Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Priyanjali Bhattacharyya

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2024

Stories (27)
Comments
Library
12 Followers
3 Following

27 Stories

401 karma pts

?

One day

Submitted to Contest #307

You wanted the quiet but not the solitudeNo whispers When hunger pangs made you scream out loud, the people fell silent..You wanted Not a kind wordNor pitiful looksBut acceptance... They called you madBut the infamyWhen madness is just a wordFor when people don't understand you.The sudden mood swings,The reason why You cried and laughed At the same time. You cried when you remembered How your mother toiledDay and night So you would Be happy, fed and would tuck you in Singing as you fell asleep. You laughed When you read her letter"I want you...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

For the Noble Cause

Submitted to Contest #307

They had nothing. One morning, Sara would look for work in the dhopa ghat, where she and her mother would wash clothes for the richer people in their village.Sara was six and a half years old. Her brother Ali would go ragpicking with his father. He was four years old. One day Ali found a snow globe. He brought it home to show it to Sara. They enjoyed watching the fake drops of snow sprinkling as they rotated the snow globe and Sara clapped as she saw it. "I'll become a big businessman when I grow up," Ali used to say. "Then we'll want for no...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Fairy Guardian

Submitted to Contest #305

"You know what? I quit," I said."What? Why?" Bewee asked me."There is something called a baby's innocence. There's a reason why babies believe in Santa Claus and fairies and creatures of the Dark. It's because they have feelings which get triggered when something from the big fat 'fantasy' world comes near them," I said."We fairies act as the Santa Claus, and as for the fairies of the Dark, they were created to prep those kids to deal with the dark," Bewee, my fairy best friend said."Really?" I challenged her. "So what happens once we stop p...

3 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Till then

Submitted to Contest #303

Dear oldest friend, I didn't have a choice. I don’t know when I fell in love with you. I only know that it simply happened. One day in kindergarten, you said hello. That rainy day we played with paper boats out in the rain - the same day you gave me your lunch box so I wouldn't go hungry, and that was the day I knew you were my best friend. Few years later, we were in the eighth standard, and you called me to your birthday party. You gave me the first slice of cake to eat. In the tenth standard, I visited you almost everyday. You were ...

4 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A question of life and death

Submitted to Contest #297

Tick-tock, tick-tock, went the clock, as slowly and disparagingly as it could. Ameer was listening the clock tick patiently from atop the roof. He hesitantly placed one foot over the ledge, then with far more conviction counted to himself "1,2,3," before he leapt and jumped down. Time seemed to stop, or perhaps that was just inside Ameer's head. Nevertheless, things must go on. The heavens above noticed him. As in happiness, likewise in misery. But the heavens did nothing, except for when the last few moments in the life of an individual w...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Rain rain go away

Little rain drops splattered onto her face. "Pitter-patter raindrops, pitter-patter rain drops!" her 3 year old girl exclaimed happily. Most children were afraid of thunderstorms. But not her Saileen, or Shelly, as people called her. As the thunder rumbled, Shelly giggled happily. Raima took Shelly on her other arm and bolted, stopping for shelter underneath a shop, waiting for the rain to stop. It was still summer and the rains were unexpected. 'But I guess,' thought Raima, 'a kalbaisakhi is not uncalled for.' The rain showed no stopping....

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

If the Lord wills it

Submitted to Contest #293

Raghavan threw the sea shells up above and watched in delight as they fell to the ground. His nimble and deft hands quickly caught three shells out of the four that landed on the ground, face upward. Sreemati made a face, even while she grabbed the fourth one, a little too late. "How do you always do that?" Sreemati said. "Next time it'll be me for sure!" "You wish," laughed Raghavan, "I am stronger, taller and faster than you are, or ever will be."Sreemati's eyes watered.Seeing that, Raghavan sobered up. "Let's go again," Raghavan said."No!...

15 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

A Rishi and an Apsara

They said, whoever loves the maiden shall surely face hell. Whomever touches her in a passionate way, will die. Was the maiden the cause for their grief? No, but whoever brings her forth to a life (apparently) worth living, shall perish. The maiden was one of the apsaras from heaven. Bewitchingly beautiful. They were sent to break the meditation of the Rishis - those who vowed to live a celibate life for as long as they lived, as long as they were destined to be born. They would bewitch them so they broke the vow of celibacy and fell from ...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

In this land where you exist

There was an eerie silence, but through that noiseless plethora came a seemingly high-pitched ringing, that which could barely be heard. Jennifer heard a scuffling noise which she didn’t ignore. Could you free me from this horrid place? It was as if Alice had heard her. “No, you have to suffer this in silence,” Alice said harshly. Tears streamed from Jennifer's eyes. “No, don’t leave me here!” Jennifer said out loud. Her words echoed back to her…”Leave me here…” The silence was uncanny. And it loomed over her. When she closed her eyes, sh...

0 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

A glimpse into the past

Submitted to Contest #285

Jay's life till now had not passed simply as lightly as a breeze. Jay was in his 50 vampire years. Or more. He had lost count after the first 45 years, soon after he had met Myra. He knew about a lot of things, and he was more careful as compared to the rest of his kind. The streets he was walking through were dark, dingy and messy. Beggars sat begging there in the mornings but not at nights. An i.v. drug abuser sat there, getting high and having the time of his life. Jay wondered if he would make a good meal. He needed the blood, but the...

8 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Geriatric Counsel

Submitted to Contest #285

The summer wind was cool. Mrs. Ray's arthritis was acting up. The first 30 minutes after getting up in the morning was brutal. Thereafter, walking along with everyone else made things a little better for her knees.She would cloister with the other older people in the monastery just after waking up, groaning as she went. Saayaa would be a patient listener to her problems, problems of the same nature everyday. Mrs. Ray had become a widow recently. Mr. Ray had been a part of the Geriatric Counsel of the town. Nothing in the village happened wit...

7 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Sooner, or later?

Submitted to Contest #283

'Help me fix this,' Stan thought.Stan tried to unlock the lock with the rusty key.The hinges were rusty too.The trunk opened with a creaking sound.He uncovered a picture of him and Stephanie, taken 12 years ago. "Go get her, dad," Leah said, hushed. Stan walked to the graveyard, pausing for a while before he started walking with renewed vigour. Till he reached the hospital. The doctor was getting Stephanie ready for dialysis. End stage renal disease. But that was not all. Stephanie had Alzheimer's. "Ah, Stan," she said tearfully. "How co...

3 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The past

Be careful what you wish for.When Seeta asked Rama to catch the golden deer for her, she didn't know Ravana would carry her away.Whatever it maybe, in her next birth, was that why Krishna would come sparingly to his Radha, tormenting her when he was away so that there would be no golden deer she would run after, so she would just run after him so she'd ultimately be safe?Be careful what you wish for, Poppy thought.Because you may get everything you wished for and maybe more.Myra had given her a wishing spell for her birthday. Wyatt didn't kn...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Dogs and what not :)

Submitted to Contest #279

15 dogs stared at me like I was their next meal. Saliva dripped as they growled at me. Should I charge at them before they charged at me? Should I run? Should I let them have a go at me and drink up their blood?I didn’t know if drinking blood from a different species worked. Another question I had to ask of Jay.Nope I waited too long. I closed my eyes as they howled and just as they went for the kill, "Poppy! Here!" Someone shouted and I clutched at the vine that was attached to the pulley with a heavier weight on the other side. Just like t...

17 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Childhood long lost

Submitted to Contest #277

“Maasi, you don’t have to look after me anymore,” Jagrut said.Hena caressed his arm over the blazer and said, “Those whom I have helped grow up mean a lot to me, child. Stay well at London and sometimes come visit me at Shimla.”Jagrut laughed and said, “That is why I came to you, maasi, to get your blessing!”“Bless you child,” she said, “Grow up and be the son your parents would be proud of.”Jagrut took Hena maasi's leave and a few minutes later, Hena heard a car drive away.Hena covered herself up in winter clothes. A sweater over her saree,...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story