husband and wife, lockdown edition: a quadrille

screeching tires roared back to life running away from fuming wife, leaving minty toothpaste uncapped, garlic burnt with bitter bite, lockdown birthing silly fights. yet once the stars start blending the night, wheels will return to arms so light, hush, hush, let's not fight. — 05.05.2020 ©2020 Rosemawrites@A Reading Writer. All Rights Reserved. Photo by…

mildewed memory

Mildew and mould hover freely inside the decade-age cabin, eventually welcoming a pair of sneakers, uncertainly wandering. Each step receives a pained, creaking answer. Unhurried climbing continues. One. Two. Three. Four. And more. Her gloved hand reaches for the rusted knob, still frozen with the last breath of winter. With pounding chest, she opens the…

The Bathroom Pianist

I was three when curiosity was born inside me. I remember the first thing I asked my mom was about the grand piano covered and silenced inside her room’s bathroom. I grew old asking why it’s hidden. She has offered me nothing but a teary smile, until today. With the same nostalgic yet melancholic look,…

The Chant

My rubber shoes are soaked with rain. My hungry stomach is now in pain. I was drowned in the sea of noise made of my schoolmates' giggles and words shared with their friends and parents as well as the sound of the car tires against the water-kissed road. The sun's about to be eaten by…

A Mother’s Heart

I almost dropped the two full paper bags when I saw the familiar blue car parked in front of our home. So they are back after a month. Seated in front of my husband, my daughter and her rugged boyfriend sat in full-of-fear silence. I walked in without looking at them. I might not be able…

Summer Air

The smiling sun and the jovial man-in-blue walking his black dog both fail to break the darkened state I am in after he left me broken and bruised. So this is what first heartbreak feels like. T’was like a rollercoaster ride which pulls your heart up, up, up until it feels so heavenly and then…

Last Ride

This is the last part of my ‘Ride’ short story series. For best the reading experience, please read Ride and Second Ride. I am ashamed of myself while he’s laughing his heart out. This is always the scenario when our friends, our families and even our little kids recalled that fateful second ride. The tale of…

Second Ride

This is the second part of my Ride series. Part 1 was published yesterday. Wait! Can I get your name? This is what I wanted him to say, but, he sadly didn't. I fell asleep along the ride and when I woke up, he’s already gone. I was honestly hoping to see him again but I…

Ride: Part 1

This is the first part of a three-part series.  Buses are not just full, they are jam-packed during Mondays. I have accepted wholeheartedly that I’ll be standing for almost two hours when I took the bus to get to work. Trying as hard as I can, I eagerly squeezed in myself in the already filled bus.…

Mirror: Fiction with Vignettes

I’m an audience for decades now but no one knows I’m watching. — 1945 “Ssshhh,” I whispered to myself. Hiding behind my wooden closet across my huge mirror, trembling with fear, I am finding it hard to breathe. “Please, Lord, don’t let them see me, please, oh please.” — 2015 “You’re such a beautiful lass,” I…