Short-story

Beast in Beauty

Published

2 years ago

November 19, 2021

Bhawna, Shaurya International School

The age-old story about the ‘Beauty and a Beast’ is well known to everyone. In that story, the kind-hearted man becomes a beast after the curse, but nowadays, no one needs a curse to be a beast; it is present in every person. Some unleash the beast. Some do not.

A girl named Ronnie proud of her beauty considered every other person inferior to her. She hurtled others but never felt sad in doing so. It’s good to be confident, but one should not instil confidence with pride.

Fate, however, had its own plans to teach her the lessons. Ronnie was once travelling from a hill station nearby, and it was not a smooth ride. The strong winds and rain made it impossible for her to continue the journey. She decided to stop at the shelter nearby. She got out of her car and went into the nearest house she saw.

‘Knock, knock’! There wasn’t any reply. “Anyone there,” she asked. Again, came no response. She decided to go inside as she was freezing. She entered the house, and the door behind her shut on its own. She was scared, tried opening the door, but it was now locked.

She moved around in the house to see if any window was opened, but to her surprise, all the windows were closed, and there was no way to get out of it. In one corner, she saw a fire burning at the fireplace, and she sat beside it. The dining table had all the world’s delicacies, including cakes, pies, pastries, cola, drinks, etc. As she was hungry, she ate almost everything laid on the table. Once satiated, she decided to take a round of that house and bumped to a half-opened door.

She peeped in and saw a monstrous creature. The strange voice said, “Come in, Ronnie.” She was surprised to hear her name. “Who are you, and how do you know me,” Ronnie asked. “I am nothing but you, your soul,” came the reply.

“I am as big as your pride and as ugly as your heart.”

In a way, that beast was a mirror image of Ronnie. She was scared but could do nothing; she could not believe her eyes. “I am the way people around you… see you; to them, you are a beast”.

Ronnie was shocked and recalled all the evil deeds she had done in her life, from making fun of her friends, talking rudely to her house workers or waiters at a restaurant, thinking of herself as the owner of the world. Never respecting her parents. Neglecting all the pieces of advice from the teachers and close friends.

Finally, she understood her mistake and said to the beast, “I got it; if this is the way people see me as a beast, then I would not like to give them a reason to do so.”

From that day onwards, she changed her way of living. She talked politely with everyone, never made fun of her friends, understood what others tried to say, respected everyone; slowly, she could make friends again. The beast inside her had left and never ever appeared again.

Short-story

Fury of Tomato

Published

9 months ago

August 16, 2023

VOV Writer

Advika Bhatnagar
Shikshantar School, Gurugram
Grade 3

Alice, a nine-year-old boy, lived in the countryside of Tinseltown with his Granny. He was a stubborn and edgy child. He liked to eat whatever he wanted and didn’t care much about Granny’s words. This made the old lady very sad.

“Granny, Granny, hunger pangs! I want pizza and chocolate ice cream for dinner,” said Alice

“Wait, child, I’m making delicious chicken soup, healthy multigrain bread, and a fresh salad,” answered Granny.

Alice got angry when he saw salad on the dining table. He yelled, “Again, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, and tomato. Is that what I will eat? “No, no, no, never, not at all. No dinner tonight.” Granny got worried and left the house to get his favourite food.

Alice was all alone. In anger, he picked up the tomato and threw it at the wall. The red pulp of the tomato almost covered the mid-wall. He was shocked to see the pulp turning into a monster.

“Ha, Ha, Ha, you stubborn boy. Every day I see you trouble your Granny for food. When you hit me against the wall today, I felt hurt. I will teach you a lesson. I am the new king of vegetables. I rule the meals,” said the tomato monster. And then the monster followed him everywhere in the room.

Alice was so scared that he was running in different directions. Sitting under the table, he quietly prayed, “Oh God, please save me from this deadly monster.”

Alice rushed to his Granny’s room, wears her hat and robe. He picks up the embroidered, favourite napkin of the Granny and moves slowly towards the wall. He wipes the tomato pulp, and the monster disappears right away.

Alice gets the lesson of his life to value all food. He vows to take care of Granny, as her belongings protect him. When she was back, he hugged her and said, “I love you so much. I will eat whatever you cook for me.”

The writer attended Takhte Writers & Publishers’ Story Writing Writeshop at Kalasthali, Gurugram.

Photo Courtesy – Andre Taissin (xRUJcUTEp6Y) Unsplash

Short-story

#Anecdotes of India@75

Published

2 years ago

June 2, 2022

VOV Writer

India, an enigmatic and epochal country, has an unparalleled and flourishing cultural legacy, which we are proud to represent. It is steadfast and unyielding, and it will never be lost to future generations. This year marks the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

Writers are synonymous with bringing about a renaissance, whether literary or social; they function as negotiators to mediate the country’s social and cultural difficulties and, at times, become reformists. They have a legendary imagination, a distinct voice, flawless creative control of wordplay, and the ability to represent reality.

Takhte Writers & Publishers in collaboration with StoryMirror launch the literary contest ‘Anecdotes of India@75′

‘Anecdotes of India@75’ acknowledge the unacknowledged. It could be a person or an incident adding to national ethos, and you as a writer feel that others should know about it. So, start thinking, exploring and writing it in a stimulating story.

Rules:

Participants have to submit their content on the above theme.
Winners will be decided on the basis of editorial scores.
Participants should submit their original content. There is no limit to the number of content to be submitted.
There is no word limit.
There is no participation fee.

Categories: Story

Languages: English, Hindi

Prizes:

Top 2 winners will be felicitated with the Coffee Table Book of Rs2500/- authored by Takhte Writers
Top 20 winners in each language will be published in an ebook by StoryMirror.
Winners will receive digital certificates of appreciation.
All participants will receive a digital participation certificate.

Submission phase – May 29, 2022, to June 28, 2022

Declaration of Result: August 11, 2022

Contact:
Email: takhtevov@gmail.com
Phone/ WhatsApp: +91 9311845524

Short-story

Twisha and Alex on Moon

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2022

VOV Writer

Reyaansh Bhardwaj
Scottish High International School
Gurugram
Grade 4

Alex was in his science lab carrying out his usual experiments. But, this time, he had thought of making a robot, which he wanted to gift to King Andrew during his birthday celebration. At that moment, Twisha came into the lab with Oreo.

Twisha, a year younger than Alex, is a sweet, pretty and short-tempered cousin. She asked Alex about his new experiment and shared her thoughts about going to the Moon.

Alex said, “Wow! Moon. I know you always wanted to go there. However, right now, going to the moon is more like a dream as we do not have a spacecraft. One day, I will take you to the moon”.

“One day! Seriously Alex. It doesn’t seem that near now. I surely want to go now,” said Twisha.

“Oh, Twisha! Don’t lose heart. I just remembered that Dr Peter is a Rocket scientist. He lives in the U.S.A, and I’ll talk to him about it,” said Alex.

Twisha replied, “Don’t make it tough. I will take you there.”

Alex was wonderstruck and astonished and teased her, “You are not a scientist. Are you a magician? HA HA HA HA HA HA.”

Twisha frowned. Seeing her annoyed, Alex said, “Ok, ok, so when are we going? How are we going? For how long are we going? What are we taking along?

Oreo heard the word going. He whined as if he should not be forgotten in their plans.

Twisha replied, “So many questions in one go. Bro, relax. We’ll go after two days on the full moon night.“

Twisha patted Oreo and said, “My Lil pup, I’m sorry you can’t go this time, but I’ll treat you with your favourite bone and peanut butter.”

As planned, on the full moon night, they both go on the terrace; Twisha asks Alex to lie down on the spread carpet. It was attractive, multicoloured with stars on it

Alex gets grumpy, “Are you serious. Is this your plan? Just lying down, and we’ll reach the Moon.”

“Have patience, this carpet has magical powers, and it will take us to the moon,” said Twisha. Her mind is burdened and overworking how to calm Alex and end his curiosity. Then, as in a trance-like state, she can take him and bring him back quickly.

Twisha picks up the crystal ball and asks him to focus on it and take deep breaths.

In no time, Alex exclaims, “Wowww! We have finally landed. It’s giant. Twisha, you know other names of Moon, its Luna, Selena or say Artemis. Moon is the only natural satellite of our planet and the second brightest object in the sky after the sun. Any object on the Moon will weigh six times less than on Earth. It rests on the tallest mountain, the Mons Huygens. Twisha, you would have read too, that Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon.”

Alex, for hours, kept gaping and looking around in awe. He is surprised that Twisha has not spoken and asks her, “Hey! Why are you not saying anything? You also know so much. So you should share your learnings.”

Twisha giggles and pats Alex’s shoulder, “Hey, Bro, how are you doing? I think you completely enjoyed your visit to the Moon.” Alex rubbed his eyes and looked at her with his mouth open.

Photo Courtesy – aron-visuals-unsplash