Aug 7, 2016 Original Flash Fiction, Original Short Story, The Daily Post
Stubborn
©August 7th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
The five-year old child stomped his feet, and cried. He didn’t want to take his bath. His mother, Rachael, a harassed, overworked nurse, who’d come home from her evening shift just in time for the babysitter to rush out, wanted to get him into his pajamas, and tuck him in bed. She tried to sing to him, reason with him, cajole and coax him. Nothing worked.
Finally, she gave up in exasperation. “Fine, then, let’s just comb your hair, like this. Now, let’s wash your face and ears with a wash cloth like this, scrub your hands, like this, and rinse your feet in the tub. I’ll pour water from this watering can. You can pretend to be a tree. Come on now, Russ, you can do it!”
“I won’t get in,” yelled Russ. Sighing, his mother perched him on the edge of the tub, and rinsed his feet with a jug of water.
While she was helping him into his pajamas in his bedroom, she said, “Why didn’t you want to get in the tub?”
“Because of the monster,” whispered Russ, with his fingers on his lips. The monster doesn’t like me washing in there. The monster gave me a warning twice already. That’s why I wash in the sink. I don’t want my feet inside that tub.”
“What monster, sweetie? There aren’t any monsters here. And besides, you didn’t put your feet in the tub,” said his mother.
Just then, she heard sloshing and stomping sounds coming from the bathroom. For a mad moment, she thought … then, she looked at her son.
His eyes were wide, as he looked at something behind her.
Rachael froze, and something prevented her from looking around.
“I’m sorry I washed in that tub, even if it was only my feet. I promise I won’t do that again,” squeaked Russ to the thing behind her.
“This is your final warning,” bellowed a terrifying voice.
Rachael fainted. When she came to, Russ was asleep in bed, and she was lying in a chair. It was just a horrible nightmare, that’s all, she thought. And Russ is too stubborn for his own good.
She got up to go out of the room, and get to sleep. She was exhausted from a long day at the hospital.
As she went out the door, she thought she heard a sloshing in the vicinity of the bathroom. Her heart thudded.
I will NOT go and investigate, she thought. She turned right around, walked into Russ’s room, locked the door, pushed the dresser against it, and fell back into the rocking chair near his bed.
She lay awake for an hour, and her last thought before she drifted back into an uneasy sleep was, Thank goodness my son’s a stubborn little guy! First thing tomorrow, we’ll leave this god-forsaken place!”
She thought she heard the drain gurgle in the bathroom, and it was music to her ears. Then, she fell asleep, and knew no more.
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Tags: #FlashFiction, #OriginalShortStory, #Stubborn, #TheDailyPost
Aug 7, 2016 Free Verse, Original Poetry, The Daily Post
Painted World
©August 7th, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
If I took a broad brush,
Dipped it in no colour,
Whispered a prayer to the moon,
Bent my head to the sun,
And slashed the air around me,
Would I erase all ugliness
All pain, all horror from the world?
What of all its beauty,
All that pouring light,
All that blinding blue,
All its music and movement,
All of its innocence and joy?
Would I filter its discoveries
Back into my paint-pots
And guard them jealously
So, I could start over?
And what of its ambiguities?
What of its doubts?
What of its struggles?
What of its dreams?
Would I siphon those into tubes
Ready to squeeze out
When things get old
Or tired, or tedious?
And would I be able to paint
A whole new world
From scratch?
And what would I paint?
And what if I were
A terrible painter?
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Tags: #DailyPrompt, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #Paint, #Postaday, #TheDailyPost