The Bangles

Her heart pumped and sweat trickled down her back as she swept along the dark shelves. A heavy aroma of incense sticks hung all over the place. It was eerily quiet; the only sound was her footsteps. Tina wondered for the umpteenth time why had she decided to go into the shop at the end of the street. ‘It’s not too late, I can just go back home and forget that I ever went in,’ thought the rationale part of her mind but her need forced her to shut off the warnings and tempt her fate. Fate, is that not what this shop sells?        

Built on the edge of her tiny village, this small shop had no boarding, but every villager knows what it sells. This shop either sells good luck or trauma. Once a woman got a scarf from here and soon enough that scarf turned the game for her, and she became one of the richest in the entire village. 

Another time a man got a watch, and he ended up in the asylum as the watch’s ticking made him go crazy. Some people’s purchases from here helped them heal the sick in their family others lost their loved ones in an accident or some people simply disappeared. The shop was fishy. But desperate people were forced to seek its shelter like insects around a lightbulb.

Today Tina was here too, and she felt as hopeless as an insect, but she needed good luck desperately.

The shop resembled a junkyard. There were trinkets of long-damaged artifacts. There were teapots and candles. There were dried herbs and jars filled with God knows what. Maybe she should take the owner's advice.

But the only thought of the owner sent a shiver down her spine. The owner was an old woman. She was the oldest around the village and had the most wrinkled face and a small, hunched body. People strongly believed that she was a witch and used those bony hands of her to make all these artifacts.

Tina just decided to continue on her own. Suddenly, something shiny caught her attention.

 

On the two rods fixed at back were dozens of glistening bangles. She was pulled towards them. All of them were made of glass, they were thin and were of different hues. All the colors Tina could think of were there.

 

She stared at them and then she brought up a shaky finger to count them.

 

“They are 39.”

 Tina jumped in fright as she turned around to see that the old lady was standing behind her. It was creepy the way she made no sound to move up behind her.

Tina calmed down and look back at the bangles. “Will they bring me good luck?” Tina did not mean to voice her thoughts but now they were out so, there was nothing she could do. The old woman just smiled mysteriously.

The intense sticks’ aroma was making the tiny space too stuffy. Tina was feeling highly anxious, but she grabbed her purse and paid off the old lady.

Stepping out in the sunshine, Tina felt oddly confused but she felt somewhat hopeful that things will turn better now.

All she needed was 'Good Luck'. Good luck to get accepted in a college on scholarship cause her family was really poor. 

Tina went back to her house. House was just an exaggeration for her poor hut.

Tina didn't want to go to college to study. She had never been studious and just scored average grades. 

But college meant going to the city, where she will find riches. 

Unlike this place which had always given her trauma. Her baby sister was wailing as usual. 

But Tina had other things to worry about. As she passed, her crazy grandmother, the old lady began to cackle. She knew Tina had gone to the shop. She had laughed at her plans to escape. “There’s no escape,” she shouted. But Tina didn’t care she would go away.

Going in her room, she placed the package on her desk. She sighed as a train jostled by and her entire house shook. 

She took out the bangles and arranged them on the table over the pictures of the colleges she had cut out from the newspaper. Now she just had to wait for the magic to work.

 

Suddenly her door banged open, and her younger, twin brothers walked in holding their broken toy car. As she turned hurriedly her hand knocked off a bangle from the table and it shattered. Her brothers cried together, “He broke my car. I want it back.”

Tina jumped down and was horrified to lose a piece of her luck. She screamed at her brothers to go away. She hated how they both kept fighting and speaking everything together. It got on her nerves when they ruined her things in their catfights.

 

In the evening, when there was a knock on the door, her brothers opened it and then she heard their laughter and peaked downstairs.

Her father, who worked as a garbage collector, had found a brand-new toy car in the dump and brought it home for the twins.

That’s when she realized how the bangle magic worked.

Break a Bangle, say your wish, and voila all your problems are solved.

So, she anxiously went towards the table and picked up a blue bangle and let it fall, thinking that she would ask for something stubble just as a test. As the bangle scattered on the floor, she said, “I want to eat something good today.”

 

She went down for dinner excitedly. As her mother plopped down the bowl of food, she was horrified to see that it was broccoli and boiled vegetables.

 

Her mother said, “Madam prepared herself this dinner but got invited to a party, so she gave it to me.” Tina angrily ate the food her mother worked as a maid at the richest house in the village. She usually brought back snacks and stuff to eat. Today she wanted to eat something tasty, but the bangles gave her this. Surely there was a mistake. Now she was more confused than ever.

‘Maybe these bangles give both good and bad luck. Maybe it depends on the color chosen.’

She went up to her room still pondering over her next step when a door slammed shut and loud music started to play. She cringed as her uncle started to sing. He was the most useless person in the entire household. All he did was the dream of becoming a hit singer and then practiced the entire day pathetically.

Out of sheer anger, she threw down a black bangle and said, “Cut off his music.” As soon as she said these words her uncle screamed as the music cut off. Then he started sobbing over his broken radio, but Tina couldn’t help smiling.  

Maybe now she should ask the ultimate question from the bangles. So, she rushed to her table, but her heart pumped which one would be lucky? What if she messed up her chances altogether. She needed help.

She could talk to her parents, but they never understood.

They were always working yet they were poor. She hated that they knew nothing about her they just kept her to babysitting her brothers and baby sister.

They were also a reason she wanted to go away else soon after graduation they would force her to earn her living. She deserved better. But what to choose?

‘Maybe in the morning, my chances would be better,’ thinking so Tina fell into a restless sleep.

All the bangles were whizzing around her head, and she was going crazy. She was seeing endless outcomes and her head was hurting.

She could hear the clinking of the bangles and she woke up to hear them shattering. She saw her brothers smashing them on the floor. “What are you doing?” she shouted.

 

“I am asking for an airplane,” they chorused. 

Tina started to scream at them and that is when they heard the rumbling of an engine, and the twins ran out to wave at the airplane. Tina ran to her table.

Her brothers had wasted five of the bangles to see an airplane. She was annoyed. But then it hit her smashing many bangles gave a direct wish. No consequences.

 

She gave a long look at the bangles. She heard her baby sister crying. Her brothers ran noisily on the tin roof. Her parents were arguing loudly, and her uncle was practicing even without his radio. While her grandmother clapped at his stupid performance. A train came rolling past and it was the final straw.

She had had enough.

She pushed all the bangles off the table and in all the noise she screamed, “I just want to go away” then she angrily packed her bag and stormed out of the house.

 

She did not know where she was going all she was doing was waiting for the bangles to work.

She turned a corner and started to cross the road when she heard a loud horn, sharp brakes, and a red big truck.

As she finally got to know how the bangles had planned her get away.