Ananya ran to simmer the burning stove. It was 2nd time in a row this week that she had put the milk to boil, forgotten all about it and now a good deal of milk was running all over the neat stainless steel kitchen counter. “Mother is going to get mad at me again”, thought Ananya to herself. “Mother hated milk and other necessities going to waste, but what the heck, a glass here and there, it was no big deal. She will clean it anyways after she is home” …

November 11, 2010
Dear Diary,
I just don’t know how to put it in words!!!!
I can still feel his words ringing in my ears and yet it is in reality “surreal”. After all they are not supposed to speak after they are………….
Let me try to recall what exactly happened yesterday: While perusing a copy of the Economic Times last morning, I noticed that the Sensex had dropped by another 865 points due to which the Government had suspended trade. I was obviously having the blues due to the huge loss incurred in …

“Crime in our town has gone up for the seventh straight month.  Police are at a loss for the reason.  They are warning all citizens to be on their guard.”
“Hopefully, not too much on their guard,” Zico said with a chuckle.  He turned off the radio as he sat near the door, chatting away with the person opposite to him.  His eyes were trained on the counter as he watched the party coming to an end and the last few inebriates waltzing across the floor. Throwing a glance towards the …

This short story has be selected to be published in a review magazine.
On request of the writer John J. White we have removed the short story – Grackle Trap.
If the magazine has an e-verison then we will update this space soon.
TeamShort Story Book

Mumbai – Room No. 407. It belonged to a person named Varun Banerjee. Unlike all the other residents of that high rise residency apartment, this room, situated on the fourth floor, had only a single occupant. Varun stayed alone. He had a family, which stayed back in Delhi when he left for Mumbai. Except for the office that he was going to work at and the two people who worked there; he practically knew no-one in this big city.
The time when he decided to move to a newer city, he …

I watched her walking ahead of me, I’d just come off shift. I knew where she worked, and I knew where she lived. I had been inside her flat; picking the lock had been child’s play — I’m a locksmith by trade.
She was on her way to meet her snotty boyfriend and I decided to wait until she came home, she never let him any further than the front door, she was a teaser, the sort that takes your money and gives nothing in return.
I turned to Walter, my companion, …

She woke up with some of the others to the sound of insistent knocks on the sides of the trucks. After a while, the door slid back with a bump, causing some of the children to call out in fright. Everyone’s gaze turned to the sun’s rays streaming in, warming the air slightly in the unusual silence.
Ellen Kaempfer, a 45-year-old Jewess from Hamburg, stood up and looked to her older sister Betty. She pulled her to her feet and helped her pick up the little boy she had taken into …

I still miss her. She’s been gone a long time now. I miss her silly grin, her soulful eyes, the way she looked at me, asking for approval, the – “Did I do that right, were you impressed?” – sort of look, while holding out her paw for confirmation, the way sheepdogs do.
We used to run and play together when I was a kid, chasing after the sheep and dodging the Alpacas until Mum called us in.
The day came when I had to leave the farm to study at Cambridge. …

Violet was super excited. She would finally be 21 years of age – a young woman in her own right. Not a kid any longer! How long had she waited for this just as she was waiting for something else….a dear person to profess his love for her. Her parents had left for the day so that Violet could usher in her birthday with her close friends at home. As a young woman now, she wanted to have her own party, sans parents. However, she planned to have her birthday …