Scratches

KK

a flash fiction


Satish had purchased a brand new car by taking a loan from his bank. He was so possessive of this luxury asset that he used to put back a cover every time he returned from outside.

One fine morning, he heard some noise from outside. When he came out, stunned, he saw some children taking off the cover and jumping on the bonnet, roof and dickey of his car.

Satish was so angry that he wanted to teach them a lesson or two, but suddenly something came to his mind and he went down memory lane.

He managed to control his anger. Instead, a slow smile erased the creases between his brows. He kept watching those kids jumping on every part of the car and having fun.

After a while they left, completely satisfied. When Satish went near his car, he found some scratches and dents on the body of his car. His eyes became moist.

He came inside his house and stood in front of a life-size mirror to check for the old indelible marks and scratches, on his back. Everything had disappeared.


–Kaushal Kishore

40 Comments

      1. My pleasure, Kaushal!

        Apologies for being late but I researched the life and teachings of an extraordinary man, Guru Nanak Dev.

        I am more than impressed with his teaching and beliefs. I now understand why it is in India public holiday.

        I will come back to comment on your post later.

        Joanna

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, he was the founder of Sikhism, like Gautam Buddha was of Buddhism. Today is the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The day falls on the full moon day of Kartik month.

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  6. Lovely story!!
    I remember a similar story:
    Once a small boy was playing with the new car of his father. He made some drawing with the stone. Seeing that his father got very angry. He took the stone from his son’s hand and break his fingers.
    His son was immediately rushed to the hospital. Doctor told them, I can’t fix your son’s fingers completely, and it will be permanently be disfigured. He cannot write or hold anything in future.
    The boy’s father was very sorry for what he did in the anger.
    He apologizes to his son. The son said- I am sorry daddy for writing on your car.
    Later the father realized that the boy had written “I love you daddy on the car”.

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    1. Thank you, Devang for sharing this beautiful story. I had made reference to this story in one of my earlier posts. The most touching part of this story is when the child innocently asked his father, “When will my finger grow back, daddy?” This is the result when we start loving a thing more than the people.

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  8. Two amazing stories here, both showing us what we think matters on the outside is nowhere near as important as what’s happening inside … in our hearts and our minds. Outward appearances and the image we want others to see is not what counts; all that counts is our purity of heart and soul and a beautiful mind. A shiny red, delicious looking apple which is full of worms and rotten inside is worthless and inedible, good for nothing but the garbage heap.

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    1. Your example of shiny red apple is so apt here. Internal beauty is much more important than the external dicey features. We must remember that people should be loved, not used, while things should be used, not loved. Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your excellent thoughts.

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      1. You’re right, Eunice, the first half is real, not full story. That’s why I have used the word ‘fiction.’

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