The Waiting Room

Posted on by Reena Saxena

The waiting room is a place to reflect.

I chose to stay back. I was not left behind.

I saw journeys caught in the grip of monstrosities—people suspended between the blue sky and deep water, watching power gather to crush their path, and all that lay upon it. They could only plead for a moment of grace, a fleeting congeniality amid the chaos.

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I know they envy the peace and certainty where I stand, though they would have me believe I missed the thrill of motion.

Peace is not a refusal to face challenge; it is a way of life—a quiet mastery of stillness while the world rushes past.

What Do You See #358

18 thoughts on “The Waiting Room”

  1. Reena, I came in through the microfiction tag and stopped here because the first three lines would not let me pass: ‘I chose to stay back. I was not left behind.’ I read them twice, once as the one who stays, once as the one who would have called staying a loss. Both readings hold. The image that stays with me is ‘people suspended between the blue sky and deep water’: a real picture, and the whole tension of the piece rides on it. One reader’s note, offered plainly: around it, the monstrosities and the gathering power stayed abstract for me. If even one of those people had a face, or a place at the rail, I would have been standing beside you instead of admiring from the doorway. ‘Peace is not a refusal to face challenge’ needs no proof from me. I just want to see the one moment of stillness it is carrying. Kevin

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  7. Wonderful reflection, Reena 👍 A waiting room is, indeed, a room where people reflect, and peace is the inner strength to remain unshaken even in the toughest moments. ☺️

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