Two Drabbles for a Changing World
By Faraz Parvez
Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal
Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA
A drabble is a complete story told in exactly 100 words — no more, no less. It is the art of telling a universe in the space of a breath. Today, I give you two such worlds.
1. The Envelope
The envelope sat on Fatima’s desk for three days.
No return address. No seal.
On the fourth day, she opened it.
Inside: a single photograph of her standing at the edge of the Clifton beach — but it was dated ten years in the future.
She was smiling in the picture, holding hands with someone she had never met.
The sea behind them was calm, the sky golden.
She taped the photo to her wall.
And every weekend, she went to the beach, waiting for the stranger who would make that smile real.
2. The Last Bus
Arif boarded the last bus of the night in Islamabad.
There were no other passengers, only the driver — who never looked back.
The bus moved without headlights, gliding through streets he didn’t recognize.
Hours passed.
Finally, the driver stopped.
“You’ve arrived,” he said.
Outside the window was his childhood home — the one demolished fifteen years ago.
Lights glowed in every window.
From the doorway, his late mother waved.
When he stepped out, the bus vanished into the night.
Dear Reader,
If a drabble can hold a whole world in 100 words, imagine what your own life can hold in the time you still have.
📖 Read more stories at farazparvez1.blogspot.com
