Hour Fourteen \u2013 \u201ctell me an old story (like a folktale from your culture, a fairy-tale you heard when you were young, or a story passed down in your family). You can give it your own twist as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Not Just Yet<\/span><\/p>\n Yama Raj<\/em> waits patiently for his client to wake.<\/p>\n She looks peaceful, he does not want to take<\/p>\n her unawares.<\/p>\n She stirs, startles, stares<\/p>\n at this monstrous creature on her rocking chair.<\/p>\n In silken robes and a Viking hat.<\/p>\n \u2018Who are you, how dare you break into my home?\u2019<\/p>\n A kind voice replies, \u2018your time has come.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018My time? I\u2019m going nowhere. My diary is full.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018But your time is up,\u2019 meek now, this gentle bull.<\/p>\n \u2018My mate, the Grim Reaper, is in the area.<\/p>\n You can travel with him, but it\u2019ll be a detour.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I am going nowhere, except to my kitchen now.\u2019<\/p>\n Imperious, she pushes her Zimmer past him,<\/p>\n \u2018Call him over if you want. We can discuss this over tea.<\/p>\n And cake.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018And samosas,\u2019 she adds when she sees him light up.<\/p>\n In all his years in this job, no one had offered him a cup.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s no hospitality in my trade,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n They sit together, chatting like friends from old days.<\/p>\n The hostess resplendent in a frayed polka dotted robe,<\/p>\n Yama Raja<\/em> in the splendour of Arabian Nights<\/p>\n And the Reaper, not so grim in his scythe and whites.<\/p>\n The new day dawns as she negotiates an extension.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ll be back next year,\u2019 they say, \u2018no tension\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ll be waiting,\u2019 her voice unsteady.<\/p>\n And I\u2019ll have the biryani ready.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hour Fourteen \u2013 \u201ctell me an old story (like a folktale from your culture, a fairy-tale you heard when you were young, or a story passed down in your family). You can give it your own twist as well.\u201d Not Just Yet Yama Raj…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1430,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2114,1136,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","category-official-marathon-announcement","category-official-marathon-prompts","category-poetry-prompt-responses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124310,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117214\/revisions\/124310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}