Valentine's day

My first attempt at 55Fiction:


She watched as her love crossed the road and came towards where she was sitting. She knew he was going to propose today, the 14th February. He looked tense. Understandable.

"I wanna tell you something."

"Yes?" She waited for the three words to come out of his mouth.

"I am gay."

The Story of Muthu

Muthu was an ordinary individual. He was as ordinary as you and me, and all other ordinary human beings in the world. Muthu was a trader. He was always honest, and never tried to cheat any of his customers. He wouldn't even think about it. All his goods were of top quality, and so all the people flocked to buy his wares. He sold them very cheap, and so didn't get much profit. He, therefore, still remained a poor man, since the earnings were hardly enough to feed himself and his family of a wife and two kids.

Muthu had beautiful hair. It was pitch-black, long and wavy. Though many other men in his town had started to lose hair by his age, he still had thick hair. His hair was his pride, and dearer to him than anything else in the world. He spent almost two hours each day taking care of his hair.

Years went by. Muthu still remained a poor man, even though he had a lot of customers. But he never increased his prices, since he never wanted money. But one night, just when he was about to sleep, he noticed that there was a stranger inside his bedroom. He got scared, and was about to raise an alarm, when the stranger spoke.

"Don't get scared. I am your friend. I am here to help you." The voice was sweet and mesmerizing. Muthu lost all his fear and started believing that the stranger was one of his best friends,
"Why do I need help? I am happy now. I don't need anyone's help." Muthu told the stranger.
"You are wrong, Muthu. Look at you. You are still in the same level you were years back. Don't you want to improve your standard of living? Don't you want more money?" he whispered in the same silky voice.

If Muthu had been in his senses, he would have instantly said no. But the voice was so mesmirizing that Muthu started to think. It would do no harm to anyone if I had some more money, he thought. And said yes.

"That is good. Now do as I say." The stranger told Muthu all that he needed to do, and Muthu nodded his head to all of it like a faithful dog. The very next day, Muthu raised the prices of all his goods. The customers were shocked, but most of them took it in their stride, since all the goods were of excellent quality. Some of them, stopped coming to his shop, sensing that greed had at last taken over Muthu. He started to earn more, and soon earned enough to buy himself a bigger home and a two-wheeler.

But he noticed something queer. He always had very thick and black hair. But he started losing some of his hair, the month he raised the prices. Though not by much, but he was still very worried about it, and hoped they would stop.

The stranger returned again one night.

"I see you have done well." he told Muthu with a smile.
"Yes. I have earned quite a lot. I think this is enough for me and my family." Muthu told him.
"Fool. Who would take care of your children when they grow up? Now listen to me."

Once again, the mesmerizing voice instructed Muthu what all he needed to do. He still nodded his head like a faithful dog. The next day, he started adulterating all his goods. He tampered with the weights and almost everything he could tamper with. He started to earn more, but the customers stopped coming to his shop one by one due to the decreasing quality of his goods.

And interestingly, he started to lose more of his hair. He started worrying more and more about it, and he lost more hair. And before long, he lost all of them, and became bald.

He could live no longer, since he lost all of his hair, which was dearest to him. He decided to ask the stranger, but he no longer came to visit him. He got irritated and frustrated, and decided to ask God about it. And the only way that was possible, was to kill himself. So he committed suicide.

He saw himself going up towards the skies. He flew across the skies for many days, and finally saw the gates to heaven. There was a long queue in front of him, and again he had to wait some days before he met God himself.

"Who was that stranger who talked to me?" Muthu asked eagerly.
"Oh, that was the Devil himself. " He replied.

Muthu felt ashamed that he had listened to the devil. Now he was sure the devil took his hair.

"And is that why I lost my hair?" Muthu wanted to know.
"Ah, for that you must have visited the doctor, or tried an anti-dandruff shampoo. You had dandruff." God replied.