Is Loyalty Dead

Shweta Singh posted under Flash Fiction Quintale-22 on 2020-09-27



‘Is loyalty dead?’  How else could one explain Promila’s peculiar behaviour?  ‘You know, I have been her best friend for the longest time. And now she doesn’t even pay attention to me. It’s so hurtful. How would you feel, if someone who couldn’t be without you, suddenly starts ignoring you? And to add insult to injury, she now has a new best friend. They are constantly together.’  Sigh… ‘I used to be her shopping companion. Hell! I used to be her every-outing companion. Now she takes that hateful new friend of hers. And the worst part is now I have to share space with her.’  Sniff… ‘Oh! I can see you are confused. Pardon me for not introducing myself properly. I am Ms. Lipstick and she is Ms. Hateful Mask. Promila has forsaken me for her. The silly thing covers Promila’s best feature, her luscious lips, the one’s that I adorned and enhanced. So, why does she like Ms. Mask more?’  Hurmph… ‘Hi!’  Why is she saying hi to me? ‘Hello there. Yes you, Ms. Lipstick. My name is Cotton Mask. And I am not so hateful, you know.’   Huh…  How does she know what I am thinking?  ‘Oh! You and I share the same space in her purse, so of course I can hear your thoughts. Just the way I can hear Promila’s. With my bands behind her ears I am very close to her thoughts and sometimes she mumbles them too. That’s how I know she loves you and misses you.’  ‘She does?’  ‘Yes! Why, just the other day she was telling her friend that it had been so long since she had put on her favorite lipstick. And that she missed dressing up.’  ‘Oh! That’s so good to hear.’  ‘It is, isn’t it? She loves you, whereas me, she just tolerates. It’s ironic that you think I am her new best friend and she loves me. But believe me she doesn’t like me; she is forced to wear me. If she could have her way, she would discard me in a jiffy.’  Sniffle… ‘Oh! Don’t cry. I am sure she likes you and wouldn’t discard you.’ Oh Lord! Will she discard me too one day? No! She won’t. She loves me, didn’t she tell Ms. Mask just that. Shudder… ‘That’s the whole thing Ms. Lipstick. I am a companion in her painful times and you are a companion of playful times.’  ‘Atleast, we are companions.’  She is not so bad after all. She is insecure too.  Smile… ‘Yes! You are right, Ms. Lipstick. Both of us want what’s best for Promila.’  Just then Promila opens her purse. ‘There you are. Look at you both, snuggling close to each other,’ she says as she picks up the lipstick, ‘Today I have a very important presentation and I need you to look my best.’  Ms. Lipstick looks back at Ms. Mask and winks. Yes! We can live together, in unison, my new friend. 

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