Stratagem Or Gladden

Today, I'll tell you a tale that every artist and writers knows. Even though we might not know from which book or in which text it comes from. The Thing that we do know is that six friends lived together in a concrete jungle.  Creepers crawled over buildings and flowers bloomed through what once were windows. Animals had permanant addresses and  mountains of skyscrapers as adventure parks. The streets showing earth through broken cracks were their walkways, the shops lined with moss their caves, the sky was painted in colours of wonder and fishes swam through once sewage system.  Land, Air and water pollution were eradicated from the planet. Noise pollution still existed and a popular topic for concrete elections. All the animals lived peacefully and with a never seen before togetherness. 'Time does touches everyone and it changes everything' was sketched over veins bursting with magic. Within this magical place, six mates lived with freedom. They did what their mind said...

You never walk alone, nobody does. You aren't alone when you are flipping through the pages of a book in a vacant library. You aren't alone when you walk down the murky roads. You aren't alone when you run around your home in the bare minimum. Nor are you alone when you are giving in to the drowsiness of night.  As there is someone who is accompanying you. He's the one who takes all the various forms and does cameos in other people's stories. He's the one whose faint footsteps follow you in the loneliest of places. He's the one touching you as the wind blows by and he's the one who sings the silent lullabies of nightmares. Those who have befriended him are the ones you see walking past you with the bright smiles. While the crimson blood of those who tried to fight him still drips through their eyes. And the ones who tried to hide from him are the ones about whom all the notorious storytellers like to write about. So, today I'll tell you a story of on...

On Christmas Eve, everything in Malta sparkled, apart from the counter of The Lost & Found Café-cum-Bookstore. As the name stated, it was a café with a bookstore, where all the used books parted ways with their readers on the last page and found new ones. Its tiny balcony was draped in tinsel, fairy lights twinkled inside, and a Christmas tree made of books stood proudly in the centre of the room while a playlist that came into existence when different Christmas playlists had an accident was shuffling between carols, pop, rock and kpop. Natalie, a girl in a white Christmas hoodie and red-rimmed glasses flicked through pages of her diary behind the dimly lit counter. She spent most of her time working here, apart from when she was attending classes. Today, not only was the store open till 12 a.m., but there were also Twenty-Four-holiday reads, which were wrapped in gifting paper with a description tag of what they had to offer. The rack had the privilege to be stood next to the best...

I was sitting in my living room, reading an article to my mum that was being screened on the television in front of us. It was a normal day with a silver lining of sandwiches for dinner. I am someone who takes her carbs seriously, many of it. I was about to disconnect the screen mirroring and join our usual Kdrama marathon when my lit world blacked out. It didn't make any sad voices nor did it vibrated its last breath. It just went black leaving behind a reflection of my huge concerned eyes.  In desperation, I pressed all the four buttons in all the combinations just to find that it was still alive underneath the facade of death. With a spark of hope in my eyes I plunged the phone to its life support, charger. It made the depressed beep of being connected and threw a bright red light on my lap from its rim around the camera, but reluctant to revive it laid there in unconsciousness.  My mum was worried and frustrated while I was focused to bring it back to life to feel any emot...

Once upon a time, The ocean turned blue with concern as she witnessed mysterious dark spots dimming the glow on The Moon's face.  "What happened, are you alright, my dear?"  "I am not," The moon said as he tightens his grip on a passing cloud. A vain effort. "You can't hide behind clouds forever, can you?" The ocean flowed to meet his eyes.  "I was worried due to some gloomy thoughts and this happened, I don't know what to do anymore,"  "Oh boy, why don't you lent me your thoughts, for the time being, I anyway have some blank space at the depth," The ocean shrugged. "Why would you do that for me?" The moon peered through the clouds. "There have been so many days when I have received love by your reflection, you've helped me to reach the shores whenever I stepped back out of fear of defeat. This is the least I could do, please." The moon feeling at ease let the next cloud pass by.  After this night...

The recording has started. ---beep--- The recorder started with it's meant to sound sexy monotone voice. Sounds so chaos and bursting of balloons came from the living room. As a guy dressed in white shorts and a yellow striped t-shirt, leaning against the kitchen counter appeared in front of the screen. He reached out to get the biscuits from the shelf above while staring into the lens, making other snacks shift.  "Watch out." The girl holding the hand cam said.  He gave a lopsided grin catching the box of biscuits with his hands and an empty Tupperware on his head. The girl took some steps back and went towards the chaos. Doors and doors. Wooden shelves lined with hardbound classics and tables dressed in printed cloth with heavily blossomed girls in a various dance pose. The house itself looked awkward with it's a new company.  The girl went ahead and stopped in front of a polished wooden door. A perfectly French manicured hand, highlighting a delicate gold bracelet ...

Mr Alfred flicked through Sports News with utter disinterest. His mind not getting engaged into what once used to be the combination of the two best programs.  Tightening his jaw he placed his feet on the coffee table with his shoes still on, feeling like a rebel he ordered his wife. "Luna! Water!" Within minutes she came with a glass balanced on a tray, not a hint of frustration to put his poor heart at rest.  He gave the glass a side glance and snarled "Are you trying to revenge me, it's too cold to drink!"  Luna flicked her eyes twice before going inside and bringing the glass back with a hand towel wrapped around it like a cosy blanket.  Holding it with his both hands, sitting in the centre of the sofa Mr Alfred thought "This lady's heart is indeed made of steel. I'll have to plan something bigger" The next day Mr Alfred was fidgeting in his seat as he waited for Luna to come for her regular afternoon tea with a book and her diary. It was h...