Written by Rananda
Vegetable Farm (a Satire of a Satire)
Where vegans are the enemies…
Warning: The following content depicts scenes of graphic violence that some readers (i.e. fruitarians) may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised.
The current generation of carrots bore the worst of the surprise attack. After the shock uprooting of several sweet youngsters, pudgy hands brushed the soil off orange flesh. Crunches of annihilation stoked vivid thoughts of revolt amongst the remaining vegetables.
The petals had fallen from their flowers: they were not being nurtured in fine beds; they were being detained in open-air prisons…
Intrigued? You can read the full story on Medium.
The New Normal
A short story about how we might tackle health issues in the future…
Some still had their ties on, their flabby florid faces jiggling with each laboured step, blood-shot eyes squinting at the setting sun. All but two wore suits, bulging bellies bursting over spindly legs covered by expensive, tailored fabric that gathered warm, red pigment as they trudged.
The driver walked ahead, the bus abandoned, its windows winking goodbye in the evening light. He’d advised his passengers to “bring the essentials, but it’s quite a walk” and given them each a bottle of water…
Intrigued? You can read the full story on Medium.
How Acts of Kindness Changed in 2020
And why this won’t stop me trying to be a better person…
Experiments have shown we can statistically improve our levels of happiness by performing two acts of kindness a day for three weeks. Back in early March 2020, when Covid-19 events were still a rumbling, vague unsettlement, I attempted my version of this experiment.
If I was deliberately kinder, could I become happier?
I began by buying my younger daughter a slushy one day after day-care. This good deed was the outcome of a promise made at 8 am when saying goodbye. I was trying to pare down the clinging hugs and teary kisses. But was this act of kindness actually a bribe, a veiled form of selfishness?
In the meantime, newsreaders spoke about ‘super-spreaders’ and faraway ‘lockdowns’. Sales of toilet paper escalated…
Intrigued? You can read the full story on Medium.
A Rant about Sunday Morning Interruptions
The child has verbal diarrhoea
As I write this, I’m handed a tiny plastic pink key for opening a glittery plastic treasure chest which hopefully contains a small blue whale otherwise there will be hell to…
It is empty. Twenty minutes dribble away as I’m dragged to a bedroom bursting with tiny plastic toys. I’m hoping one is blue, roundish, whale-like.
I’ve written my six intentions down on paper for the day like the latest productivity hack recommends, including completing two articles. But I’m yet to finish the first on my list, let alone start any of the other five this morning…
Intrigued? You can read the full story at Medium.
Many a Truth Spoken As I Ingest
The words I got wrong a zillion times…
Forgive me for relishing the mini missteps my children make with words, though they are not the only ones.
I made enough of my own vocabulary mistakes growing up.
1. Dull.
When I was a child, we frequently ate dull for dinner. I associate the dish with long chilly winters and the repetitive routine of rising in the dark, attending school, doing homework, eating dinner, maybe some TV, reading, then bed. Over and over again. Our meals were the epitome of that time. Dull.
Years later, I understood we were eating dahl.
And only when I was an adult did I eat interesting dahl that was delicious, spicy and fragrant.
As children, we ate plain, soft, beige dahl, with a bit of salt, maybe a dash of oil, on a bed of brown rice. Nutritious but dull…
Intrigued? You can read the full story at Medium.
With shutdowns because of COVID19, I had new appreciation for many things
April 2020 Barefoot Writing Challenge
I remember the day my KeepCup was refused at my local coffee shop and real money was rejected for more hygienic, touchless, payWave transactions.
In truth, I was happy about not shaking hands anymore, and thank goodness for no more awkward social cheek kissing. The idea of lockdown appealed to every part of my introverted, quiet, self-contained self…
Intrigued? You can read the full story at the Barefoot Writer.
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