Worthing Flash

1. The Eternal Whiner (100 words, published in Wilson's Tales, 2024) The Eternal Whiner “An eternal whiner, ever hear him talking good of anybody? When he kicks the bucket, there'll be no place for him even in Hell.” I blurted out to my sister. “He taught us that our eldest bro would spend 1% of his income on us. What about him? Did he ever contribute more than 300 rupees to the family funds? How much was his monthly income as an SBI Officer?” I blabbered on, furious. ############################## Looking at the peaceful face of my brother on the pyre, I realise now that the one speaking eternally ill of the world was not my brother! The end 2. The Cold-Blooded Murder! (100 words, published in Ink in Thirds, 2025) The same whitewashed, empty space! I didn't know what Fate had willed for us that Saturday afternoon!  Can the pungent smell of the room remove the painful memory? Aman’s excited like a kid as we drove up to here. He’s sitting on the sill with nothing bu...

And I thought there was genuinely a dearth of good people in this world!” I learnt about this incident when Rita, the youngest daughter-in-law of my late sister came to our apartment at Dum Dum with her eldest sister. Rita’s eldest sister, Gita Di, was talking to me about her siblings. During the conversation, she mentioned their youngest sister, Mita. “Isn’t she the one who lost her ....?” Going to enquire whether Mita was the sister who lost her husband, I stopped in the middle, having realised that I was crossing boundaries of propriety. A very simple and easy-going woman, Gita Di told me,” Yea, you heard it right. Her husband died some six years ago.” “Your sister must have been quite young then?” I couldn’t help asking. “Correct. She was stepping into her thirties at that time.” She replied. “Didn’t you try to get her married again?” “We did. We pestered her like anything. But she didn’t get married, preferring to stay with her in-laws. She got her husband’s job though....