Ten amazing vignettes
Sunday Special: 10 Amazing Vignettes
By Faraz Parvez
Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal
Former Faculty Member, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, KSA
(Pseudonym of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal)
1. The Silence of the Biryani Cart
At midnight, the biryani cart sat still, surrounded by empty streets. But every night, it was always empty. That is, until one night when the cart’s bell rang with an unexpected order. The customer asked for nothing more than a single plate. A stranger with a scarf over his face took the plate, never eating, but only looking at it. The vendor, curious, asked him why. The stranger whispered, “This plate is the last memory of something I loved.”
2. The Library of Forgotten Names
A child wandered into a library no one visited, where books were thick with dust. He pulled a random book off the shelf. To his surprise, it had no words. Only pages with people’s names on them, their faces blurred. Each time he turned a page, the name changed. He kept flipping until his own name appeared. He gasped and quickly closed the book. The name wasn’t his anymore—it was his future self.
3. The Stranger Who Painted the Sky
In the middle of the city, a man sat by a crumbling wall, painting the sky. The clouds were smudged with every color of sunset. When people asked him why, he simply replied, “The sky you see isn’t the one I’m painting. I’m painting the one you can’t see—the one locked inside.”
4. The Boy Who Spoke in Reversals
In a quiet village, there was a boy who spoke backward. When asked his name, he said, “I am not what I am called. I am what I leave behind.” And no one could understand him. But when the village fell silent, he spoke plainly: “One day, all the words you never said will return to you.”
5. The Photograph That Moved
The old man held a photograph in his hands. It was a picture of his young wife, standing by the sea, with waves crashing behind her. Every year, he noticed something strange: The photograph subtly shifted. The waves would move. The wind would blow differently. Then one day, he noticed her smile had changed. She was now smiling at him, not at the horizon. He could hear her whisper, “I have never left.”
6. The Train That Was Never Late
The train station had a peculiar rule: every train was always on time. But the train never arrived early. It always stopped at precisely the right moment—just before the city went silent. Everyone would wait in stillness, watching the clock. When the doors opened, the passengers stepped off—but no one ever spoke of the train’s destination. It was as if the destination had already been lived, and they were just returning.
7. The Mirror in the Market
There was a mirror in the busiest market, hung inside a small antique shop. It didn’t reflect the customers passing by. Instead, it showed them what they would look like years from now. Some fled the store in panic, others stood frozen in awe. One day, a young girl looked into it and saw herself as an old woman, alone. She smiled at the reflection, knowing that the mirror did not show her future—but her choices.
8. The Last Tree in the City
In the center of the sprawling city, where the buildings scraped the sky, there was a single tree—an old oak. It had stood there longer than the city itself. People stopped by and left messages at its base. “I miss nature.” “I don’t have time to stop anymore.” One day, a man carved his name into its trunk. That night, a storm came, but the tree stood firm. In the morning, the city was calm. The oak had turned to stone, but it was not broken. The man’s name was gone.
9. The Girl Who Collected Stars
A young girl, whose dreams were always too big, climbed the tallest building in the city to collect stars. Every night she would bring one down, hold it in her hands until it dimmed. When asked why, she said, “Because no one else ever asks for them. I just want to show them that the stars are made of hope, and hope isn’t meant to be lost.”
10. The Ghost in the Subway Station
Late one night, a commuter passed through the subway station and noticed a man sitting on the bench. He was dressed in clothes from the 1930s. When the commuter asked what he was doing there, the man replied, “I’m waiting for the train that never stops.” The commuter laughed, but as he walked away, he realized the man wasn’t a ghost—he was someone who had been waiting for something long past its time.
🌌 Why These Vignettes Matter
These vignettes, like seeds scattered across the pages of time, remind us that every small moment carries meaning. Whether it’s the stranger painting the sky, or the boy who speaks backward, they teach us that the world around us is full of untold stories waiting to be discovered. Every action, every decision, every fleeting thought is part of a larger narrative—one that shapes who we are, what we become, and what we leave behind.
✨ Thank You for Joining Us on This Journey
For more thought-provoking vignettes, surreal reflections, and subtle allegories, don’t forget to visit our blog:
🔗 farazparvez1.blogspot.com
Where stories linger, truths whisper, and every moment matters.
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