The fragrance of memories in his life

Amay inhaled the fresh air with a feeling of nostalgia. Looking at the hills through the window, his eyes brimmed with tears. He was back home. He remembered his childhood spent amidst luxuries in a plush Government bungalow. But his father had died of lung cancer when Amay was barely five.

Shades of perception
Photo prompt – copyright@soniasmusings

His mother had been employed by the same organization on sympathetic grounds but they had to vacate the bungalow. With the meager salary, they could only afford this small house on rent. Amay had grown to love the slopes, hills, and fields in the surrounding. He kept excelling in academics and his school supported him through scholarship.

Seven years back, he had made it to one of the top medical colleges. Despite some earnings through private tuitions, financial constraints would have shattered his dreams hadn’t his mother taken up odd jobs to support him.

Dr. Amay Mhatre had returned as a doctor in this town hospital. He recollected the stunned looks of the interviewing panel when he had asked for a posting here instead of a metro city. But Amay knew that his mother felt a sense of belonging here and for him, her happiness was the biggest priority.

(200 words)

This is the 5th post written as part of the #MyfriendAlexa campaign as per my theme ‘Shades of Perception’. You can read the other piece of fiction based on the same photo prompt here and the first three posts here.

For this challenge, I am using four photos as prompts to weave two flash fiction stories and one real story behind the picture. This is my second picture prompt. 

I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

An alumnus of Presidency College (Kolkata), Delhi University, and XIME (Bangalore), Sonia Chatterjee holds two post-graduate degrees in Chemistry and Management and an MFA in creative writing from Writer's Village University. With eight years of experience in the banking sector as a Branch Head, she took a sabbatical from the corporate world to start her blog soniasmusings.com. Her blog consistently featured in the Top Indian Blogs list from 2019 to 2024. Her articles have been published on various digital platforms such as Women's Web, Youth Ki Awaaz, Tuck's Magazine, and Period Magazine. She was invited as a speaker at the Breaking Barriers, Kolkata 2018 event by the Women's Web, at the Women Writer’s Fest, Kolkata, 2020, and the Crime Writers Festival, Kolkata,2025. Sonia has written two detective thrillers titled ‘Deal of Death – Introducing Raya Ray’ (2019) and ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death – A Raya Ray Adventure’ (Vishwakarma Publications, 2024) and a non-fiction book on true crime titled ‘The Sanyasi Who Became a King’ (Sristhi Publishers, 2025). Her book ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death’ was shortlisted for the PVLF Awards 2024-25 in the Best Fiction Category. Sonia lives in Kolkata with her doctor husband and nine-and-a-half-year-old son.

44 thoughts on “The fragrance of memories in his life”

  11. Great choice by Amay. Not many young people of our generation return to their roots. Instead they just look forward to soar high, which isnt bad, but coming back to one’s roots is humanity on another level. #MyFriendAlexa #LiveItYoungReads

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Beautiful story, Sonia, not only because of the excellent narration (that you are a master at), but also because of the relationship Amay shares with his mother. The first 3 posts were of the staircase, the last one was the same photo and this one too! If I remember correctly, you are doing 4 stories on each prompt, isn’ it?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. Pingback: Mesmerized by the beauty of nature – soniasmusings

  21. It’s an art to be able to weave completely different stories using the same picture prompt…and you have nailed it Sonia. Beautiful story of grit, hope, value system and love.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to Kalpana Manivannan Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.