Gloria’s Quest for Peace: Short Story

She mindlessly spat out the piece of nail that she had been chewing for the past 5 minutes. It flew across the room and landed on the shiny glass table near the sofa. On a normal day she would have hurriedly picked it up before a mother shouted at her. But today, nothing mattered to this 18 year old.
She looked down at Tuffy as he wagged his little white tail begging her to take him out for a walk. It was almost as if he understood her sadness and wanted to go out on a stroll so that she could breathe some fresh air. She looked away. Her manicured nails were now mere stubs with blobs of colour on them. Her head was throbbing and her heart felt heavy.

“Not now Tuffy. This is not a good time.”

He persisted. She relented.

She squinted to avoid the glare of the afternoon sun. Living a comfortable life had taken away her ability to face nature with boldness. Within no time she started perspiring. The October heat in Pune was just too much to bear. Nevertheless, she waddled along the footpath while Tuffy pranced around her.

She took a moment to look around, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Living at Peshwa park surely came with its perks. The trees swayed in the gentle breeze and birds chirped happily. A few children played  while their mothers took selfies and updated their social media profiles.

“This would make such a lovely Instagram story.” she told herself. However, she resisted the temptation to reach out for her phone.

“No Gloria, you will not touch the phone. This is ‘me time’.” she muttered under her breath.

Her mind raced back to what had happened that morning.

He broke up with her without any notice. Just last night they were sexting each other and the next morning he sent her a text that ended her 2 year courtship.

Phillip was madly in love with her. When he saw her picture with a male friend on the social media, he was livid. His text was rude and the hatred poured out in the form of letters. She kept explaining that the picture meant nothing. Phillip was always strong headed and never listened to anyone when he was angry. She was left alone to pick herself up.

Just last week her friend, Selina had stopped talking to her because their picture got lesser likes than the one with Gloria and an “insignificant bitch”.

“Why did you take a picture with her in the first place. It’s over between us, I don’t want to remain friends with a fake person. Gloria’s heart sank. Selina blocked her from all the social media and even on the phone book. Gloria never got a chance to explain herself.

Just then, she saw a pair of huge boobs and a double-chinned head bobbing while coming towards her her. Pammi aunty stopped for a breather and panted to get to normal.

“Aah Gloriereeaa beta, how are you? You are always on Facebook, do you study or not? You know that a girl who is perceived as frivolous will never get a good boy. Take care of your image. Photos with shorts where you are standing with other men is a strict no-no…”

Pammi aunty cackled another long list of dos & don’ts and then resumed her amusing training for weight-loss. She completed her run with a few selfies and spent about 20 minutes bent over her phone posting the social media updates.

It was time to go home. Tuffy was tired and thirsty.

She opened the door to an empty home. Her parents had left for a religious destination and grand parents were visiting her Chacha in Nagpur. She was all alone.

While pouring water for Tuffy, she took her decision.

She began by cleaning out her emails, unnecessary apps and SMSes. She then went on the delete all her social media accounts. It was now time to bid goodbye to her phone. For a moment she contemplated performing a visarjan ceremony. But if her parents would come to know that she drowned a 60+k phone, they would kill her.

After about two hours, she emerged victorious.

It was over….or was it?

Ciao!

– Penned by Mayura Amarkant

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This is my twelfth post in the #Stories&Poems category. Here are the others:

1. From this world to the next, a transition in waiting
   
2. The Power of Prayer
3. The day I died…
4. The long wait…is this your story?
5. Chapter Extract: How was Anju raped?
6. The Security Guard
7. Even Change Changes
8. Her first kiss

9. Short Story: What if…

10. Sawal hi galat ho to koi jawab kaise dega – Vibhuti Duggar Mutha

11. My Shadow, have you seen it anywhere?