Pens and Pages

Prologue “I will make it right this time,” she was determined as she thought to herself. It was a cold and windy night and very few people could be seen on the streets, especially at fifteen past midnight. She had been walking briskly since the last ten minutes. She passed a few teenagers sitting on the pavement near the road feeding on something she assumed to be akin to drugs. She skipped a beat as it made her anticipate the near future even more. Seeing a couple cuddling and kissing each other, made her walk faster eventually to break into a run. It was her last chance and she had to make it right this time. She held the jacket she was wearing, closer to her cold body and ran as fast as she could on the streets of Philadelphia. *** “How about never giving up?” He asked his mother who was sipping on her third cup of coffee. Neha had this habit of drinking a lot of coffee whenever she was worried. Rohit continued to motivate his mother, the way he had been doing from

College was about to end And Employers were at the door Discussions and Interviews Like there had been none before Being selected as one Was like winning a battle And everywhere I’d see Congratulations did rattle The victory was ephemeral And it soon meant losing When time was to leave home Family and friends, so loving They say, “job-life’s boring” And you gulp in fear Alas! it is no less than fun When you find new friends, dear And it’s another world here Framed in the cold block With warm smiles and hope A system, desk and a lock The indolent youth Spending four hours in college Now spent nine in office Working to gain knowledge Within a month or two We too became professional Work and Responsibilities And a personal life in parallel Family would motivate Bosses would guide Colleagues would help and we sail with the tide “Priorities” is the word We learned as we grew From students to employees Of

Of outbursts and outcries of myths and lies in that gentle veil of silence the love so pure, dies The heart wails and it bleeds for all it couldn't get and all it needs And he's punished he's torn for all that is red for all he had worn  There were wounds there were scars and he was tied behind the bars Oh, there was laughter and there was cure there was lunacy and there was lure There was lust on top of hatred's pile there were the unfulfilled desires and a wicked smile Oh, there was freedom there was salvation but he knew it cannot die not his own creation On the path of oblivion lied his grave, treacherous and so he awaited, unaware of the fate precarious...

(We, the contributing authors of   Kaleidoscope  were wondering how to make our weekends more productive and so we came up with the idea of conducting contests among ourselves inviting honest criticism from each other. Below is the first one - To write in 300 words, one's perception of the picture below)  I often find myself trapped between my other two sides. On evenings like these,when the setting sun of life draws a curtain upon my peaceful existence,I begin to introspect. I am lost in the chaos of my own silence as I discover my other sides. I am tired with the days happenings, of my failure that vapourises my prior feats. Like the early bird, that returns home with the pride of touching the blue skies along with the regrets to fall back on the land. I was the winner all along. I still am! Stars never fall to dust, nor do they fade when the nights get the darkest. This is one of those dark nights. While I am caught midway with repeated failures to fly higher tha