My Childhood Companion

By Sunny Singh, Lator Andrew, Rita Cripe and 2 more

Produced as a collaborative effort between authors from all over the world, My Childhood Companion is a collection of short stories on the themes of friendship, family and love based on Sunny’s experiences, and written especially for this book.

It is particularly exciting to showcase this collection of work, as the authors all worked independently to produce their stories, and then the collection was brought together by Sunny Singh. The authors’ backgrounds cover four continents and a variety of professional writing experience, but the stories converge on the ideals of connecting with other human beings, the joy of finding love, and the cataclysmic effects of emotional hardship. These are universal themes, and they have been developed in different ways in this collection, but they are always relevant.

The titular story is authored by Sunny Singh, and describes the experience of a first love, but like many first loves, it does not have a fairytale happy ending. However, that’s not to say that the experience was wasted, but rather, it forms a core memory crucial for how the main character developed as he grew up. What happens when you have tried to forget your first love, and then are reminded of her presence again?

Roman J.’s story, The Love Letter, recounts a similar tale, with a few twists: the adolescent years are not always forgiving ones. The Love Letter follows the story of two teens from 7th to 10th grade, and chronicles the growth of their friendship, to the discovery of romance and broken hearts, plus the frustration and angst of being still unable to control one’s life independent of one’s parents. Losing one’s love, then finding her again, is a dominant theme in this extremely relatable story.

The third story in the collection, The Foolish Brother, is an African-inspired parable about gods, families and the power of goodness in a community. The author, Lator Andrew Osarumwense, draws from traditional African influences to weave a modern fairytale with evil fathers, heroes from faraway lands, and the importance of family and heritage. Love, however, will still drive this story—but will it still have a traditional fairytale ending?

Let Her Go is written by Maria Schicks, and is again based on themes from Sunny’s experiences as a teenager. This story describes not just the relationship between the protagonist and his love interest, but also the relationships and interactions between other people who are associated with them: their friends, family and teachers. After all, relationships do affect more than just the two people involved in them.

Finally, Rita Cripe offers Just a Loan; an uplifting story about a modern romance and the harsh realities of the business world and the complexities of relationships. Kama is applying for a loan for his Indian restaurant business from Amy, who works at the bank. Will he be able to convince her that he and his business are worth her time and support? What is in store for them as they try to maneuver the fine line between business and pleasure?

Developed by an international network of authors, the stories in My Childhood Companion—whether they are humor-driven, self-reflective or poignant—show how exactly how the notions of romance, love and relationships are truly universal notions that transcend national and cultural barriers.

These stories are presented for the first time in an easy-to-read collection as a series of relatable parables for the modern world; they invite self-reflection on what is truly valuable, and will remind you of your own life experiences and the power of love to change a person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sunny Singh
• Release date: Jul 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310471636

Book preview

My Childhood Companion

By

Sunny Singh,

Roman J., Lator Andrew,

Maria Schicks, Rita Cripe

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Sunny Singh,

Roman J., Lator Andrew, Maria Schicks, Rita Cripe

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Foreward

My Childhood Companion

The Love Letter

The Foolish Brother

Let Her Go

Just A Loan

Foreword

There are plenty of love stories in the world already. As a fundamental basis of human emotional connection, anyone who has encountered another person and felt that connection, be it out of sympathy, or compassion, or even mere curiosity about them, would know something about love. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that it has to be romantic love, but romantic love is simply one subcategory of human love, and probably the most populous one at that.

When Sunny Singh first approached me to write this foreword, that was my initial thought: The world already has plenty of love stories! What’s a few more going to really add to that? But these are stories of a particular kind: they are stories about one’s first love. There’s got to be something special about that: the first time you realize that your heart is beating faster because of another person, the goosebumps you get when your hands first touch, the whirlwind of butterflies in your stomach when you are reunited. The experience of first love is an unforgettable one, and several of the stories in this book are based on Sunny’s own experiences with this ideal.

Of course, not all first loves will necessarily result in the expected happily ever after ending that most romantics dream of. Many of them, in fact, will not work out. Even so, they still serve a purpose: they can be learning experiences for the parties, or they can be tests of independence and adulthood, or they can just be sources of happy memories for later on in life. They are still valuable.

In this short book, you will discover five new stories on this familiar, but perennially important, theme. A particularly notable point about this collection is that all of the authors are from different cultural and national backgrounds, although they can still write on similar issues. Some of these stories show love in a humorous light, some wistfully look back, wondering what happened to that budding childhood romance, and some are stories of regret. But they are all tales of that experience which explores the range of emotions that come with connecting with another human being. Read them for yourself, and see how love can be universal.

JC Lau

Seattle, July 2015

About the Author

Sunny Singh is a writer and a poet. He lives in Jawali city of India, and he has written various poems (Gazal and Nazm) in Hindi and Urdu language. He is a very creative person and after listening to his poems, fans forced to him to write stories or novels. So, from there, he tried his hand at writing short stories. In this book, he presents his first story.

My Childhood Companion

By Sunny Singh

It had been raining today since morning. There was nothing new in that, but why had he been staring out of the window for the last two hours? This town and rain were not strangers to each other. He has been here for the last 35 years. He was barely 15 when his parents brought him here by force.

While parting with Shilpi, Ashish could never forget those lamenting moments. But despite the pangs of his unabated love he never allowed his mental condition to deteriorate. This pitter-patter of falling raindrops, looking at water accumulated at many spots of the uneven grounds today, the unending memories of Shilpi pursued him. And why should they not? They used to get wet even during their childhood. Shilpi used to jump into the water pools with a splash and used to drench him. To him, the swing hanging from the strong mango branch suddenly appeared to be swinging once again. The same 15-year-old playful lass was trying to attract his attention, was adamant to be swung on the swing.

The bird of Ashish’s imagination wanted to fly him back in to the past once again, to leave him with the ringing laughter of his childhood friend.

Ehidiot! Come on, swing me. What are you staring at? Even after so many years, Shilpi’s voice was ringing clearly into his ears, as if so many years had not gone by and she had spoken those words just then.

In the same school… in the same class… on way back from school playing until the evening. "Ah! How we loved each other!’ murmured Ashish while his eyes welled with tears.

His late father’s behavior with Shilpi’s family years ago still makes him seethe with anger. He had blamed Shilpi and her family for his son’s just scraping past Class X with lesser marks.

You make him sit all day at your house and never ask him to go and study. His father directed his statement to Shilpi’s mother, and this hurt her immensely. But his father did not stop at that. He went on, You must treat others’ children as if they are your own; their future should not be played with.

It was difficult for Shilpi’s mother to contain herself anymore; with heavy heart she blurted out, It is impossible to make anything out of Ashish’s future as long as he is in Shilpi’s company. Take Ashish somewhere far away from here.

Before his father could say anything, Shilpi’s mother stopped him saying, Look Mr. Bhushan, we are not well off enough to go somewhere else and make two ends meet. Whatever little money we have, we have set aside for Shilpi’s marriage. We shall get her married off when she comes of age. Apart from her we hardly bother about our own future. But you can stay in the city and make Ashish study as well.

"Yes,

Reviews for My Childhood Companion

[Sapna Singh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I purchased this book yesterday and read first two stories of this book yet. I love the way in which Sunny Singh and Roman J. described their stories. It's really an amazing collections of stories.

Have 5 stories in this book and are beautiful like their names.
1. My Childhood Companion(Sunny Singh)
2. The Love Letter(Roman J.)
3. The Foolish Brother(Lator Andrew)
4. Let Her Go(Maria Schicks)
5. Just a Loan(Rita Cripe)