~ TamiL Short Stories ~

[MysteRy]

TRUE LOVE WILL LIVE FOREVER!



Meena and Prakash have been best friends since they were children. Meena couldn’t live without Prakash and Prakash can’t live without Meena. They did everything together.
 
Prakash left their country home and settled in the city because prakash’s dad got a better job. Yet they still stayed in contact with each other. Every week they wrote letter to each other.
 
          Prakash soon fell in love with Meena. Her letter made him feel loved and wanted. Her cuteness and her child like   personality made him want to spend the rest of his life with her. He was sure she would make a good wife and a companion. His love for her grew but he didn’t know whether to tell her. He was scared that their friendship will break.
 
          Meena however, started to get butterflies in her stomach when she heard that there is a letter for her from Prakash. Her face began to glow of happiness. She didn’t understand why she felt like this. Everything that she looked at reminded her of Prakash.
 
          Prakash wrote a letter to Meena telling her he is coming to see her. Meena was over the moon. She couldn’t wait to see him. Prakash was nervous but delighted to go and see his friend.
 
          The day arrived. Prakash and Meena met each other at the lake where they used to play. Their eyes met but they turned away quickly as sudden shyness took over. They both didn’t know what to say.
 
          After 3 hours of silence, Prakash said good bye to Meena and left. Meena wanted to stop him but words would not come out. So she began to cry. As she was about to leave she saw a card and bunch of red roses. She slowly opened the card. Prakash left a card saying how he felt about her. Meena began to cry again but of happiness. She turned around to go home and there he was standing with a smile that melted her heart.

[MysteRy]

Parents Know Best



It had been raining incessantly since this morning.  Abi absentmindedly watched as the raindrops slowly trickled down her bedroom window.  She hasn’t been sleeping well at night ever since her parents told her that they have already planned her betrothal to the son of their long-time friends.
 
Suthan had been away for a long time.  He went to America to study when he was just a young boy.  Twenty years later, he decides to come back home.  It would have been all right if only her parents hadn’t insisted that she marry him!  Now, all she could think of was how much she hated him.
 
“We are living in the 21st century!  You would think that people would be free to choose whomever they want to marry!”  Abi frustrated whispered to no one in particular.
 
She had always been a good daughter.  She obeyed her parents, did everything they asked her to.  She even went to the university they picked for her!  But to marry her off to a complete stranger?  This is the rest of her life they’re talking about!
 
It’s not that she had a boyfriend, and she was happily in love with him.  But she does want to know how it feels to be in love.  She wants to experience the butterflies in the stomach and the sweaty palms whenever he’s around.  She wants the whole fairy tale – the happily ever after ending.  She realizes now that she may never have the anymore, thanks to her parents and a guy named Suthan.
 
Abi sighed and continued watching the rain from her window.  Tonight, Suthan and his parents are coming over to formally ask for her hand in marriage.  Tonight, they will hand her over to a man who will be more like a prison guard than a good, loving husband.  Tonight will mark the beginning of the end of her life.
 
Evening finally came and Abi had no choice but to go down to meet the man she was to marry next month.  As she was going down the stairs, she caught a glimpse of a handsome young man with eyes as bright as the stars.
 
As he rose to greet her, she saw that he was tall and well-built.  She felt the butterflies in her stomach and her palms started to sweat.
 
“Hi, Abi.  I am Suthan.  I’m very happy to meet you.”  He said as he softly kissed the back of her hand.
 
Abi realized that, truly, parents know best.

[MysteRy]

Best Friends



Aathi has been friends with Malar for the longest time.  If memory serves him right, they’ve been friends since Pre-K, when she punched a little boy in the nose because he was making fun of Aathi.  From that day on, they’ve been inseparable.
 
He’s never met anyone like her.  She’s always full of life, a no nonsense kind of girl who knows what she wants and goes after it.  She’s got gumption, all right!
 
Now in their 30s, Aathi has seen her through some rough times in her life:  death of a most beloved grandmother, heartaches over crushes and lost loves, and most recently, the closing down of her book shop after 10 years in the business.  Hard times and recession forced her hand into giving up her dreams.
 
Malar, on the other hand, has picked him up quite a few times, too.  She was there when his parents went through divorce during his Senior Year in high school; she was there when his fiancée ran off with his college roommate; and she took him in when he got evicted from his apartment.
 
Through it all, he has never seen her as anything more than a best friend – a permanent fixture in his life come hell or high water.  But over the past couple of weeks, he started noticing her as a woman, a very attractive and beautiful woman inside and out.
 
“What is this I’m feeling?  Why now?”  Aathi wondered to himself.
 
Since he started having these strange feelings for her, he’s been keeping a distance between them.  Until he can figure out how he truly feels about Malar, he can’t afford to see her just yet.  He knows he’s probably hurting Malar by staying away without telling her why, but he can’t risk telling her how he feels because he hasn’t figured it out!
 
In the meantime, he has got to keep her at bay.
 
For Malar’s part, she has been wondering why Aathi has been avoiding her.  Every time she calls, all she gets is his answering machine; and he never returns any of her phone calls.  When she drops by his house, no one’s home all the time.
 
“Where could he be?  Why is he doing this to me?”  Malar would often cry out at night.
 
She can only think of one reason why he’s been avoiding her the past couple of weeks.  Somehow, he found out that she has fallen in love with him.

[MysteRy]

Brothers


Mathan and Mohan are not real brothers.  But they love each other like true brothers.  They grew up together and did everything together.  In school, they would always look out for one another.  If someone bullied the other, one would always come to the rescue.
 
Growing up, they helped each other through the difficult stages of puberty.  They were inseparable.  They always had each other’s backs.  In fact, in their village, they are often called twin brothers because of the way they stuck together through thick and thin.  If Mathan would be walking alone, villagers will readily inquire about Mohan and vice versa.
 
It happened one day that they saw a beautiful young woman walking by herself.  Upon inquiry, they found out that her name was Kavitha and that she has just moved to the village with her parents.  She was about the same age they were, all of 18 years.
 
Both boys liked Kavitha, but they kept their feelings hidden from one another.  It would seem that this is the first time they ever kept anything from each other.  They didn’t know why they kept it hidden, perhaps it’s because this is the first time they ever liked a girl, and this is all new to them.
 
Eventually though, Mohan told Mathan that he liked Kavitha.  He even asked for Mathan’s help in courting the girl.  Mathan, stunned, could only nod in agreement to his friend’s request.
 
Mathan would bring flowers and letters to Kavitha for his friend Mohan.  He would tell her that his friend was too shy to approach her personally.  While this was going on, Mathan grew to love Kavitha more and more.  He was beginning to feel that she felt the same way.
 
When he did find out that it was him Kavitha wanted, he had mixed feelings.  He didn’t know if he was going to be happy or sad.
 
“I love you, Kavitha.  But I can’t hurt my friend who is like a brother to me.”  Mathan sadly told her.
 
“What shall we do then?  Ignore our feelings for the sake of your friendship?”  She hurtfully asked him.
 
That night, they did promise to love one another forever but only in secrecy.  They will never be together because Mohan is just too dear to Mathan.  Mathan never found out that the reason why Mohan never married was because of his love for Kavitha.
 
Mathan, too, never married because Kavitha didn’t accept his hand, and he never fell in love with another woman.  Kavitha also remained single loving the man she can never have.

[MysteRy]

Second Chance


Jenani can still remember the day she met Appasami.  The memory is so vivid in her mind, it’s as if it just happened yesterday.  Has it really been 13 years since they said goodbye?  Appasami was Jenani’s first love, and she never got over him.
 
Oh yes, she had other relationships, but Appasami was always on her mind and maybe even in her heart.  She now realizes that she never stopped loving him all these years; that’s why none of her relationships lasted long.  Thirteen long years and she still loves the same man.
 
She doesn’t even know where he is now.  Is he married?  Does he have children?  Since they broke up, they haven’t been in touch.  It was better that way anyway.  Out of sight, out of mind.  But lately, she’s been having dreams about him again.  They were together and happy.
 
Imagine her surprise when they bumped into each other one afternoon.  It was him who actually saw her first.  She was standing on the sidewalk waiting for her turn to cross the street when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
 
“Jenani?  Is it really you?! I can’t believe it!”  Appasami enthusiastically said as he gave her a warm bear hug.
 
“Appasami?! Good heavens!  How are you?” Jenani uttered, hugging him back.
 
“I’m good.  Listen, do you have time for coffee now?” Appasami inquired.
 
“I’m actually on my way to the art gallery.  They offered me an exhibit.”  Jenani replied.
 
As they said their goodbyes, they promised to meet up later to catch up over dinner.  With a quick kiss on the cheek from him, they went their separate ways.
 
All afternoon, Jenani felt as if she was walking on Cloud 9.  She couldn’t believe she saw him again.  On her way out the gallery, she saw Appasami waiting for her outside the door.
 
“What are you doing here?”
 
“You’re having an exhibit here?  That’s so great!”  Appasami said with much gusto.
 
He said he couldn’t wait for dinner anymore.  He wanted to be with her so much, and he had a lot to tell her.  Over dinner, Appasami monopolized the conversation saying how much he missed her and that it’s still her he loves after all these years.
 
All Jenani could think of was that Fate brought them together once more and gave them a second chance at love.  This time, she knows it’s forever.

[MysteRy]

Dutiful Daughter


“These are hard times, Kamya.”  Her parents would often say.
 
She knows the underlying meaning of that statement.  These are hard times, and therefore, everyone must pitch in to help out in the family’s financial burdens.  She knows that their parents are not forcing her or her younger siblings to take care of their household finances, but in her heart, she understands her obligations as the eldest child.
 
Kamya has always been the one to give up anything for the sake of her younger siblings.  She put herself through schools, working part time while earning a degree in business.  Now that she’s found a good job, she can help out even more in paying their bills and sending her siblings to school.  After all, education is very important so she doesn’t mind scrimping to have money for her siblings’ tuition.
 
Through it all, Anbumadhi was always there to support her.  They have been together for four years now.  They met way back in college.  He was a study buddy in the beginning, but love soon blossomed between them.
 
Her parents approve of Anbumadhi.  They like him because they can see that he takes good care of Kalai, and they can see how much he respects her.  He was almost like a part of her family already.
 
Lately, however, Anbumadhi has been giving hints of wanting to settle down and starting a family of their own.  Kalai knew that she still had responsibilities towards her family, and Anbumadhi knows that her family always comes first.  But Kalai also knew that it was selfish of her to ask Anbumadhi to understand her all the time.  He has been very patient all these years.
 
Sometimes late at night, Kalai would ask the heavens to help her in her dilemma.  She didn’t know what to do.  She loves Anbumadhi, but she also loves her family.
 
“Help me, please!”  She pleaded.  “Show me what to do.”
 
Painfully and regretfully, Kalai realized what she must do the next morning.  Her family comes first.  No matter how much she loves Anbumadhi and how painful it will be to let him go, she knows that the only solution to her problem is to give one up for the other, and she cannot give up her family.
 
Anbumadhi deserves to have the family he longs for, and at this time, that’s something she cannot give him.  Once again, Kalai was ready to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

[MysteRy]

A Little Push Can Help


“Karthik, I don’t think I can do this.”
 
          Karthik sighed.  He and his friend had been through this many times before already.
 
          “Of course you can, Prasanth,” he said.  “All you have to do is talk to Lavanya for five minutes.  Five minutes.  I’m not asking you to marry her or anything.”
 
          “But…”  Prasanth persisted.
 
“I assure you, she won’t bite.”
 
          “But what if…”
 
          “No ifs and buts about it,” Karthik snapped.  “Just go and do it!”
 
          “Uh, can you come with me?  Please?”
 
          “Prasanth, what part of ‘No’ don’t you understand?  Now go!”
 
          And with that, he gave his timid friend a helpful little shove in the right direction.
 
          Startled, Prasanth nearly fell flat on his face.  Fortunately, he managed to recover his balance in time.  He swallowed and started walking hesitantly toward Lavanya, looking back at his friend for encouragement from time to time.
 
          “Go,” Karthik said.  “I believe in you!”
 
          Prasanth murmured a prayer to the gods, steeled himself and continued walking.
 
          His “target” sat by herself on the school bench.  She was reading the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”
 
Prasanth’s face flushed crimson.  By the gods, he thought.  She’s beautiful…
 
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest.  It was now or never.
 
“Uh, hi,” he managed.
 
From his hiding place, Karthik let out a discreet whoop of joy.
 
Lavanya looked up from her book and smiled at him, which only caused his cheeks to redden further.  “Oh, hello,” she said.  “I’m sorry.  I was so busy reading that I didn’t notice you there.  Have we met before?”
 
“Uh, not really.  I just see you around school sometimes, that’s all.”
 
“I see,” Lavanya said.  “Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen you in the school hallway before.”  She blinked.  “Are you all right?  Your face is all red.”
 
Beads of sweat ran down Prasanth’s forehead.  He hurriedly wiped them away.  “I…uh…it’s just an allergy.  Pollen or something.  It’s nothing.”
 
“You’re a strange one,” she beamed, showing him the book she’d been reading.  “Have you read this book by John Gray?”
 
“Uh, no.  What’s it about?”
 
“Here,” she gestured.  “Please have a seat.  I’ll tell you all about it.”
 
He only too happily obliged.  Once seated, he let out a sigh of relief and risked a glance at his friend.
 
From his hiding place, Karthik gave his friend a thumbs-up sign.
 
Prasanth smiled. You were right.  Thanks.