The Red File.

David was at his peak of bad luck. He had worked under Mr. Thompson for 14 years now.. Even though he got a new job recently at a small company, he still preferred to stay with his old master because reading and editing were something he loved to do.. He came over here in weekends to accompany his master. He never asked for a pay since he knew very well that his master himself never got enough money.. The shop was at its verge of shutdown as there were no customers recently apart from a few who came for printing cards or missing reports..

The sudden demise of his master had left him in deep shock.. The shop was indeed closing down today and he was emptying out the small shop that held memories since his childhood… Mrs. Thompson had alredy left the town and had allowed him to take anything he wished from the shop before its shut down.. He was an orphan and it was the Thompsons who took care of him since he was five.

He was packing a few of the earliest hits of Thompson Publishers.. It were of the golden times of his master and all those original lay on the rusted shelves, some dusted extremely and others eaten by the bookworms..

He came over Mr Thompson's desk.. It was an old piece of furniture with its rich carving and wise scribbling. David suddenly noticed a red file on the table.. It was new here and his master had never mentioned about it to him before..

He was curious and started turning over the pages of the file..

It was a bunch of stories titled 'Pebbles', It was signed by a newcomer, he guessed, a name he never heard in literature before, Dona Jacob….

He immediately sat down to read the stories.. His master had already typed and edited it all and it was dated exactly one week before, the day he died.. David turned over page after page with utmost interest.. The writings were remarkably a wonder.. Each stories were different from the other but had a strange similarity, in its grief.. There was a sad element in each, a search, and a will to thrive..

He finished reading after half an hour and let out a deep sigh..

"I will publish this as the last work of Thompson Publications", he was having a strong sense of confidence in this author.. Dona Jacob, she is really a jewel, he mused….

Bella has lost her job at the store.. She roamed the streets looking for some other job which she could do.. Her uncle has got a small job and her family was going to get stable. She wanted to earn a little atleast to support them as she felt herself a waste doing nothing and sitting at home..

She met Dona with her friends enjoying her day in shopping.. She waved at her and saw Dona plastering a fake smile on her face.. Bella regretted the wave, she had never thought of greeting her sister, that too in a crowd, but it came out involuntarily.. She was recently having a lot of things on her head, and the sight of her sister gave her feeling of family, that she was not alone..

Bella and Dona were never close.. Dona couldn't pick out even a single conversation with her sister.. She had never taken the pain to learn any sign languages.. They barely met at home, and in home too they had two different worlds… Dona was never poor, her parents always let her live rich.. They bought everything she wished to have and saw a bright future in her.

She was an elegant dancer and she sang too in a most beautiful tone.. She won a lot of prizes and boys always lined up for her in the neighborhood.. She was already proposed by many rich and handsome guys but she rejected many..

Dona never hated her sister but she never loved her either.. She remembers her childhood when Bella comes home for the weekend.. Bella would always shut herself in the storeroom and play with her little toy or scribble something in her book.. Nobody liked to play with her, hence she never dodged into Dona's friends or came over to play.. She just stood silent hiding behind the door watching them play..

Her sister was boring.. She always wrote, and loved to work.. She was not like the other girls.. she never demanded anything, she always worn the same old clothes and hid her long hairs behind..

Nobody knows Bella's secret except for Dona.. Not even Annie.. It was a few years back that Dona saw Bella wearing a short wig to hide her long black hair.. Dona was really surprised since her sister looked quite pretty in long hairs.. But Bella signaled her to keep it a secret and Dona minded her own business, she had nothing to do with her sister's life anyway and she did not tell about it to anyone..

Her mother in particular did not liked Bella much.. She never brought anything for Bella, but always gave her something old and used.. Dona had always wondered why her mother was this rude to Bella.. She knew her mother was a good person. She was kind to all except this girl whom she kept saying had killed her sister.. Dona did not try to involve much into any of this… Today in the shopping mall when she saw Bella waving at her, she was confused how to respond.. since she rarely greeted her sister.. She was ashamed too in front of her friends as her sister looked unpresentably shabby.. She gave a fake smile before rushing out of the mall with her friends..