Abhishek's Musings

                                        CREATIVE HIDEAWAY SANCTUARY   Nestled in the warm embrace of rolling sage hills lies a sanctuary uncorrupted by time. It is a secluded cottage out of a scenic postcard—the stuff of dreams—your brother sent you from his trips abroad. Cloaked in a thin veil of natural vegetation, the cottage blends perfectly with the land, its indoor plant potted walls and wooden beams merging effortlessly with the wilderness. The scent of pine and rhododendron flowers lingers in the crisp, clear air, mingling with the far-away echo of the hidden cascading brook.   Lodged at the ideal elevation, this hideaway offers a spectacular vantage point, a front row seat to nature’s grandest spectacle. At dawn, the sky erupts into a riot of pink and gold, and the landscape is sketched and painted in a soft golden glow. The far-off hills stretch endlessly, their textur...

  THE LETTER FROM A MONSTER   My dearest love,   Do you remember the boy who once sat beside you beneath the old native tree weaving dreams and magic in the air? Do you remember how we envisioned our future amongst the stars, believing they were a part of us? Do you remember the infinite time we thought we had, and how time belonged to us? I was that boy. And yet, I was not.   I write to you from a place you are not accustomed to and cannot even fathom, where shadows bark my name and fire dances upon my skin as if it has found an abode. I am the boy you once loved, but I have endured trials and tribulations that no man should endure. The devil saw, tricked, and kept me bound to a fate far more sinister than I had ever imagined. I was conned, my soul inked into a contract of despair, my head crowned in hellfire, whenever the devil decides to make use of my services.   I tried to fight back, but the fire ebbed away the life I once knew. My friends turned away, and...