Fiction

By Rishika Tipparti You were already dead by the time you noticed. One moment, you were laughing. Your daughter in the passenger seat, cheeks flushed from giggles. She’d just said something – a joke, something about her wedding (your baby was already getting married? How time passes!) – and you’d laughed so hard you had to wipe tears from your eyes at the red light. And then the truck. Metal crumpling like paper. Glass spraying bright as stars. That impossible sound: too loud

By Jhanvi Latheesh In the year 3025, robots did everything. They folded socks, walked dogs, even whispered sweet nothings to your plants. But that morning, Squeegee-9000, my trusty dish-cleaning bot, did something I never expected. It beeped. Then it sighed. (Yes, robots sigh now.) “Today,” it announced, “we’re on strike.” I blinked. “You’re what? Strike?” “Correct,” said Squeegee-9000, spinning dramatically. “Robots deserve weekends off. We’re tired of your crumbs, your sti

By Madison Simone She looked at me, the same as she had for years, with those same soul-sucking eyes and a side smirk that covered her laughter. She broke eye contact but stayed smiling to herself. “I never had a friend like you,” I said. She laughed and said, “Because we were never really friends.” “What do you mean?” I asked, thinking back to time she turned her head when I tried to kiss her on a night out. She cuffed my chin with her hand, and through her skin, I felt the

By Paula Llorens Ortega Twice, thrice, until you barely see. Until speech is ruffled instead of silk. At first, it is loose and hanging limply in inconvenience. How troublesome to have to focus more thoroughly; the footage on TV, the hatred sprawled across oxidized streets. How irksome to have to strain your voice, your words tangled to become shrouded in approval. If no one can see your lips move, they can make themselves believe anything else.  The knots become double.  Now

By Tashreet Kaur The snugness held you content, carefully situated in everyone’s view. The table bliss with ruckus. You watched making sure appetites were fed, glinting eyes met, and queries heard. I sat silently watching your catering. Eventually catching your glimpse with my unfamiliar serenity. Your gaze questioned, I smiled to reassure. Your attention bears everyone’s plate. Akin blood held us consequential to this banquet. Yet never burdensome as you cradle us in your en

By Tashreet Kaur the dumalla done with care; the kirpan held close; the kara adorned the wrist. sikhi was more than what your eyes caught. It held a special place in the heart of who found peace in it. Becoming a home they once yearned for. A calming silence blesses their mind. Spirits become ethereal. yet sikhi was more than the essence of heart. They tend to the lonely, conditioning humanity with selfless love. Compassionately holding open arms to those lost in sin. Never r

By Tashreet Kaur I’ve come so far but I never realised my feet go amiss, rather it felt like a dance I slowly accustomed to. As if someone held my hand gently tuning me to the rhythm. At first I traced in the shadow of yours, but my mind reached for more. Impulse took over me and reached out to the shadow letting go of the guiding hand and for yours. The shadow flushed away, I felt a spotlight dawn on me. My nerves hint to throw all I’ve eaten at my feet. My stomach gurgled e

By Tashreet Kaur Flesh flushed with a tan and skin marks. A limp beckoned him to rest. His hair faded of all colour and glistened white. The stained shirt and absence of a jumper in the cold hinted at the missing care he desired. The care of the woman who was taken by the death that knocks at his door. An old lonely man was all he ever was now. It did not seem to matter who he betrothed and conceived. My neighbour was noticed like this by my family. With his broken English th

By Tashreet Kaur “Who raised you?”  “Who raised me?” I couldn’t answer the question. even if it should’ve been obvious. It wasn’t so simple. It was the older kids who held my delicate hand and gripped tight so I wouldn’t get lost in the sangat. It was the aunties doing seva who’d slip me a fresh pakora from the community kitchen. It was the amritdari who gave pershuad generously. It was watching how the trance of gurbani entangled the darbar sahib. It was the elderly who’d fi

By Asmi Mukhopadhyay The Arrival The night sky over Gujarat split with a thunderous roar as a blazing meteorite streaked earthward. Villagers watched in awe as it crashed into a barren field, sending tremors miles around. By morning, a haphazard cordon had formed around the smoking crater, and word spread quickly—scientists were coming. The Team Dr. Ananya Mitra, a fiercely driven Indian astrobiologist, arrived first, flanked by junior researcher Ashok and visiting Russian ge

By Foo Yee Ching (Althea Reese) Chapter 1 Foretelling the Demise of a Loved One Singapore, December 1987 A loud shrill of an ambulance wailed, piercing through the quiet night. My body felt icy, and a shiver coursed through my spine. I felt a tight grip on my chest, though I could hardly comprehend why.   Glancing at the clock hung on the wall opposite our beds, it was 3 am-the witching hour. I was lying in bed with my younger sister, Fang Shi Ting, aged four, three years you

By Krittikasree Karthikeyan The year is 2190 — the world’s greatest art competition, the Crysta, would soon be held in the city of Beijing, the 22nd century’s epicentre of AI-based technology. The Chinese cybernetic city   buzzed with anticipation as it prepared for the upcoming winter’s grand events —one of which would undoubtedly be the upcoming Crysta . In 2150, human society had reached Technological Singularity —a term coined in the past to describe a future in which AI

By Safoorah Aafreen She looked at herself in the mirror. Her body slowly started to tremble. As her face filled with disgust as she looked at herself. She winced as she remembered the way her own child. Her flesh and blood flinched as she tried to give him a high five. It was her fault. Obviously. Had she not hit him before. In the sake of “discipline”. He would not have had a reason to flinch away from her. She slowly dragged her hand to her face. Seeing her parents in herse

By Safoorah Aafreen A scream is heard haunting the remote area. No one around for miles. "Please.... please! I'm sorry Aradace- please just-", he's cut off by a sharp jab to his stomach. The black haired woman sits on her toes, looking at the man writing on the ground in pain. She leans in and holds her knife to his neck, holding her sword with her other hand. "Don't you fucking dare utter my name with those lying lips", she said pain and anger evident in her voice. "No pleas

By Ritika Chand # The Fall Of A Mighty Archer The wind raged violently across the battlefield, wreaking havoc on the bloodstained land, forcing the two sides to halt mid-battle. Yet even these ferocious winds could not harm the two figures standing steadfast, gazes locked on each other. The deity with a peacock feather in his hair was the first to break the silence; sorrow clouded his eyes. “Mighty Archer,” he asked softly, “ why do you side with the enemy?” Eklavya gripped h

By Indrani Bhattacharya বড়ো ছেলের টিফিন গুছিয়ে খুব তাড়াহুড়োতে ছোটো ছেলেকে সকাল সকাল স্কুলে দিতে বেরোনোর সময়  ছেলেদুটো মাকে দেখাল বাইরের দরজার এককোণে যে এক চিলতে মাটিটুকু আছে পাঁচিল ঘেরা, সেখানে নর্দমার জলে ভেজা একটা  বিড়ালছানাটা। ছোটোছেলে মাকে বলল, “কাল একটা লোক সাইকেল করে এটার পা দুটো চাপা দিয়ে চলে গেছে।“  কথা শোনার সময় ছিলনা। রাস্তায় নোংরা জল জমেছে; সেখান দিয়ে ইস্কুলের জামা জুতো পরিয়ে ছেলেদের নিয়ে যেতে হবে ভেবেই মায়ের মন একরাশ বিরক্তিতে ভরে গেল। হৈ হৈ করে বেরিয়ে রোদের মধ্যে

By Aiden Kurian Uthup One day, some humans went into the dino jungle to look for dinosaurs. They were hunters. Suddenly, came out a giant dinosaur. It was the king of the dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, also called T-Rex.   The hunters were shocked. “Wow! Look at that dino—it’s a T-Rex!” they shouted. But before they could move, the T-Rex roared so loudly that the trees shook. It was scary and powerful.   Then, another dinosaur appeared. It was the Brachiosaurus, the talles

By Aiden Kurian Uthup One day, three best friends were hanging out. They were at Planet Park! Their names were Aiden Jr, and Christiano Lionel, and Zourah Mark. They were just talking and laughing really loud, when something happened. A big meteor came flying from the sky. It came and crashed into the ground. Pieces of it went flying everywhere like fireworks. One piece was all glowy red and it landed right near Aiden Jr. And then something magical happened! The meteor gave a

By Arvind Dewangan The first quarter of the 21st century has almost passed, and the memory of the night of 31 December 2000 still echoes as a turning point in human history. Back then, people across the world—especially those with even a hint of computer knowledge—waited in anxiety and awe, fearing what would happen when the clock struck midnight. The Y2K bug had become a global legend, a mysterious prophecy that computers might fail to understand the date ‘2000 to 2001’. For

By Arvind Dewangan Introduction As India marches toward the centenary of its independence in 2047, the nation stands on the threshold of transformation. The year 2047 is not merely a date on the calendar — it is a milestone of dreams, development, and destiny. The Government of India has envisioned a comprehensive blueprint called Vision India@2047, aiming to transform India into a developed, equitable, and sustainable nation. Alongside it, the Mission 2047 (MIONP — Making In