CYCMD Entry THE MASK

Hey everyone! Ash here. Before I post the entry, please allow me to share my experience with you all.

I am new to this whole limited words writing and this was TOUGH. I have always been very generous with my words. I can't work with a word limit. even if I set a limit, I inadvertently just exceed it. It's like some sort of a compulsion for me. I participated to challenge myself, And what a challenge it was!

I won't say I gave it my best coz I didn't. I could have done better. Much better. But here is the result anyway.

Please be kind and constructive criticism is more than welcome. It ould help me a lot to improve as a writer.

Thank you for reading this. Here is my entry.

Genre: Mystery

Vihan sat at his mother-in-law’s house’s window gazing at his twins playing outside. His wife, Samiksha, was inside, tending to her unwell mother. He heard her enter the room and turned to face her, only to see that she had turned deathly pale, gazing past him. He turned back to see that an ordinary-looking couple was conversing with his kids.

*********

Samiksha was eight when her neighbouring house was rented out to a middleaged widow, Vibhawari and her son, Rohit. She had grown fond of Vibha Aunty in the short time that she lived there.

One day, a tragedy struck. Vibhawari was discovered murdered in her house by Samiksha and the main accused was her son. It was an open-and-shut case. Rohit’s fingerprints matched those on the murder weapon. Samiksha also testified that she had heard a gunshot and had seen the gun in his hand. Rohit was arrested and the house lay abandoned henceforth.

*********

Samiksha was shocked to see the smiling, youthful face of Vibhawari chatting with her kids. Beside her stood Rohit, looking as young as he was when arrested.

Samiksha had seen Vibhawari’s body, her lined face pale in death. She had seen Rohit’s arrest. Then how...

PS: This was my blurb.

ROUND 2

Given Blurb Mashup:

Samiksha was eight when her neighbouring house was rented out to a middle-aged widow, Vibhawari and her son, Rohit. One day, a tragedy struck. Vibhawari was discovered murdered in her house by Samiksha and the main accused was her son. The state assigns the recent murder case to the efficient public prosecutor, Aman Batra. It was an open-and-shut case. Rohit’s fingerprints matched those on the murder weapon. Samiksha also testified that she had heard a gunshot and had seen the gun in his hand. As evidence, police only found the gun and a black and white snapshot. Of which, the rear had a date of about seventy years ago and a name - ‘Shanti’ inscribed on it. The front had an adolescent girl. On close inspection of the photo, Aman found himself in deep concentration, one moment. The next, he was stuck in the head of a female Indian revolutionary, named Shanti. The entry was outlandish and exit seemed infeasible. Amid the perplexity, Shanti’s gallantry to kill or be killed has left him awestruck. Meanwhile, Samiksha was shocked to see the smiling, youthful face of Vibhawari chatting with her kids. Beside her stood Rohit, looking as young as he was when he was arrested. Samiksha had seen Vibhawari’s body, her lined face pale in death. She had seen Rohit’s arrest. Then how...

Title: The Mask

Genre: Mystery and Psychological Thriller

Drabble: Aman Batra now believed himself to be Shanti. He had been behaving like her for the past twenty years now. Waiting... Waiting for one signal that would tell him he could drop the act.

Samiksha gazed in horror at her kids chatting merrily with Vibhawari and Rohit. Vihan saw his wife’s deathly pale face and smiled to himself. It was now time to take off his mask... As she shifted her eyes from the woman to the man she loved, she retched. Staring at her was older Rohit, grinning wickedly.

Samiksha’s scream echoed and Aman Batra finally got his signal.