The Forbidden Book of Uziah Greiss
(Short Story, March 2018)
A man who has been trying to write the synopsis of the lost manuscript by Uziah Greiss in which Greiss had discovered that the 13013th word in every book ever written is a unique number, finds his attempts thwarted by an invisible enemy. So, he decides to attempt writing it one last time to uncover the secrets hidden in the pages of The Forbidden Book of Uziah Greiss.
Excerpt from the text:
“The numbers often tell me of a distance created to keep the truth away, and yet, if you’ve ever been in love you’ll know, truth and distance are one and the same thing.”
May I Borrow Your Lighter, Please
(Short Story, March 2018)
A man, who walks into the night, finds a woman by the side of the street who frequently sets herself on fire on nights when it doesn’t rain. On nights that it does, she’s a different story.
Excerpt from the text:
“The first time I saw her burn, she set the night alight. She didn’t have a face, had no fingers, and no future. “Tomorrow is a yesterday, forgotten,” she always said.”
A River Measured in Time
(Short Story, January 2018)
A father gifts his son a blue ribbon which becomes part of is dream about a river, adding unforeseen consequences to his son’s life and to the lives of those around him
Excerpt from the text:
“Alberto Banks had been saving all his life. He wanted to buy a river.”
Investigations on the Theft of Heaven
(Flash Fiction, September 2017)
As the news of Heaven been stolen spreads, the governments all across the world find it difficult to deal with ‘the great depression’ that follows. Thus, begins the search for the thief.
Excerpt from the text:
“Reports claimed people saw the thief run away with Heaven pressed under his arms. Investigations that followed were swift with special joint orders from world powers.”
A Peaceful Climb on Mount Sinai
(Poetry, August 2017)
Of ants, men, and mountains in troubled times.
Excerpt from the text:
“I see
a multiple-choice question
blocking my view and assumptions
of a scarred face I had never seen before.”
And Then, The Gods Came
(Short Story [republished], June 2017)
A man trapped in a forest realizes that it may not be what he thinks it is. In fact, it may not be a forest at all. Welcome to a place that may not have existed at all. Or had it?
The Simple Poem
(Poetry, June 2017)
A child follows a kite and reaches the promised land where he finds a few other things too. A simple poem that tells his story.
Excerpt from the text:
“promises,
i should have known, are ants.
they shall eat through a poem i should have written;
a simple poem, it would have been.”
A Perfectly Rounded Dot
(Flash Fiction, April 2017)
The first of the novel that the author publishes is a dot on a white paper, but inside it resides a great murder mystery.
Excerpt from the text:
“The chapter is as long as you look at it. Some readers have claimed that it went on for thirteen pages, wherein five characters are introduced, one of them being the corpse who, a few experienced readers among them claimed, was murdered by the fourth character introduced, which was a woman who didn’t have a face.”
They Hide in All Forms
(Poetry, Jan 2017)
Religious Fundamentalism is the backdrop I used to write this piece. In some parts of my own country and its neighbouring nations, I’ve often come across news of it turning into religious extremism, wherein the core democratic rights of people to pursue their own interest are curbed in the name of upholding the doctrines of a particular religion. This piece tries to take a deep look into this decadence from the perspective of the common man – A scientific researcher couple and their daughter.
Excerpt from the text:
You tiptoed into our absence, last night.
I wondered if the frail touches you wore
were mostly the beads of silence, covering you
in that hymn, you used to chant unconsciously.
The Rhythmic Progression
(Poetry, Dec 2016)
99 PINE STREET
The tale of a child’s repetitive birthdays, written in darkness. Also features a clown and you.
Excerpt from the text:
A maddening music of the mist
dispersed
spread like dreams
of a child
knew nothing but his gifts
wrapped in golden ribbons
A Short Endless Biography of Tushi
(Short Story, Dec 2016)
Chasing the Spirit of many forms, I had found myself in Tushi, the cat. Do our spirits often overlap? And when they do, do we become one or many? And how important is acquaintance for our existence? I didn’t find many answers with this, but thought I’ll share the questions.
Excerpt from the text:
” Tushi was a cat who could have been an ocean. She could have been other things as well, like – a blanket that smelled of warmth, a puddle in your green yards, a broken wristwatch, a collage of photographs never taken together, a pair of socks or even, a grey, cloudy afternoon. But she must’ve been destined to be an ocean. It’s unquestionable.“
And Then, The Gods Came
(Short Story, Dec 2016)
A man trapped in a forest realises that it may not be what he thinks it is. In fact, it may not be a forest at all. Welcome to a place that may not have existed at all. Or had it?
Excerpt from the text:
” The forest led to a hotel built in the shape of a staircase. I realized eventually, that I had been wrong all this while. There was no other side to the forest. It led, and therefore, concluded at the hotel. There was nothing beyond that. No open skies. Nor a field that ran till eternity, neither a road that led to a town bustling with colourful people.”
A Duplicate, Denied
(Short Story, Dec 2016)
In one certain ominous dawn, a couple wakes up of find that their only daughter, still a child, has ended up duplicating herself. There were two of her in the house, now.
Excerpt from the text:
” I should have just brushed it aside as one of the symptoms of your madness. Lately, you have been saying too many things that didn’t make any sense. You often claimed to have seen places that never existed and often spoke of a night that was brighter than the sun. And so, I would have brushed your claim aside, I swear, had I not walked into our child’s bedroom and found that she was no longer one, but two..”
The Square Root of Twenty Nine
(Flash Fiction, Dec 2016)
After the memory thief commits his twenty-ninth crime in a series of murder in which he steals the memory of the person he murders, an investigation ensues.
Excerpt from the text:
” The radius of each of his memories was a square root of 29. After the news of his murder spread, the police measured all his memories with a tape before they came to the said conclusion.”
Abhishek Sengupta 