Tiny Tales - Romance

Tales of love and relationships

All stories, photos and other content (c) Ajesh Sharma, unless otherwise specified. No portion of the stories below may be used for any reason without the express, prior approval of the author. You may use the Social Media Share buttons to share links to with due credit to the author.

26-Apr-2022: Balance

When you have a dial that goes from 0 to 10, you have to ask yourself, do I need to turn it up to 11? What of the band behind me? What level are they playing at? I don’t want to stand out too far in front of the mix of instruments behind and around me.

These are the thoughts I would have, if I played in a band. If I played in a band, I would probably play guitar. I don’t want to stand out because I’m not a very good guitar player and thus, I don’t play in a band.

I did mix up two things in my discussion above. Volume of the sound produced is one of them.

The other is capability.

Someday, I will explore the relationship between the two, in another article. Suffice it to say, for now, that I play along with my favorite songs in my basement studio. My guitar amplifier has a volume control that goes from 0-12.
My amplifier is set to 2 and a half.

The right balance of volume and playing ability for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

13-Apr-2022: Happy

It was not a dark and stormy night. It was a clear moonlit night.

The fire glowed gently as he sat there. Across the valley he could see the city lights twinkling. The air was crisp and cool as he sat on the back porch of his isolated house.

He heard her slide the patio door open. He didn’t turn. She stood by him. Not a word was spoken. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Coming in? It’s getting chillier out”, she said.

“Yeah. I think so. I’m going to make tea. You want some, too?”

“Sure. Green for me.”

He put the kettle on, made the tea and carried it over. He sat down.

She said, “Let’s not watch TV. I want to read.”

“Sure”, he shrugged.

They read, sipping tea at intervals, until it was time to brush their teeth and get into bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

26-Jan-2022: Scent of a woman

The staircase to the second-floor flat (apartment, if American), did not end at the door, but continued inside for another 5 steps to a little room over the staircase. The outside wall was all glass from floor to ceiling and spanned the entire width of the staircase, matching each landing below.

He had taken over the storeroom, cleaned out the junk and painted it. An old curtain, repurposed from discarded curtains from one of the bedrooms, cut off prying eyes. He moved his father’s old desk in, found a wicker basket as a shade for a solitary lamp and deemed it his study.

On the floor, away from the door, there was space where he could lie down and he did.

With her. Often.

It was a time for widespread powercuts in the city. Candlelight made the trysts, meant for studying for the university exams, more invigorating.

The heat of the city, the burning candles and the general air of raging hormonal activity mixed with the smell of burning wood as the candle burned all the way into the top of the desk is a scent he remembered, mixed with the perfume of a sweaty woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

28-Dec-2021: The Wait

He stood on the porch watching the drive, the dog sitting upright next to him, waiting.

Waiting for the car, for her.

He watched her get out and wave to him. He waved back. She was smiling, a smile he knew so well. He smiled back and walked down the porch stairs as she came up. The hug felt familiar but slightly uncomfortable. Behind her came her companion.

He hadn’t been able to think of him as her husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

17-Nov-2021: In Sync

"That's the standout line in the song, you know."

"I know exactly what you mean!", he exclaimed.

She said, "Most people will say that the 'freedom's just another word' bit is the big line, but for me the line is "trade all my tomorrows'".

In that moment he knew the answer to Foreigner's cry "I want know what love is."

His heart filled with joy, he stood up, held the door jamb and stretched.

And made another cup of coffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

13-Apr-2022: Sad

It was not a dark and stormy night. It was a clear moonlit night.

The fire glowed gently as he sat there. Across the valley he could see the city lights twinkling. The air was crisp and cool as he sat on the back porch of his isolated house.

He heard her slide the patio door open. He didn’t turn. She stood by him. Not a word was spoken. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Coming in? It’s getting chillier out”, she said.

“Yeah. I think so. I’m going to make tea. You want some, too?”

“Sure. Green for me.”

He put the kettle on, made the tea and carried it over. He sat down.

She said, “Let’s not watch TV. I want to talk.”

“Sure”, he shrugged.

She talked, he listened, until it was time for her to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8-Apr-2022: The Photograph

He stared at the contents of the drawer for what seemed an age. Yellowing papers, sticky rubber bands, clips and the flotsam and jetsam of pens almost hid the photograph. There were cracks and creases across the the top right. At some point someone seemed to have jammed it into the corner of the drawer and the pressure caused by that bend had been sustained for a some time.

The photo clearly showed its age. The black and white was fading and yellowing, the white border browning rapidly.ut the face in it glowed. Forty years had not aged the gentle hint of a smile, nor dimmed the sparkle in the eyes.

He placed it on the desk, took the drawer out completely and shook the contents out into the dustbin. He replaced the drawer on its rails, shut it and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, opened the beer can and stared out into the backyard. Across the fence, he could see the sloping hillside where the sheep grazed quietly.

He turned abruptly and sat down at the desk. He picked up the photo and stared at it as he drank his beer. He put the can down, wiped his hand, placed the photo in the drawer, right in the middle of a now empty drawer. He shut the drawer, leaned back, drinking beer, with his head swirling from the memories the photo had raised.

Outside, the world grew dark as the sun set. He sat there, lost in his thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12-Jan-2022: A Slightly Musical Story

"Where have all the flowers gone?"

"Oh, I garbaged them. The water had started to discolor and leaves on the twigs were falling."

"Ah. Ok. What about those little boxes? There were so many of them; green ones and red ones and yellow ones, all taped up with ticky tacky."

"I put them in the garage. Hey, Joe, where you going with that ?"

"I was thinking of going down to Yasgur's farm and pick up some of his little green apples."

"Wait for a couple of minutes. It's a bit of a drive. If you get bored I'll be there for you. Especially if the rain starts to fall, as it's threatening to."

They drove into the countryside past the old oak tree with the yellow ribbon. Up on Cripple Creek, the scarlet begonias sparkled in the sun.

"Hey! Watch where you're going? Dreaming, dreaming again with some song playing in your head?"

"Oops, sorry. Didn't see that lane reduction."

He put the basket full of fruit down and they sat by the banks of the Ohio watching the clouds rolling away.

Apologies and acknowledgements to the song writers. If anyone really wants to know all the references I can provide a list...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15-Dec-2021: Hello, World

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
printf(“Hello World! \n”);
}
He stared it for a while. He hit F5 and the screen said "Hello World!"

He erased the word "World" and typed in his name. He hit F5 again.

He erased his name and typed in her name and hit F5 again.

He switched off the computer and went to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1-Dec-2021: Floyd Sonata

They sipped their coffee at the breakfast buffet. The pianist played live on the grand piano. He thought he recognized Moonlight Sonata and wondered why.

The music changed and she said "Floyd!"

And sure enough he could hear those famous 4 notes from the intro to the "Wish you were here" album.

He knew then, as he'd always known, that she was the one for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~