Flash Fiction: Tiny Beyond Measure By Salek Uddin (Bangladesh)

Tiny Beyond Measure

By Salek Uddin

—Uncle, your three sons live abroad, yet you live alone. How does that happen?

—Who says I'm alone? They call me every day.

—But if you fall ill in the middle of the night, who brings you a glass of water?

—God is with me.

—Don't your sons come home?

—They do. They come for Eid, they come for weddings, they take pictures, and then they leave again.

—Doesn't that hurt?

—It does. But I don't want to become a burden on their happiness.

—Aren't you afraid of living alone at this age?

—Not of death.

—Then what?

—I'm afraid of remaining unnoticed long after I die.

—What kind of fear is that?

—The kind where a death isn't discovered by people, but by the smell that reaches the neighbours first.

—At this stage of life, what do you think is the greatest wealth?

—One or two people who would knock on my door and say, “We haven't seen you all day. Are you alright?”

—And the greatest poverty?

—To be surrounded by people, yet live in no one's thoughts.

—How did you learn all this?

—Old people learn one thing before they die.

—What is it?

—A bigger house doesn't make life happier. A life becomes bigger only when more people care enough to ask how you're doing.

—How big is your world now?

—Tiny beyond measure.