Deadly Deo

Hello Readers,

I'm again back to the first person narrative with this one. My natural style of writing and the one I'm most comfortable with. 

This is not as serious or dark as my previous posts. Please don't try to read more into it and forget what it basically is - a light take on a 'what if' situation. Hope you  guys like it. 

Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!! A suggestion: Why don't you make a resolution to comment on my posts :P

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          I was in a hurry! I had to dash out of the apartment in exactly 10 mins! I had a steaming mug of coffee in my hand, a huge collection of bills in my other, hair a mess, and was still in my bathrobe and was yet to change into the clothes I had laid out on my bed…..and I realize my deo is over! Empty! It’s something I need before I get out of the house! I will be too self conscious if I try to brave the day without my faithful deo! I have a brainwave and dash to his wardrobe and grope around in the unholy mess till my fingers clasp around the familiar cool container. I take it out and liberally spray it on myself. Ohhh! A bit strong! And a bit strange! This doesn’t smell like his usual deo..maybe he’s trying a new one… But hey! Not complaining! I’m just grateful to have a deo to use!

           After exactly 10 mins, I am dashing out of our apartment and trying to hail a taxi…unsuccessfully. I am so frustrated that I just look up at the heavens and let out a scream! To my astonishment, a taxi screeches to halt in front of me! I am really pleased and hop in. I immediately let the driver know my intended destination and relax in the backseat. I think I have dozed off for a while when suddenly I’m jolted awake by some rap music! I frown and try to tell her to cut the volume down when the lyrics hit me and God! Are they offending! Instead of reprimanding her, I just blush and am at loss for words! Especially since she’s mouthing the lyrics and watching me from her rear view mirror which I shocking note is directed towards me and not the traffic! She gives me a wink!

           I immediately ask her to stop, pay and jump out of the car without even bothering to get the change. I am still a few blocks away from office, but somehow, just can’t muster enough courage to get into another taxi..so I decide to walk the rest of the way. She really creeped me out!

          Am nearing my office when I spot Sue, the hot dog vendor.  I smile at her in relief! I am damn hungry as I’ve skipped breakfast! I walk up to her with a ‘Hello Sue! The usual please’ when she gives me a weird smile, not at all the usual friendly one she used to give me but kinda..i dunno…

Her hand lingers on mine when I am taking the hotdog from her and when I try to pay, she goes ‘Oh no no! It’s on me sugar!’ I literally run to my office!

            I frantically keep pushing the elevator buttons till one of them opens. I rush in as fast as I can. I feel a little safe inside and calm down a bit. There is a blonde in the lift who works with the packaging department. I greet her with a smile as the doors close. As the doors open, I sprint out of the lift and leaving her with a black eye! I just don’t want to narrate what happened in the damn lift!

It went on like this the whole day! I had women hitting on me left and right! Women I knew, strangers, women I hate..all of them!  And what had me flummoxed was that I knew most of them if not all…were straight as an arrow!

           I took the metro home. Just wasn’t ready to get into another taxi. I reached home to find the man frantically searching for something in his wardrobe.  In spite of my exhausting day, I am curious and walk to him and ask him what he’s searching for. He goes “My genetically enhanced spray! The one I was experimenting on! I cannot find it anywhere!!’

           I guiltily go ‘uh oh! Do you mean this?’ and hold out the container I had used in the morning. He grabs it from me and checks the contents. He then gives me a look worthy of Satan! ‘It’s empty’ he states in a deceptively calm voice. I gulp and slowly explain I had used it in the morning.

His demeanor changes in an instant! He says ‘Oh! Did you? That is great! I had thought you had thrown it away or something! But this is good!’

           I am so relieved he’s not angry anymore, I forget to ask about the spray. He’s totally excited and starts running about grabbing notes and blabbering non stop.

He makes me sit down on the sofa, brews me some coffee and after patiently letting me finish it, starts with the questions.

           It is then that I realize he’s working on a new enhanced deodorant for men. I do not get it at first but when I slowly realize the potential of this invention, I am dumbfounded! Part of me wants to congratulate my man for his invention is indeed a success!  All those cheesy deo commercials where a girl falls for a guy by merely smelling him! So tacky. But he has turned this into reality! None of the girls could help falling for me!

But then another voice in my head immediately resorted ‘but they weren’t themselves! They were forced to like you against their will!’ That got me thinking and I stopped myself from blurting out what had happed that day.

I thought about this…’Let me first analyze their behavior tomorrow and then decide how I’m going to play this’. I made up my mind and told him sweetly ‘ Why don’t we do this tomorrow evening?’ I rushed to explain when he got a bit angry and started to argue back and said ‘That way, I 'can also get you information on how potent this is! Whether its effects last more than a day!’

           That got him! More data for analysis! He nodded in agreement and started preparing the questions for me tomorrow. Whew! Am off the hook for now!

**********************************The day of reckoning ********************

When I got up the next day, I had a very clear plan in my head. I got ready and after assuring him I’d not get caught up in my work and forget the deal, I got down to the lobby and went outside. I was wondering how to get the taxi..not a taxi…but THE taxi…but I needn’t have worried...I spotted her. She had parked the car and was looking at my direction. I guess she was waiting for me! I was beginning to think this wasn’t such a great plan after all when she got out of the car and started walking towards me. I thought this was my clue to put as much distance I can between me and her and started to back off, but I came to a halt when I saw her raise her hands as if in an apology and gave me an embarrassed look.

            I stood there suspiciously, I was in a good spot. I could scream if I had to and I was just in front of my building and a lot of people would come to me if I’m in trouble. So, I stood my ground and let her approach me. She looked very sheepish and stammered an apology and told me she had a boyfriend and was straight and had absolutely no idea what came over her yesterday and said she was so sorry for having freaked me out.

           I accepted a ride to office in the very same cab which she offered to me as a token of apology. I was thinking about this all through the ride to Office. When I finally reached office, I insisted she take payment for the ride and told her everything was cool.

            I immediately walked towards Sue. She was not her normal cheerful self. She in fact looked a bit worried. When she saw me, her face drained of all color and she looked so pale! She was frightened! She just stood there looking at me and at loss for words. She handed me a note and turned away and continued her work. I read the note which apologized to me and said she was very confused and didn’t know what had come over her yesterday! She had freaked out afterwards! I told her it was no big deal and teased her for a bit. That got things back to normal and she gave me a tentative but friendly grin.

          It was the same thing at office, either they were too mortified to talk to me and avoided me totally or were profusely apologetic about yesterday.

          I was thinking about this all the way back home and had made my decision. This stupid thing had robbed away those poor women’s free will and the actions they did were because of the influence of the spray and all of them regretted it later. This thing was too dangerous! If this prototype gets out and is manufactured and sold….No! I will not let it be!

          I take a deep breath and entered the apartment. After half an hour, I had succeeded in convincing him that the deo didn't do anything extraordinary. I told him that the women kept remarking that I kind of smelt a bit weird and were a bit repelled by it. I lied to him about his work being a failure. His crestfallen face really tested my resolve but I just couldn’t let such an unjust thing happen to womenfolk! 

          I am an unsung heroine for all of womankind! Only I know the gravity of the situation that I’ve handled! Not a soul in the world is witness to this! This makes it all the more surreal.

Sunny Smile and Tempest Terrors

Hello Readers,

In this story, have tried something different. Though the key and interesting character is a woman, the power of narration is actually given to the male character, who is ordinary compared to the unconventional female protagonist. Hope you guys like it J

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He just knew it…though he couldn’t prove it..He knew he was right. That’ s alright. He’d wait. He had waited this long, hadn’t he? He could wait some more…for the right time. He had seen it too many times to doubt his theory. He was damn sure about it! But what can he do now? How does he talk to her about it when she is ignorant of the fact that she has the power..If he did talk, he would just succeed in freaking her out and driving her away from him! He didn’t want that! Not in the least! He’d rather keep his observations to himself.

He had known her for a pretty long time. They were kindergarten buddies. Now since both of them were in their early thirties, you can safely assume that they knew each other for most of their lives! It was when he was a teen that he had a hunch about it…but couldn’t understand what it was. Then, after a few years when he was in his early twenties, he first saw something that made things….well.. click! and he was able to view her in a different perspective. He still remembers it vividly, though the moment of realization was a decade back! It was her smile. Her dazzling smile! Sure, she had perfect teeth, full lips and two lovely dimples accompanied her smile every time… but it was dazzling for a totally different reason!  He couldn’t remember a single instance of her smiling when it was not sunny in the background…or to be precise, not a single moment when it didn’t turn sunny as soon as she smiled! Or a single moment when it wouldn’t rain when she was grumpy, or how the weather transformed to a glorious day when she smiled and when she laughed?! Well…the day turned magical! Yes. She had absolute control on the country’s weather! No…Not control…she was unaware of it. Her emotions where linked to her motherland’s climate! She was manipulating it without any awareness about the same! …She was the reason the seasons were so erratic in this country! It had confounded people all around the globe! This little nation just refused to follow the pattern and forecasts. But no one could complain about the unpredictable weather as the weird phenomenon had attracted people from all over the world! This relatively unpopular place had become the number one tourist destination! And of course this boosted the country’s economy. So …would it be alright if he told her she was behind all this? No! She freaks out at the drop of a hat. He has to be burdened with this secret for a little longer.

Back when he had first realized that his friend could control the weather, he had used it to his advantage whenever he could! He’d get a box of her favorite chocolates and send it to her as an unknown admirer. It’d usually work. She’d be in a good mood and the day would be sunny. He’d make sure the day went well whenever there was a game he was playing or if he had planned to take the pretty girl in his class on a date etc.. He was mean enough to upset her if he wanted the day to go bad for a lot of reasons. Yeah, He admits he was an a**hole.

But now, after all this time, he had fallen for her and how! He just couldn’t imagine being with anyone except her. It wasn’t easy to get her to like him but he eventually, he won her over. They were together since a few years and he had not tried to use her power to his benefit even once. He truly did love her now. He was extremely happy to be with her and did not mind being the secret keeper of this phenomenal fact. He vowed to himself that he’s reveal this to her only when he deemed her fit to receive this information. How wrong he was!

Things went very wrong. Though he had decided not to talk to her about this until the time was right, he did blurt it out and that too, in a very offensive way! He had been too drunk, too high to control his tongue, it wouldn’t have done the damage as much if she were stoned too, but unfortunately she was as sober as a judge

He woke up the next day with the world’s worst hangover.  It was only after he had drowned a couple of aspirins with a bottle full of water and felt the headache reside, did he have a look outside and was stunned to see that a tornado had ripped their town apart! He was lucky not to have been crushed under some debris! But he knew this would happen only when she’s petrified..but why would she be petrified? He was frowning as he was trying to add things up and then it hit him!! He realized what he had done! He panicked! He was wondering how he’d undo the damage he had done, he thought he’d blame the whole thing as a stupid drunken blabber. He was going from one room to the other in search of her and when he didn’t find her in the house, he lost it! He started screaming her name and was wildly running outside the house and onto the streets. He stopped after a couple of blocks and was at his wits end….she was gone. Any other time, he’d have concluded that she was mad at him and would come back once she cooled off. But now, he was afraid this was not the scenario. Not only was her absence disturbing him but something else was freaking him out. Ever since she had disappeared, after the terrible tornado had hit, the weather patterns were normal. This nation, her nation, was following the pattern that the rest of the world follows. It was totally normal and predictable. It was as if she wasn’t on the face of the Earth anymore. Though all logic pointed to the same fact – that she was dead, there was no conclusive proof of that and this drove him insane with the necessity to find out about his beloved.  

It had been 5 years since she disappeared from his life, and there hadn’t been a single day when the weather had misbehaved. Everything was normal. He was still trying to find her because he refused to accept she wasn’t alive. Then, he came across a traveler's blog in which the latest post talked about a far off land, totally disconnected from the external world, remote and isolated. Technology had not invaded this primitive land and hence not many knew of the place. Travelling there is a challenge and is highly risky. Tourists are shunned (not that there are many who try to visit!)  but what captured his attention and brought a spark to his lifeless eyes was this piece of information – the blogger had concluded the post by stating about the abnormal weather pattern he had experienced there!

He had finally found the light! He was right to hope all these years! He immediately started packing for the trip of a lifetime.

Curse of ages

Hello Readers,

This one is again leaning towards horror...but I feel you'll find it different from the other Horror stories I've written previously. Hope you like it :)

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It was fate…definitely! No two ways about it…this is a pre-planned act by the Gods..The day she found the …thing. I cannot bring myself to call it what it actually is.. instead I’ll call it what it seems be – a camera.

She found it in the most unlikeliest of places – near the abandoned well which everyone avoids as it was spewing a weird smelling gas which made the person who inhales it extremely suicidal!

Anybody else, anybody sane, would have deemed the thing suspicious and would be wary to approach it, let alone touch it!

She saw it sitting near the well and willing her to come to it. She walked towards it hands outstretched as if hypnotized. When she neared it she could feel a kind of vibration from it..as if …as if it was alive! As if it was getting excited as she came near it! She didn’t hesitate for a second as she touched it…and suddenly…realization! Of a long forgotten past! It hit her like a jolt..she had to steady herself by leaning against the well..the realization was that substantial!

She was reeling from the aftermath of the realization and didn’t grasp that she had inhaled the weird smelling gas! That too a huge mouthful as she had gasped! With the comprehension came fear! But the gas had absolutely no effect on her! She felt a jolt run through her and had a look at the innocent looking camera in her hand…did this thing just save my life??  Whatever apprehensions she had about the camera vanished and a bond was forged between them that would never be broken.

She shared a past with this thing. She was connected to it across lifetimes. She acknowledged the bond for she could feel it, but could not remember the exact liaison of the past. But the feeling of the bond was good enough for her.

She always had her new companion with her. She never really used it for it’s apparent purpose for a long time. Then, one day, she decided to click the house help who had worked in her family for several decades. He was unaware that she had snapped a photograph of him watering the rose beds. She was astonished to see what her companion had captured. Apart from the physical attributes that it had so perfectly captured, it had also bared his very soul. What one’s made of, would be replicated in the photo. Others would just see hazy colours all around the actual photo but she…she could understand them .

She could see loyalty written all over the photograph of the elderly help. She just couldn’t stop clicking after that. Her companion disclosed the innermost secrets of everyone she subjected to be photographed. She saw it all – rage, passion, turmoil, suicidal, joy, etc… She had a clue on what some would project, while others came as a shocker. After clicking hundreds of candid shots of close ones, loved ones, friends, frenemies, strangers…..Then came the fateful day, when she finally had the guts to click herself. She set the …thing on auto and ran to the place that she had targeted. She waited for a few seconds during which it blinked (warningly?) red and finally….. **Click**

Her hands trembled as she went near the thing. She picked it up staring at the lens. She slowly rotated it and had to stop because her breathing had hitched to an alarming rate and she almost dropped it. She steadied herself and pressed the little button with a triangle on it. The thing had rendered the photograph taken which was the latest in chronological order, but she just sees darkness. That is because she has closed her eyes. With a huge effort she opens them and stares at the photo of herself. The horror! It all comes back to her! She now remembers what was the exact relationship between herself and the thing! She has made a mistake! Their relationship was not that of love or friendship but of mutual annihilation! And she has realized it now! When time has betrayed her! She had been so long in this form, she had forgotten the past!  This will cost her, her life..no…her eternity. By the time these thoughts had run in her head, she had already started to transform. From organic to inorganic, from living to non living, from flesh to stone.

The thing that is pretending to be what it’s not, is the Adamantine sword which has manifested as a camera to safely hide in a modern era for the cursed one was reborn in the very same era.

She was totally unaware of her legacy and her power had lied dormant within her. It was only when she saw the fateful photograph of herself that her powers were invoked but the very first victim of her terrible curse was herself.

She is Medusa. Medusa reborn in an modern era. Medusa reborn to unleash the wrath of the hells on earth. But she is thwarted by the sword of the Gods.

The world is safe…for now. Until the unspeakable one is reborn again.

S(m)ell me the truth

Hello readers,

It’s been a while, I know. For this one, I’ll not state what genre it belongs to. Read it to find out J

And this message is especially for my vampire friend….Don’t knock it till you read it please ;)

Oh! And BTW my dear readers, I would love to see some genuine feedbacks and for the shy types, am allowing anonymous comments too…so write away J

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She is a bit of a loner. By choice. She seldom talks to anyone unless absolutely necessary, and even when it is, she’ll probably make do with monosyllables. She hates talking. She thinks it’s really over rated. She’d rather listen.

She was born with a gift…an ESP. She could categorically classify whether whatever the person is spewing through his pie hole is the truth or otherwise!

Weird isn’t it? When one knows she’s being lied to but has no way to prove it! What happens when people talk to her? Well..she doesn’t see it or hear it…she smells it! I swear by all the Gods Its true! Yes! Strange as it is, that’s the truth.

During conversations, not only would her ears be attentive, her nose would go on an overdrive! Here’s what she’d actually smell!

• Bored chatter – oats
• Salacious gossip – chilly
• Utter lie – burnt food
• Resentment – lemony
• Lust – chocolate
• Gratitude – coffee
• Curiosity- roasted bread
• Malice – rotten food
• Happy thoughts – bouquet of roses 
• ETC..ETC..

She could not understand all the smells she’d smell as a child and was told off for fibbing several times by elders! But as she grew older, she began to understand it’s something only she can perceive and also started to understand what the smells signify. That took a lot of homework.

When she was a teen, she really got the hang of it! And of course she would smell a combination of smells in one go as the conversation would be a mix of many things! She’d usually smell chocolate whenever she was with men (and very rarely..around a few women!). Not surprising as many thought she was good looking.

She really hated talking, she’d rather smell…err.. I mean listen. She was nicknamed the human lie detector in college as she would always win a game of bluff. She was an Urban Legend of sorts. She didn’t have friends. It really became tedious to be around people when you get to know what they say is never what they mean. That’s the reason she avoided getting close to anybody because sooner or later, they will let you down.

She was sitting on a bench in the park doing nothing in particular when she became aware of someone sitting nearby who was giving out a wonderful smell as he talked on his phone…he strongly smelled of roses! Too strong!  It was pure, so pure, she almost had a gag reflex! She had never smelled one emotion in such concentration! It was usually a mix of many and even if concentrated, it would be there for a very short period of time. It would feel like a shot and then it would dilute..but Not like this! Never like this! Her curiosity got the better of her and she let her nose lead the way. There he was…talking animatedly over the phone….she didn't get too near as the essence was overpowering….she waits till he hangs up, and thinks ‘Good….the smell is bearable now’. She walks up to him and is about to say ‘Hi’ when she’s sized by a sudden feeling of extreme shyness…’whoa! What’s the thinking??Go up to him and say..hey! Your essence is overpowering! Can we talk??’ She immediately turns 180 degrees and is about to flee when she feels a hand on hers…holding her back!

She is so stunned, she has not even reacted to the touch! No..it isn’t a touch…the grip is pretty strong! She has not even checked who’s the owner of the hand, which is right now constricting her movement and the blood flow to her right hand

She swallows and turns slowly. Grey eyes meet brown ones….no, not brown..his eyes are a pair of butterscotch crystals!....... and time stands still.

She is stunned as she is not getting any readings from this man! Absolutely nil…this is a first!

She is brought back to reality as he gives her a disarming smile along with the smell of oven fresh bread. She realizes her mouth is still a surprised ‘O’ and immediately shuts it up. ‘Oh! Thank god! He’s not immune to my power!’

She manages a ‘Hello’ and a ‘Err….can I have my hand back?’ to which he says ‘if you really must’ and lets go of her hand. She is rubbing her hand as she studies him…and senses an odour she has never experienced before..not only did it smell amazing, She had absolutely no idea what it stood for. She feels vulnerable without her sixth sense. ‘Good god! My power has been rendered completely useless by this gorgeous hun…focus!’ She gives herself a mental shake and rephrases the sentence in her head ’….by this stranger’.

‘Shall we take a walk?’ What the ****? Did her mouth just speak on its own without her brain knowing about it?? Before she feels embarrassed that she’s been a tad bold, he nods his approval and holds out his hand.

That’s how they met. It’s been several weeks since the first meeting in the park. She is totally into him because for the first time ever in her life she’s met someone who means what he says. She was extra attentive around him to catch him lying or something that’ll discredit him, but unbelievably this man is sincere all the time!  But that awesome smell would invariable be there when he was around her and she still hadn’t figured what it signified.

Though she liked him a lot and spent a lot of time with him, she still didn't talk much and certainly didn’t relive her ability. The main reason was the odour which had no emotion attached to it. The one which did not fit in any folders in her head.

Things changed drastically after she had visited a far off relative; more out of obligation than anything. Her mom had bullied her into agreeing for this due to various reasons which we will not dwell at the moment. She was there just for a few hours.  Her ailing aunt was bedridden and taken care by her loving husband. When her Aunt smiled at him, she smelt that fragrance from him! Something clicked in her mind…True Love?! ‘Man! That sounds cheesy even in my head!’

She kept wondering how she could have missed this emotion her entire life?? Well..nothing much at the home front since her parents’ marriage ended in a bitter divorce. At college? C’mon! That’s rarer than hen’s teeth!  She thought about it during the journey back and by next day and she was a changed person. She had finally let her guard down and was talking to him rather than listening! He was a very attentive listener. She knew because she could smell him being attentive! She finally talked to him about her ability and was pleased with his reaction… disbelief, awe, respect and love! She was in love! Irrevocable so…

The poor girl…if only she knew. She was being played! By a pro….He was no ordinary guy. If our girl’s gift was that of an interpreter, he was a projector. He could project whatever emotions he wanted someone to perceive.

Her ability was the precise reason he was sent here. He worked for the other side and they had kept tabs on babies born under very rare astronomical events. Only 1 percent of those babies would develop the special ability. They would spend years locating such Interpreters and elaborate plans were made before finishing them off in what appeared to be a seemingly unfortunate accident. She had no idea how valuable an asset she could be for her country. She would be their ultimate weapon in negotiations and treaty agreements with other world leaders. This country would never get that advantage. Now he had her trust completely. He would make use of it and end her life much before her time.