Send to KindleYou are so much stronger than you think.
Karuna smiled wryly as she wrapped the motivational poster with these words, to give to her friend, Nisha, who was going through heartbreak. “The time has come to let this poster go to someone who needs it more than I do,” Karuna said to herself. She couldn’t help but recall the story behind the poster.
She was in her late twenties, had just quit a boring job and was following her heart working with troubled young people. As part of her new mission she and a group of other social workers had travelled to Chennai for a field trip. Staying for a week, they were put up in the home of a wealthy old lady who had loads of time on her hands and kept wanting to talk to them much to their amusement. On their first evening there, a group of young people came to practise music. Leading them was someone who appeared to be in his early thirties. Very absorbed in his music and the practice, he didn’t spare Karuna and her friends a second glance.
The old lady kept talking to Karuna and asking her about her job, her parents, where she was from. Karuna and her friends decided that the old lady was a match-maker. Later that week, Karuna was asked to deliver to someone in a house down the road. Looking for an opportunity to escape the old lady, the whole gang trooped along. They knocked on the door and were surprised when it was opened by the leader of the band, Venkat. They delivered the message at the door, but he insisted they come in. He ran about getting them refreshments and seemed all flustered. Also, he kept singling out Karuna to talk to. Karuna was amused when her friends teased her about him.
Their work in Chennai got over and they headed back to Delhi. Two days later, Karuna got a call from the old lady saying someone wanted to talk to her. Before she knew what was happening, Venkat came on the line and told her that he was in love with her and wanted to marry her. Taken by surprise and not wanting to give an answer immediately she promised to respond to him soon.
A week later she called him and told him she was not ready for marriage and that he should not wait for her. To her shock, he broke down and said he couldn’t cope with the rejection. Karuna thought he was quite mad – after all they hardly knew each other. Not knowing what to say she quickly disconnected. A few days later, she saw the poster in a shop, bought it and mailed it to him with a note: Dear Venkat – I thought of you when I read this and I do believe it’s true. Stay strong ~ Karuna.
Ten years later, still single and looking, Karuna decided to sign on to a martimonial portal. Then she saw the profile. The guy seemed to have all the qualities she was looking for, except he was married before. Deciding to be open-minded she contacted him and got a long mail telling her all about himself. When she saw his name, she wondered if it could really be the same Venkat.
It turned out that he was the same guy and soon they were calling each other every day. He told her how he had got married a few years after she had turned him down. His father was dying of cancer, and wanted to see him ‘settled’ down. So he got talked into marrying a girl from a very wealthy family and much younger than he was. To keep up with her family he decided not to pursue his dream of taking up music full-time. Instead he plunged himself in to his career and kept taking up more responsibility at work, as that meant a better position and more money. He thought she’d be happy with that, but she thought he had no time for her. As much as he tried to please her, she was unhappy and restless. One day she announced that she was leaving him and took off with a much younger guy.
Hearing this, Karuna felt a twinge of guilt for all he had been through. Some part of her mind told her that she was indirectly responsible for his pain. She would make it up to him. “How did you cope?” she asked. “Remember the poster you gave me? I had framed it in my room and read it often. I realized you were right. I was much stronger than I thought I was.”
They decided to meet. Karuna found that he had matured over the years and seemed much more easy to talk to. They seemed to have a lot in common too. Before long they were discussing marriage and their parents met too. Their meeting again and marriage seemed predestined.
Venkat also began to talk about his dream of pursuing a career in music. Karuna encouraged him. She surfed the internet for Universities for his music studies. She wrote his essays to accompany his application for admission and scholarship. How happy he was when he got admission to a University in the US! Karuna helped him to write out his resignation letter and get all his paper work in order. Soon it would be time for him to leave for a year of study.
A few days before he left, he came in to Delhi to meet her. They went out for a meal and she could see something all wrapped up and sticking out of his bag. She was thrilled that he had brought her a present. “Perhaps, he’ll propose today”, she thought. She could hardly eat.
After lunch, without a preamble, he said, “I’m not ready for marriage and don’t want you to wait for me.” Her head reeled. She hadn’t seen that coming. He pulled out the parcel and asked her to open it. It was the poster. “You are so much stronger than you think.” she read. “Turn it over,” he urged. She saw her note stuck there. “Dear Venkat – I thought of you when I ………Stay strong ~ Karuna” Now he had interchanged the names. She couldn’t help smiling through her tears.
Today she realized that he had been right. She had survived the heartbreak. She was ready to move on and so was the poster.
This is a work of fiction written in response to three prompts – the first ‘Strength’ from GBE2 and the second, ‘Endings’ from The Writers’ Post and the third, ’A possession that holds special meaning for you’ from Sandra Tyler’s Writing Workshop Hop. As you know, I don’t normally do fiction, but I’m trying to be adventurous with my writing. It’s obvious I have miles to go, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. I would appreciate some real honest feedback – don’t worry I’ll survive – I’m so much stronger than you think 
May you be inspired – every day!
Image credit: Tumblr
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About Corinne Rodrigues
I write because I hope that my words will bring pleasure, inspire or make you question something, just as the words of so many writers do to me. I don't profess to have any answers, I just share from my own experiences and often bring you my own struggles with thoughts, ideas and situations. Today I seek to live life of that is simple, authentic and holistic. I write at Everyday Gyaan and share a blog called From 7Eight with my husband, José and our boxer dog, Pablo.
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Yes, we are much stronger than we think. Often I have seen that just like we develop physical muscles by exercise, we develop our emotional ones by surviving adversities. Here’s to us! Cheers
@RituLalit Oh absolutely. I have learnt so much from pain – not to say that I want more of it though!
A twisted love story always sucks me in. I just wanted to wring both of their necks!!
Wonderful job!
@AmyMcMunnSchindler Just as well you didn’t want to wring mine
Thank you, Amy.
Wow BS! You kept my attention from beginning to end. You said it was fiction ~ it almost seems so real to me.
How could you? LOL!
I did? I thought it was too long. Perhaps it’s not really fiction, eh? ;)
I love the way you’ve worked
I love the way you’ve woven all of the prompts together into this. Looking forward to what you do in the future with fiction.
@Casey B Thank you for noticing – I was hoping I was not being to clever by half. It’s a new journey, let’s see where it takes me.
Totally gripping….Nice.
@Janaki Nagaraj Thank you.
Glad to see you are exploring your voice. It’s amazing isn’t it? I think how you incorporated the three prompts into the one story. Nicely done. I hope you keep it up, if anything you’ll grow stronger as a writer. I know when I write poetry it terrifies me because I don’t know the rules, but I write anyway. Anyho, I enjoyed the story.
@BrendaMoguez I can’t tell you how much fun it is – but then you already know that. Thank you for your encouragement. It means so much to me.
Fantastic story, Corinne! The unexpected twist at the end reminded me of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”. You should do more exploration into the world of fiction in the future. You are so much stronger than you think!
Blessings!
@marthaorlando How I love O Henry’s stories and to have this remind you of it – I’m on cloud nine! Exploring fiction might get addictive I’m afraid. ♥
Loved it Corinne!!
It was beautiful and the sudden twist in the end added the much needed dose of surprise element in a perfect story!
@privytrifles Thank you so much. I enjoyed writing it.
So engaging! I enjoyed every moment of reading your story and the life lesson it contained.
@Sandra Pawula I really appreciate your comment. I was trying to bring a life lesson through while keeping the story interesting.
Honest feedback…Okay, I loved the story. I think for someone who is new to fiction, it is well thought out and well laid out and it flows nicely from moment to moment. The twist in the end is perfect. Combining prompts is something I enjoy doing also and sometimes the story will turn on a dime to accomplish that! You did it very well and completed your task.
“ Leading them was a some who appeared to be in his early thirties.” That doesn’t make sense to me…typo or something? Makes me think a little more editing was needed, LOL.
Otherwise, I honestly liked it and think it was very well done.
♥
@JoHeroux Thank you so much. I appreciate the feedback. I can’t believe that people actually think it’s readable! Thanks for the pointing out the typo – I’ve since corrected it. Appreciate your time, Jo ♥
Ouch to that twist at the end, I never saw that one coming
Loved to read your work though (it’s my first visit).
@SarahArrow Thanks for stopping by – this is totally different from what I usually write – am just trying my hand at fiction and loving it.
Strength is something that you define for yourself. You become just as strong as you think you should be. Though there are times that you must back down and retreat due to certain circumstances, you should have the right judgement to know when you should be strong enough to face the ordeals in front of you. Thanks for the post!
@Greg Tilley Inner strength is an attribute we all should cultivate. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Well, for someone who claims usually not to write much fiction, you wrote a nice little story here! And it does work as a story. Maybe a “flash fiction” piece, though I’m still trying to understand the meaning of that. But I liked very much how it came full circle, and the poster came back to her – I enjoyed the surprise of that actually, since I didn’t at all expect that they wouldn’t actually marry and wind up happily ever after. But the poster coming back to her is much truer to life anyway, than happiness ever after; which I don’t happen to believe in. But I DO believe in the poster’s saying, “YOu are much stronger the you think.” Well…these days, as I’m struggling with my elderly mother’s issues at the moment, it certainly is a saying I NEED to start having some faith in. Thanks for linking up with my writing workshop!
@styler1 Thank you so much for your feedback. It means a lot coming from someone like you. I am motivated to write more fiction and look forward to taking part in your workshop.
I wish you all you need to take care of your Mom. ♥
Corinne, I was so hooked on this story. You made it interesting and smooth. I encourage you to keep writing. It seems like you’ve been bitten by the bug. Have fun with it.
Bitten by the bug is putting quite mildly, @Myrna11 ! But thank you so much – I always value your feedback.
You’re an excellent writer. There’s so many people that circle around each other for life and never quite get the timing right.
@femmefrugality Thank you! Oh you said it! But sometimes it’s good to get right of the circle and make a new one
Such a great little story! Very relatable, too. Looking forward to more.
@annedreshfield Thank you so much. I so appreciate you coming by. Sorry it took me so long to respond.
I enjoyed this very much but would almost like to see this written as it’s happening rather than as a look back. It would feel more immediate to me. Also, watch your dialogue. Any time there’s a new speaker, you need to put in a new graph. Two main things stand out for me: One, his father was ill with cancer, yet their parents met. That felt unclear. And ten years later he’s much easier to talk to. But I feel that there really wasn’t much of a relationship at all at the beginning – They really didn’t have much time to talk; to establish that he’s hard to talk to. I wish they’d spent a bit more time together–alone–to establish the awkwardness.
@kgwaite Thank you so much for you comment. I so value your feedback – the paragraphs for a new speaker and yes, the father bit – it should have read his mother and her parents! It reminds me of the Master of Ceremonies at a wedding recently who kept calling the bride’s parents on to the floor – to dance – the poor girl had lost her father ages before!
I laughed at him and have made the same mistake!!
Forgive me for taking so long to respond to your comment – I do appreciate it.
Ouch! That ending felt spiteful on his part, like paying her back for what she did to him all those years before. I think she did the right thing to not marry him, as I don’t think he was the ‘nice guy’ she maybe thought he was. He married money, gave up on his dreams and basically used her to put his life right before dumping her!
@Gillmojo You got that right for sure. Perhaps neither of them realized that he wasn’t a nice guy – at least she didn’t for sure
Thank you so much for your comment. I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner.
Perfect corinne ! enjoyed reading, especially the last few lines was shocking to me, you express so well – I am glad for you, thanks for sharing !
@G Angela Thanks a lot. I was wondering how you would like it
I would want a happy ending corinne and it hurts a lot, when someone does that, i feel exploited,now i also feel may be they were not meant for each other -now i feel scared to suggest to any body to be strong, lest i am invited to experiences that may challenge me to become strong….
I
There are no short cuts to find our inner strength, i think this is the only way we find ourselves, so in a way there is gratitude for this experience..
Loved the twist at the end though I wouldn’t really like that happening to me. Good story for a start! Got me hooked and begging for more.
Thanks so much, Anne. I do value your feedback!
The story kept me engaged to the end corinne.Loved your post
@Diana Pinto Thanks a lot. I”m glad you liked it.
As I read your story the old saying about karma “what goes around comes around” ran through my mind. This is very well written and a wonderful story.
Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
@Tweetsmom Thanks very much. Yes, Karma works that way doesn’t it.
All three themes nicely woven together. Kept my interest all the way through.
@SuzyIla Thanks so much. I’m glad you liked it.
Wow! I enjoyed the story. I am also new to writing fiction and it is fun for me too! I look forward to reading some more!
@TransgentleWife Thank you. i’m so glad you’re enjoying writing fiction too. I’m looking forward to visiting your blog too.
I enjoyed reading this. You did a great job combining the prompts, and I didn’t see the ending coming. Just a few things: I agree with another poster that this seems too “told”–I’d like to see you slow the story down a little, get “in the moment” with it, show it to us as it’s happening. I also found it hard to believe that he was so in love with her after such brief meetings. I think he was more wrapped up in himself and what he wanted, and it does seem like a slap in the face at the end. If you made this into a longer story, maybe a little more character development would help us see what he’s all about. Anyway, this is a good job for a first effort at fiction. Keep at it!
Thank you elainelk . I so appreciate your feedback. My normal posts are much shorter and I realize that I need to write much longer to develop a story. Thanks again.
Thanks for the great post!
Glad you liked it, Rakesh.
Such a beautiful article Corinne..
I have put the poster in my workplace as well…
Sometimes such things help a lot, hope it helps me too!!
Thanks
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