by Palvi Sharma
really more important than her? He led her inside, pulling her by the arm and showed her the pots of gold, diamonds and precious stones. The whole cave was lit up by their brilliance
"Why didn't he just give it to you then? Why bring us all the way over here?" Jane wondered aloud.
Ray pouted. "Because he knows how much I love adventures!" He handed her a bag and started to fill up his own. Within five minutes, Ray had filled up his bag and had snatched hers impatiently and started to fill that too. When they were done, he had insisted that he carry both .Jane stepped out of the cave warily. She half-expected for the Troll to attack them with a hidden sword of some sort, but he looked just as she had left him- watchful yet bored.
"I've kept my end of the promise."
"Yes you have!" Ray hollered and made his way downhill. Jane frowned when she saw Ray practically skipping in joy
."You know, I kind of wish he had shown that much enthusiasm in me." Jane sighed.
The Troll put his hands behind his back and looked up at her. "Well then you saved the wrong troll." he answered. "I'm the yellow haired troll. I specialize in gold and treasures and fortunately Ray asked for those very things. Now if you wanted true love, you should have met my wife. She's pink-haired."
Jane crossed her arms and watched the Troll walk away. "Wait! Where can I find her?" she asked.
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Sweet Endings
Reena closed the book and rested her head on her pillow, thinking about the story she had just read. The description was vivid, the characters colorful; but the ending had truly taken her breath away. She had never thought that a story that had started so smoothly would have such a heart-stopping climax. Never had she thought that the protagonist would pull herself together at the last minute and solve such an incredibly devious crime.
"Are you finally done with it?" her husband asked her.
She snapped her eyes open and considered him. "It was so amazing. Absolutely riveting. You wouldn't believe how it ended!"
"Can't wait to find out." Tom said and put his briefcase on the desk. "I've been waiting for you to finish it so that I can get my hands on the bestseller."
"The characters were plot driven and flawless." Reena continued. "Never before have I read such an intriguing mystery novel!"
"Yes, yes." Tom replied absently as he removed his shoes and socks." If you've made dinner, I would like to eat it."
Reena frowned as Tom reached over to grab the book and get comfortable in his chair.
"Oh, I'm really hungry." Tom said. "Don't just make me a sandwich."
Reena put her hands on her hips and watched Tom start reading the first page of the book. She turned away in a huff promising to make him only a soggy sandwich, when he called her.
She turned around expectantly. Maybe her husband would finally listen to her review of the book. She wouldn’t give away spoilers and ruin the suspense for him of course, but she wanted to tell him her opinion on it.
"I hope you've done the laundry today. I really need that shirt for tomorrow's meeting."
Reena clenched her fists."Sweety?" she said.
Tom smiled at her. "Hmmm?"
"The heroine in the book- Susan? She killed her boss and framed her lover the accountant."
She saw Tom's smile drop fast. "Enjoy the book." she said and made her way to the kitchen.
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Seconds
“I can’t believe you did this to me!” Sara cried.
Tina folded her arms and scowled. Her sister was overreacting yet again. If it wasn’t for the fact that they both had straight long dark hair and green eyes, she wouldn’t have believed they were even related. They were different in so many other ways. Sara liked computers while she preferred spending time with her books. Sara was always so stubborn while she calm and collected.
“You knew how hard I worked for that.”
“Look...”
“It took me three weeks to convince him, and then” Sara raised up a finger, “and only then did he finally agree to this. But it took you just a few seconds to ruin this.”
“You mean the way you ruined mine?” Tina retorted.
“THIS is different!”
“Ha!” Tina walked towards her in a huff, unmindful of the clothes strewn across their bedroom or the books Sara had flung to the floor in frustration. “You knew what you were doing then too.”
“That was not as big a deal as what you’re doing to me.” Sara sobbed. “My whole life is ruined!”
Tina sighed. “That’s an exaggeration. You’ve barely even begun living your life.”
“I’m not a child!” Sara said wiping away her tears. “If Mom were here, she would side with me.”
“Yeah, well Mom had better things to do than involve herself in such trivial matters.
“This is not funny, Tina.” Sara said. “Tomorrow is THE party of the year. You said I could wear the blue dress and today you just walk down the street in that.”
Tina looked down at her blue dress. It was the most comfortable dress she had owned. The sleeves reached to her elbows and the length of the skirt, brushed her knees. She had promised it to Sara, but she had wanted to wear it herself for so long. She had bought it after all.
“Quit being so dramatic.” Tina said. “I went to get coffee. I didn’t roam around the whole city, flaunting it. Nobody you know saw me. So just, wear it tomorrow. Okay?”
“I can’t wear it.” Sara sobbed. “If anyone saw you today they would think I wear hand me downs.”
“But you do.” Tina reminded.
Sara plonked down on her bed and frowned. “I know. It’s just I really didn’t want everyone to see me as a fifteen year old who still wears her eighteen year old sister’s clothes. I just wanted everything to go perfectly for my first party.”
“Yeah, the party you haven’t even told Mom about. “ Tina said.
“Even Sam said I was too young to go to that party. After badgering him for weeks he finally agrees to take me and then when everything is falling into place, my elder sister walks into town wearing the dress I was going to wear.” Sara let her head fall into the pillow and sighed loudly.
Tina bit down on her smiled and went to sit beside her. “Look.” she said taking her hand. “Eventually you’ll have to stop thinking about what people are saying about you. Do you remember what you did when I was going to my friend’s party?”
Sara grinned at her and sat up. “I wore your new shoes to the dinner.”
“With Sally and her parents. I was going to her party the next day.” Tina reminded. “There was no way I could have worn the same shoes the very next day.”
Sara took a deep breath. “Sorry!”
Tina hugged her sister. “That’s okay.”
“But I don’t have a dress to wear for tomorrow.” Sara whined.
Tina raised an eyebrow. “You’ll wear this. We’ll accessorize this a bit.”
“Ooh! Can I borrow that wide belt you bought last week?”
“I haven’t even had the chance to wear it myself!”
“Please?” Sara smiled.
Tina felt herself returning her smile. “Fine. But only this once.”
“And the golden sandals?”
Tina walked to her cupboard and sighed. “All yours.”
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