Nanofiction: in 55 words

QUEST,the Indian Express initiative covering over 50 schools in Delhi and NCR invited its readers to express themselves in 55 words. Create a story with a question,a conflict,and an ending… all in 55 words. Here are some of the entries we received.

Faded possibilities
The purple sky lay pushed

Diminishing behind a streak of black

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In a flicker were the lamps kindledVigilance would remark on the dissipating flamesSight would catch it forever.

The endless road that rushes towards infinitymakes this evanescent for a failed artist.
Krithika Ramesh,XII A
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Mehta Vidyalaya,K.G.Marg

Munni’s smile
Munni was from the slums and worked as a maid to earn her daily bread. She was perfect but she never smiled. One day I got my camera,asked her to smile. She hesitated; I said,“A smile costs nothing.” Her lips twisted and turned into the most beautiful smile,probably for the very first time.
Martina Roy,XII
Mater Dei School,Tilak Lane

Cops
One morning,Jagdish found his car’s stereo stolen,though the car had no damages. Shaken,he rushed to police station. There,a cop was thrashing his neighbour for reporting a similar theft while accusing him of staging it,as his car was intact. So Jagdish rushed back,broke his car window before approaching that cop.
Akshita Bhatnagar,X M
Delhi Public School,R.K.Puram

Freedom
“Stop staring,fool! Put it in the cage,” said the bird-keeper. “This is going to fetch us a good price.” His servant,a 10-year-old boy,looked at the beautiful scared dove in his hands. And let go…

“Everyone deserves freedom,even if some of us don’t get it,” thought the boy.
Aashima Khosla,XII C
St Mark’s Sr Sec Public School,Meera Bagh

Waiting…
For years,a woman kept on waiting and writing letters to her husband,an army officer who didn’t return after the 1920 war and neither received his responses. Thirty years later,a missive arrived. She felt a piercing pain in her chest and expired with the envelope in her hands. “I am coming home,” the missive read.
Srijoni Nag,XII C
St. Mark’s Sr Sec Public School,Meera Bagh

He walked on the road
He walked alone on the road. They couldn’t be together. On and on. Their destinies were not destined to meet. On. Inimical stars trenched the space between them. Parents followed there verdict. Her presence completed him. He was the sun. She,his sky. But horoscopical survival won’t die. He ran. He jumped into the sea.
Avantika Kaushik,XII A
Guru Nanak Public School,Pitampura

My father
“Alright!” I shouted to the old man. “Is ‘study’ the only word that he can shout to me,” I thought furiously. Next morning,I took him to a hospital. He had a heart attack. Fear flooded me. You don’t miss anything,till it’s lost. Last night he was an old man,but today,he’s my father.
Vishal Panicker,XII D
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Mehta Vidyalaya,K.G.Marg

Allah’s messenger
A HEARTLESS hunter,now in his grey,headed towards the post office.

He anticipated his daughter’s letter,who separated due to his deeds. Sensing death,he asked the postmaster to deliver her letter on his grave and gave him six gold coins in the name of Allah.

Feeling the agony of separation,he left the world.

Mohit Chhibber,XII A
K.R. Mangalam World School,Vikaspuri

Hard work pays you
A prayer prayed on his trembling lips as he entered the room. Memories of past failures weighed heavy on the premature heart. “Your teacher just called”. The frail body stiffened in anticipation of the now familiar hand. “Your story has won the first prize.” He closed his eyes but the tears still found a way.

Varun Dhingra,XII D
Apeejay School,Pitampura

Unity
Once some animals saw a vintage car and wanted to repair it. The rhino removed broken parts,the parrot got some items,the elephant changed the engine,the snake wriggled to tiny corners and cleaned them and the tiger painted the car. If they could repair a car — we can do much better with unity.
Dhruv Bhargava,VI D
New State Academy Sr Sec School,Pitampura

The clever cat
The lion was searching for prey when he saw a cat. “This cat must be delicious,” he thought. He went to the cat and said,“Auntie,please come to my house.” The cat followed the lion,but then saw him preparing to jump on her. She threw a stick at him and ran away.
Sonali Vohra,VIII B
Apeejay School,Saket

The blurred line
“You should go and meet a schizophrenic. Make the case study on the process than on the disorder.” She saw herself in front of one. True to research,she saw herself inculcating his mental anarchy. From a world built on superficial sustenance to a world within the realm of the eyes. She wondered,which was more like the severed garden of Death.
Krithika Ramesh,XII A
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Mehta Vidyalaya,KG Marg

Tring! Tring!
Jingle of Pulp Fiction in the background wakes him up. Suddenly it strikes him that his cell phone is craving for his attention. He crawls out of his bed and gets to the ground with his eyes half-open,searching for the phone. Finally he takes the call and hears a different language. Wrong number.
Harshul Aggarwal,X C
Apeejay School, Pitampura

The final judgment
A rich and famous man died. He wanted a place in heaven. God asked “How many people did you genuinely help? How many enemies did you make friends with?”

The man was caught unawares. Wealth meant nothing without benevolence,generosity and good deeds. He realised his life had been futile.
Kritika Relan,IX A,
St. Mark’s Sr Sec Public School,Meera Bagh

A second eye
The contact lens was very happy,for it was slipped onto an enchanting blue eye. It was amazed by the beauty and wonder of the world. But not for long…

One day it fell on the ground. The eyes searched for it. The search was in vain. The eye shed a tear. The lens was lost.
Mayumi Mohan,XII
Ryan International School,Vasant Kunj