Unwed Mother In two minds to tell or not tell both would tilt the scales not in her favour scared to hell Would be chastised Told to pack her bags Leave home find another place Had transgressed Anyway, how long could she hide life growing inside A one-night stand Landed her in a mess Plucked up courage Confessed to sins of the flesh Begged for forgiveness Would they soften? Betrayal Two Pigeons looked distressed Someone had visited their nest emptied it of eggs laid "Let's go and report the theft to the police station" Pidgeons agreed would be the best A raven sitting on a nearby branch fluffing it's feathers watched his friends all ears listening to their conversation guilt-ridden pondering whether to tell and risk friendship broken 'Friends...I need to confess. I'm the cause of your empty nest. I crashed into it and found my lunch staring at my face. Couldn't resist the temptation Gobbled up all four of them' So, saying hung down his head in shame. Shocked out of their wits Pigeons cried out "betrayer... betrayer... you're a scavenger couldn't you find your lunch elsewhere instead of chewing on our eggs" Prankster Maureen decided to bake a cake for her son Shawn's birthday he never wanted pleaded for Pizza instead and a tub of mint ice cream his favourite "Come on, this will be a lot of fun, if we do it together" Maureen persuaded Shawn reluctantly nodded going about breaking the eggs, leaving inside pieces of shell when Maureen's back was turned Out from the oven the freshly baked cake sat on the table ready to be eaten Maureen offered the first slice to Shawn He clamped his mouth Maureen asked "What happened?" Shawn confessed "I'm sorry, the cake is inedible. I left eggshells and added salt to it" Maureen smiled compelled to give in to Shawn's request Mother and son ordered the Pizza and cold dessert.
SNIGDHA AGRAWAL is a Bengali born and raised in a cosmopolitan environment. Educated in Loreto Institutions, with an MBA from IGNOU, New Delhi, she has worked in the corporate sector for over two decades. This has broadened her outlook on life as reflected in her writings. She writes in all genres; poetry, prose, short stories, travelogues, hotel, and restaurant reviews. A published writer of two books of poems, and a book of short stories for children, her fourth book of short stories recently published is for all mindsets… from the conservative to the radical. She is a regular contributor to anthologies/online magazines, published in India and the USA. A septuagenarian, second to writing is her passion for travel. Her travel diaries are accessible in the WordPress blog randomramblings52. A reviewer on Tripadvisor, she posts under the pen name ‘puchka’.
Confessions 