replayed the white coat's words again and again in her head. Her whole life began to unreel in front of her as she reflected on her many doings and undoings. She smiled at herself as one last thought struck her - This really was the beginning of the end now wasn't it? There was no going back after this. She opened the envelope on her table sighing: "This time you have it all wrong God".
All My Children Institute of Oncology
PA
Dear Anya,
In lieu of the advanced stage of your condition, we would like to schedule your first appt. with Dr. Nikolai Bruderov. Dr. Nikolai is a reputed ....
She wiped her tears and gave a thumbs up to the 'man above' and told him that he won the bet in the end. She was after all going to see her Nikki before she passed. Her very own beloved Nikki, her first love...finally... after all these years, if at all for a few days/hours/minutes... Thank you God she smiled, as she settled on her bed. Tomorrow was just another day.
Song: Moonlight Sonata (Artist: Beethoven)
Mood: Zoning out.
She remembered the first year she did not win the best cadet award. She denied the fact that age interfered in her candidature. She had won the best cadet award for 4 years in a row. She had craved for a 5th one, but had lost it in a close call to that tiny chit of a rookie who was hailed to be the next her. She remembered rushing back home after the ceremony (almost unceremoniously), only to stand and stare at her full length mirror wondering - Is this the beginning of the end?
She opened the envelope lying on the table counter next to the mirror:
Dear Anya,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to join St. Stephen's business academy for the undergraduate program.........
She thought back to the nastiest fight she had ever had with David. The fact that this was her first major fight and not just a clash of ideologies disturbed her. What bugged her even more was that even after the nastiest of all fights so far, either he or she herself had sucked up to the fact that it did not matter and had pulled the sorry line first. Now, the simple silly fact that they hadn't made up, let alone made out for almost a whole quarter of a year was bugging the life out of her. She remembered sitting by her mirror on her stool waiting for the phone to ring in her crammed room wondering - Is this the beginning of the end?
She looked at the white envelope lying on her dressing table with tears in her eyes. Of all the things, she had stupid credit card offers to tear up now. She opened the envelope and something fell out of it with a clank. She opened the letter and read it out of instinct:
Dearest Anya,
Marry me....
She reflected back to the first time she consciously felt her heart flutter when she played the stock market. She was called the 'Midas touch' madame for a reason. But like all good things that can ever happen to a person, her bullish run had turned bearish the 12th year she was in the game. The pressure from her corporate counterparts and the media was getting to her nerves. For instance, she remembered this one particular day when the headlines of the top magazine read: Is there an oil slick in 'Midas touch' madame's backyard? Her 'oily' investments had become the butt of a joke in the Street these days. She sat on her dressing stool pondering into her favourite mirror if she had done the right thing at all or if this is just the beginning of the end?
A few moments later, her red faced 8 year old rushed in shouting 'Mommy' 'Mommy' the letterman dropped this off for you. Her heart raced in anticipation as she grew to understand the pattern around her life. She tore the envelope in earnest and it read:
Murphy Page,
M.D Rockwell Oil Enterprises,
SA.
Mrs Anya,
We are pleased to inform you of our discovery of about 300,000 acres of crude oil deposits in TZ. Your fruit of labour in helping us VC our endeavour is greatly appreciated. We will start our payments as agreed upon ...
Sixty years had since passed when she first felt both anticipation and anguish in her heart beat. The grand kids were pooled all around her for instance and were chiding her even this very moment for not taking good care of her health. She asked them to politely leave her alone as she needed to rest. She stood in the loneliness of her bedroom in front of her mirror and replayed the white coat's words again and again in her head. Her whole life began to unreel in front of her as she reflected on her many doings and undoings. She smiled at herself as one last thought struck her - This really was the beginning of the end now wasn't it? There was no going back after this. She opened the envelope on her table sighing: "This time you have it all wrong God".
All My Children Institute of Oncology
PA
Dear Anya,
In lieu of the advanced stage of your condition, we would like to schedule your first appt. with Dr. Nikolai Bruderov. Dr. Nikolai is a reputed ....
She wiped her tears and gave a thumbs up to the 'man above' and told him that he won the bet in the end. She was after all going to see her Nikki before she passed. Her very own beloved Nikki, her first love...finally... after all these years, if at all for a few days/hours/minutes... Thank you God she smiled, as she settled on her bed. Tomorrow was just another day.
Song: Moonlight Sonata (Artist: Beethoven)
Mood: Zoning out.
Labels: Fiction, the beginning of the end
posted by Ladywriter at 1:22 AM
8 Comments:
ooofff...my brain still hurts :)...too much for my brain to handle in 4 paragraphs (still developing :) )....but great depiction of ups and downs of life and occasional mute retrospection on those.
oooff...my brain still hurts :)....too much for my brain in 4 paragraphs.
Good depictions of ups and downs in life and occasional mute retrospect on those.
@sleep-talk - The premise of this is to combine anguish and anticipation of the better in various aspects of life, be it childhood, marriage, career or old-age and finally death. It is just 'Every cloud has a silver lining', wound into 4 stories said in 1 paragraph each. Not too tough when you think about it, but as I said, anguish and anticipation can go hand in hand and thats what I've been trying to convey. It is bad editing though, but what else can you do at 2:00 at night.
Yah, it is really good, very optimistic amid ill fate. It is just that the pace beats my brain. It can't move from oncology to oil well in one step. good stuff.
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agony you gotta write more :D
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