Z is for ..... Zephyr

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

The youngest of five sisters, Zainab was the only one who was not larger than life.

Her oldest sister was the National Discus Champion, the next played the cello in the University Orchestra. The third sister had won the Mathematics Olympiad three times in a row, and the fourth was a published author while still in her teens.

And Zainab? Zainab was normal, just normal. The only award she would have won was for being a Normal Teenager.

And yet, it was Zainab that everyone loved. Because while cyclones make headlines, it is a zephyr that people most long for.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Y is for ..... Young

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

“I can’t believe you are a grandmother”, Yelena was often told. “You just don’t look like one.”

“It is the hair dye”, she would retort. “The day I stop using it, every year of mine would show.”

But she knew it wasn’t the hair dye. Even without it, she knew she’d look much younger than she was, though nowhere near as young as she felt.

For in her mind, Yelena was still a child- curious about the world, constantly seeking new experiences. Her body might have aged, but she was still young because she retained the enthusiasm of a child.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

X is for ..... Xerox

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

She always dreaded Parent Teacher Meetings- none of Xerxes’ teachers seemed to understand him.


“Xerxes is bright. He could do so well, if he only applied himself.”
“I asked Xerxes to write an essay, but he drew a cartoon strip. How is he going to score marks this way?”
“Can’t you tell Xerxes to stick to the topic? He gives the most complicated answers to the simplest questions.”
“At this rate, Xerxes will soon need remedial lessons.”

She knew she should have minded, but she didn’t. In a world populated by Xerox copies, she knew her son was an Original.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

W is for ..... Winner

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

“Mamma, we had a chess tournament in school today, and I Won!”

“That’s wonderful”, said Winona, hugging her child. “Let me see your medal.”

“I didn’t get a medal, Mamma. Only the children who came first, second and third did.”

“But I thought you said you Won?”

“I did, Mamma”, explained her daughter patiently. “None of the children my age or younger beat me. I was the Winner among us.”

Her daughter taught Winona a very important lesson that day. It doesn’t matter if you come first or not. As long as you consider yourself a Winner, you are one.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

V is for ..... Variety

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

“You seem to go out of your way to collect strange people”, Vera was often told.


It wasn’t strictly true- she didn’t go looking for people, but she had no inhibitions about striking up a conversation with people, and did end up with a wide circle of acquaintances.

The classical dancer who’d grown up in the same city. The corporate lawyer who shared her reading tastes. The rising football star who liked filter-coffee as much as her. None of them seemed to have anything in common with her, but they got along well.

And she was the richer for it.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

U is for ..... Ugly

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

“You are the ugliest girl I have ever seen”, he spat.

Ujwala didn’t mind as much as she should have. She knew she was far from beautiful. But she also knew she had brains, and to her that was much more important.

They spend the remaining years in engineering college avoiding each other, and went their separate ways after graduation. They met again only at their Twentieth Reunion.

“Ujwala?! Is that really you?”, he exclaimed.

“Why? How can you forget the Ugly Duckling?”, she asked.

She knew he found her attractive. When a woman feels good about herself, it shows.

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

T is for ..... Tourist

This is a work of fiction and forms a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I will attempt to write a new story based on the word for the day every day during the month of April.

It was one of the best holidays she’d ever had. Taking the ferry to an island, and spending the rest of the day exploring Medieval cave art. Watching the sun paint the sky in psychedelic hues, before sinking into the Arabian Sea. Getting her portrait painted by a street artist. Bargaining with travelling gypsies for beaded jewellery.

“Had a good vacation?”, her colleagues asked. “Where did you go?”

“I spent the week being a tourist in Bombay”, she replied. Tanya may not have been able to afford a holiday, but who says you need to travel to be a tourist?

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A Drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.