Tag: stories

Just writing

Are We Long Lost Cousins

nhpureandsimple

I stopped at this question as I was reading my book last night, but I wrote it down before forgetting about it.

Have you ever met a person who looks exactly like your reflection in the mirror? Isn’t it scary to meet someone who look exactly your double, even if they are your lost cousin?

I believe that’s not only scary but can also be dangerous.

That never happened to me, or anyone I know unless of course they are twins. And, even the twins I met, were not identical.

However, there is what people call the bond of likeness which doesn’t solely imply physical looks. I think that’s somehow can be like blood bond or soul bond.

The blood bond is comon in families’ similarities because of inherited genes. In my family, for example, though my sons look totally different, most people believe they look so similar that they are confused when calling them. Later, when they know them more, they see how they are different. Although my boys always laugh at these incidents, they do the same with my daughter and me, even though we look different. But it’s the blood that runs in our veins and how close we are together that gives others this impression.

On the other side, there might be the soul bond. That’s when you share similar thoughts, dreams, sense of humour, or even fears and worries with others. They might be friends, acquentences, or complete strangers, but Fate makes you cross paths together even once. In this case, you feel relaxed and happy to be in their company, as if you were somehow related.

However, back to the one – in- a- million possibility of having your double image, it would never be exactly you. We can’t just have printed copies of ourselves because we are not just photos. We are human beings with more than physical shapes. We’re created to be different, meant to be different. So, just in case you meet one day face to face with your double, be one hundred percent sure that you would never be confused because they would never be you.

Many books might have the same title, perhaps similar front cover, but never the same author, never the same content.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

Books

The promise

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Have you ever promised someone something?
Of course I have, we all do.

Have you been true to your promise?
Hmm … sometimes, most of the times.

Have you ever broken any?
Well… I can’t remember

Can you trust someone who breaks their promise, who couldn’t stand by their word?
Never … but unless it was inevitable.

Would your answers be any similar?

You might forgive once, but when things happen twice or more, nothing can heal the wound of mistrust. It’s better not to give a promise at all than to give one with any possibility of being unable to keep it. It’s not only unethical to break a promise, but also heartbreaking, disappointing, and deceiving.

However, what if the promise itself is impossible, dangerous, or unethical? Would you blindly, stubbornly fulfill it? Or would you listen to your heart and reason, and break it? 

That’s what the new book I am currently reading is all about. A girl, in her early twenties,  gives her bedridden mother a promise to move and live with her aunt after her death. From the very beginning, starting with the cold letter she receives from her aunt, to the long, miserable journey she makes, to people’s fear and shock about her destination, to the first sight of her aunt and her husband, everything seems to be shouting at her to break her promise and forget about it. If her mother were able to rise from her grave, she would do, so just to tell her daughter to forget about that mistaken promise and flee from her Aunt’s house. But, the girl, full of curiosity and stubbornness, stuck to the promise all the same.

I’ll let you know more when I finish it.

With all the best wishes,

Nahla

P.S. The promise is not the title of the book

Just writing

Villians

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Have you ever, even somtimes, sympathised with those villians who are dramatised in movies and fiction, as kind hearted people with noble deeds? Something like, they rob banks but they also give plenty to the poor. Worse still, especially when it’s a love story with handsome characters, you go ahead and analyse their cases from a psychological point of view, mainly to make them victims not criminals.

Your analysis would suggest that, perhaps, it was the hard circumstances, the upbringing, ignorance, injustice, and sometimes even boredom, that forced them to follow the devil. Of course, that suggestion doesn’t entirely destroy the goodness inside villians.

And, in conclusion, you would also suggest that villians need a chance, an open door, or a relocation to shed their devilish skin. Then, with a new brand of skin, they would be able to listen to their nagging conscience and pump some light into their dark heart. Things might work this way, but it might not becuase there might be other scenarios.

What if they don’t have a nagging conscience? What if they block the light instead of letting it penetrate their dark hearts? What if repentance wasn’t in their dictionary and power and egotism are their main, sole creed?  What if the devil himself was just an apprentense in their handicraft? And finally, what if they want to always play the villian, the highly qualified egonist?

Would you still sympathise with them, and cry at the end of the story because they were hanged, prisoned, and didn’t have a second chance?

Why don’t you, while reading the story, consider that God surely hasn’t assigned villians to rob the rich to feed the poor?

Have you ever thought that, with all excuses, all masks, and all pretences, vilians can’t erase their malicious achievements from their resume without adding a pure, repentent heart to it? Of course that does not mean that a villian would straightaway turn into an angel, but they, probably, would turn straightaway into a human with a living heart.

Would you, as a reader, prefer a story that makes you weep for joy after the lost soul finally starts seeking light? Or would you just enjoy a story for its adventure regardless of the route it takes, just the journey for its own sake?


With all the best wishes,

Nahla

daily prompt

Heidi

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Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

Do you think Heidi, the girl of the Swiss Alps, would have been the same if her story started in a city by the seaside instead of the mountains? Let’s first imagine how things might have changed in her story.

Her gruff grandfather, instead of tending to his sheep and house, he might have been a fisherman. Her best friend, the shepherd, might be a sailor. The green scenery, the endless open green space, the towering mountains, the fresh air, the sheep, cows, and horses grazing around the mountains, and the free activities of climbing and hiking, might all be replaced by the different location.There would be the blue, endless sea, its close, reachable sky, its salty, fresh breeze, its rocky or sandy beach,  its boats and ships, its colourful marine life, and its free activities of swimming, diving, and sailing.

Both places are amazing, full of space and freedom. Perhaps Heidi would have liked her life in a city by the seaside. She moved in the first place to live with her grandfather, the only living relative who had time and space to look after the orphaned Heidi. So, she would love it anywhere as long as she had his company. But the story would not be the same. It would have a different beauty.

I think I would like ‘Heidi, the girl of the Swiss Alps’ more than than ‘Heidi, the girl of the ocean’, but perhaps both can enjoy a short visit to each other on holidays.



With all the best wishes,


Nahla

Just writing

An accident

nhpureandsimple

 

Image result for Animals on the road

 

Accidents happen;  at home, on the road, in the air, everywhere, and people usually panic, fight, yell, swear (probably), or be friends (sometimes) as a reaction to the unexpected clash and the physical or financial injuries.

In real life, we rarely do feel anything appealing about accidents; it’s something happen without any intention or expectation. We panic and react in different ways, but it’s hard to realise the significance of any disaster even if it was just broken glass, until late.

But, in books, the dramatisation of fictional accidents makes the story more exciting; for example, a car hit a cat on the road, and the driver pushed the accelerator down to the floor and disappeared.  Another car stopped, checked the cat, and the story goes on telling the journey of the cat, the hero, and the villain.  ‘that was a good story,’ some people will admit at the end of the book, when they realise the significance, the message, the mistakes, and the necessary precautions.

Fiction entertains and also gives a message.

Take care,

Wishing you all the best,

Nahla