Around the world in 60 days #BarAThon

Posted in Aks Corner, Self Love, Short Stories, Travel stories

I always dreamt of roaming the world- the snow clad Swiss mountains and the museums in Paris, the blue waters in Miami and the skyscrapers in New York.

The hiking trail in Hong Kong and the busy streets of Tokyo.

The bus ride in London and the shopping streets in Milan. I wanted to see them all, soak in the sights, inhale the smells, see different people, cultures, be a part of them. Alas my fate. I was stuck in a small town in India with a family who could barely afford 2 square meals.

All I could do was dream. But as they say, if you want something very badly, the universe listens to you.

There was a hurricane and the family had to move out to the big city. Ravi bhaiya (brother) was desperate for a job and thats when he met the mafia. They looked at me and smiled. I would be the perfect person to perform their job. No one would ever suspect someone who had such an angelic face. “Oh you little darling “they would say as they blew kisses at me and hugged me.

The mafia was always looking for innovative ways to smuggle gold without being intercepted by customs. Gold dust was their new find. It was difficult to detect. The gold dust was stuffed into sealed packets and concealed in my frock. I gave my radiant smile and breezed through the customs.

My first stop was Turkey. The smell of kebabs wafted through the air. How I wanted to wear those colourful Turkish gowns. I had the time of my life in the hot air ballon. Said sir was kind enough to tag me along. He had to for the gold dust had to be delivered to someone and this was usually done at crowded places where no one would suspect anything.

I then went to Geneva and Frankfurt. My next stop was Paris. My dream was finally coming true. I got to see all that I had yearned for. Maybe not in the way I wanted to, as a tourist but that would never have been possible. Maybe what I did was wrong but I did not care. I was loving every bit of this adventure. I sat in one of the busiest cafes in Tokyo    where the smell of tuna sushi almost made me nauseas and I also went to the Venetian casino in Macau as I looked in awe at how the city was illuminated with lights as dusk set in. I had finally made my dream come true- the dream of seeing the four corners of this world and that too in just 2 months. Wasn’t this amazing?

My next dream destination was Mauritius and I was anxious for the airport security thing to get done soon. Perhaps too anxious. And thats when I noticed a few uniform clad men approach sir. They were eyeing me suspiciously.

“We want to frisk her”, they said as Said sir was perspiring.

Before I knew it, they had ripped off my clothes. This was the most humiliating moment of my life. They found the packets of god dust. I had shut my eyes, I couldn’t even cry. “Let me go” I prayed.

“We suspect there is more hidden in her stomach”.

I just couldn’t believe what I heard. The last thing I remember is someone coming towards me with a big pair of scissors.

I lay in the thrash bin, naked, my body severed into 2.

The  plasma screen flashed my story .”Smugglers find a novel way of transporting gold. Gold dust worth $10M found hidden in a doll at Heathrow airport.”

Image courtesy:www.telehjelpen.no

I am participating in the Bar-a-thon Edition 3 and the prompt for today is “4 corners of the world”

bar-a-thon

Published by Akshata Ram

Chartered Accountant, Story Teller, Dreamer, Voracious Reader, Blogger, Mommy to a little munchkin, Shopaholic, Day Dreamer.Passionate about my career in the corporate world and aspire to break the glass ceiling, at the same time nurture my passion for writing. My niche area is short stories, I also write on parenting, sexism, life's experiences, micro blogs and flash fiction. I have won the best Parenting blog post at mycity4kids.com the largest parenting website in India, 4 times and several of my posts have been published in the #MostPopular category on this site garnering millions of views. I also write on Bonobology, Rivo Kids, Women's Web and Youth Ki Awaaz. My blog has been chosen as the Top Indian Blogs for the years 2018-2019,2020 by TopIndianBlogs website and found a place in the prestigious Top 22 Indian Literary Blogs in 2020 @TopIndianBlogs.

50 thoughts on “Around the world in 60 days #BarAThon”

  2. Hey Akshata, nice story! Like how you kept the identity of the narrator a secret till the end – nice punch.

    You could perhaps elaborate a bit more on who this Said sir was? I am assuming he’s from the mafia, but could be something else as well.

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  20. Oh my God! You kept me on the edge of my seat until I was already feeling harrowed about all this happening to a young girl. Gosh! It still makes me feel bad somehow.

    I just loved your imagination, Akshata. And I’m glad I found your blog.

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  21. Wow, Aks! Well done. I liked how you distracted the readers with the description of beautiful travel destinations. And when we were least expecting it you revealed the identity of the protagonist.

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    1. Looks who’s complimenting me. The lady who is a pro at this. It’s a big thing to hear from you on such stories. Thx Priya. Why aren’t you doing the BaraThon?

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