| Sumanya Anand Velamur | October 2024 | Flash Fiction |
“When she writes with her hand, I am about an inch. On a word processor, though, sizes appear differently.” I said this in a bid to comfort them. They were shorter than I was and they seemed disconcerted by the fact. “Size doesn’t really matter,” I continued, “as I have mentioned, it is all contextual.” They nodded, their entire length appearing smaller than it was. I was upset that I could not lift their spirits completely.
The likelihood of us meeting had been infinitesimal. And yet, catapulted by a series of uncharacteristic events, uncharacteristic for Suchitra, that is, we did meet. In a rare tumble into the ditch of bad grammar, Suchitra had placed us end-to-end, first me and then them. Then, unthinkably, Suchitra had not struck either of us out at once. She shut the notebook only to open it a few days later.
By that time the deed was done. They and I were in love. It began with some playful flicking of heads and toes. But soon, we got to talking, spending whole moments, intertwined with each other. “It is important that we stay this way, you know. We must never get back to being placed end-to-end,” I said. “Why?”they asked. “Because the moment Suchitra comes back, she will strike one of us out.”
I knew that one would be them because the sentence needed me. I had spent a lot of time thinking about that sentence. It would require a miracle if we were both to be retained. I racked my brains to think of ways in which we could remain this way, end-to-end. I looked for precedents—in the classics, in the contemporary and in the experimental. It was all a no-go. I didn’t tell them all this, though.
Meanwhile, they hoisted themselves vertically atop me and playfully asked, “And now? Who would Suchitra strike out eh? If I walk up to your centre, would she choose me or choose you? If I walk up to your toe-end, would she choose to strike me out or you? Or would she strike us both out?” I told them to stop playing and get back to lying on top of me. The more inconspicuous we were, the less likely we were to be found out.
It was in one of these intimate, entangled moments that they discovered they were shorter. And it upset them. I wrapped myself around them, to comfort them but they slipped out, preferring the end-to-end. A part of me wanted to flee with them in tow, to take this love to the next level, to live happily ever after. But Suchitra was the one who had written us—an Em dash and an En dash—into this impossible meet-cute.
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Sumanya Anand Velamur is a researcher, social worker, impact consultant, and writer. She is based in Bengaluru, where if she is not tucking into some good food, she can be found at her desk, writing, reading about writing, and researching for her writing. She is published in Kitaab and Feminism in India. She enjoys hikes, runs, Bharatanatyam and Kalarippayattu.
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Love the premise and the writing.