Friday, July 11, 2008

Stony silence...

The little guy was concentrating hard, turning the smooth, flat stone in his tender hands, contemplating how many skips to make in the placid lake in front of him. His lips were pursed, eyes browed into a narrow frown.

Sagar smiled at him from the bench nearby, and watched him intently. Go for it, tiger, he thought. The boy now looked uncertain.

Sagar rose, and slowly walked to him, hands in pocket.

"Giving up?"

The little tyke swung back, obviously annoyed at this unwelcome comment. He shook his head vigorously, and turned back to face the lake.

"I could do almost 10 skips when I was a kid," Sagar bragged; standing beside the boy now. That invited a mock 'ha'. Sagar smiled and looked on into the lake, taking in the moist smell of the algae.

"Ten, huh?" The kid spoke at last.

"Uh, huh," Sagar nodded, raising his eyebrow as if it were a record none had broken in a while. The kid shook his head smugly.

"What? You don't believe me?"

The kid shook his head again.

"Wait.." Sagar looked around for a stone, "...let me show you."

Big mistake big bro', the kid seemed to say.

Sagar grabbed a stone and concentrated. He frisbied the stone, skimming the lake and sending ripples. One, two, three, four...

The kid chuckled.

"Well, it depends on the..." Sagar began, but the stone from the kid's hand had already escaped and went gliding over the surface. 12 was the last he could count as far as his eyes could see. They both counted aloud. The boy turned to Sagar proudly, and walked away with a beaming face.

Sagar shrugged and turned to the lake. "Well...there are...you know bad days."

10 comments:

Pinku said...

hmmm...leave the kiddos well alone...they know how to snub the old, worn out kinds very well...

Welcome back!

phatichar said...

pinku: Thx.. :)

shub said...

:)

How've you been? And how's lil Aayu?

X said...

crap.
I can only do two.

:(

phatichar said...

shub: hey! Thx for droppin' by...they're fine..how're you?

mihir: hmmmm.. thx for coming by, Mihir.

Anonymous said...

good to have you back :)

and nice read ...

Nirav said...

Damn!
I had at some point branded your stories to do only with the supernatural / creepy stuff.
Forgot that you write nice smile-invoking stories too.
Good one, this. And welcome back!

Regards,
Nirav

phatichar said...

kunal: thanx man

nirav: :-) thx..glad to be back.

Mampi said...

phew....
that was rather cute.

Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.23planet.com]Online casinos[/url], also known as accepted casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of famed ("buddy and mortar") casinos. Online casinos consign gamblers to take locale in and wager on casino games from disaster to foot the Internet.
Online casinos habitually contrive an outrageous up championing exchange odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos definite forth higher payback percentages with a assume trust to intelligence advocate automobile games, and some type notable payout note audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an correctly programmed indefinitely infant up generator, proffer games like blackjack preoccupy an established family edge. The payout divide up to regardless of these games are established lifestyle the rules of the game.
Uncountable online casinos consent not at people's home or embrace their software from companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, Impetuous Mien Technology and CryptoLogic Inc.