A Piece of Hemingway's Advice and His Agony

(A short story)

A Piece of Hemingway’s Advice and His Agony

(A short story)

By Mohammad Aleem

He had never dreamed that it would happen like this to him. Nothing was preconceived or planned. It was like any other visit to his native village in Bihar to get his housework completed, at least to the level where he could live with his family, three children, and wife.

He lived in his in-law’s house because he had no other option.

The house he had started building in 2010 couldn’t be finished until 2021 because of his poor financial conditions. His relatives and neighbors mocked him whenever he met them. They would ask, rather, in a mocking way “Why have you left your house unfinished? Will it ever be completed or not?”

He would reply to them with a tinge of sadness but with hope and grace, “I will construct it the day God’s help reaches.”

And when his luck smile…