Everything in the room was covered in silence. The TV had turned itself off after no response for hours and the partial daylight that was visible a few hours ago had disappeared. Then the phone that had slipped out of the sleeping hands and was sitting on the edge of the sofa, finally fell on the floor to a random movement.
Reva woke up to the sound and picked the phone up and right there at the lower left corner, some pixels of the phone had become dead and there was an oddly shaped black presence on the screen now.
Reva was two years into the job life, living with her parents. She had this certain carelessness with money; you know those people whose pocket money would reach the minimum right in the first week of the month.
Reva’s mother was a compliance officer in a bank and tried her best to instil the sense of saving money in Reva. Something she had successfully done with Reva’s father, but it seemed to have no effect on Reva.
On a personal note, I jokingly advised one of my good friends once to never give the hint of the wealth he possessed to his son, there are many children out there who do not realise how serious things are out there once they are aware of their parental wealth. But I think he has shown signs of failure when I once saw his six years old pointing at every watch in the magazine while looking at his father.
So, Reva’s salary kept running out and there were a lot more things in Reva’s room than there used to be. Just when Reva’s mother thought Reva might be showing traces of becoming wise with money, the phone came, one of the most expensive ones on the market. Apparently, Reva had been saving a bit for it and then poured in everything in her account at once into it.
The date of salary was still far away and the money was gone; the new phone had already sustained a very expensive damage and her parents led by her mother had clearly stated they were not going to give her any money now that she was earning. She had strictly been not allowed to get a credit card.
Reva for the first time in her lift felt the deficiency in sense of security that money brings to life, she had to ask herself the question of how she was going to manage for the rest of the month. Reva’s mother, who was passing by on her way to prepare some tea, had a glimpse of the phone’s screen and then at Reva who looked at her with sadness in eyes, but she ignored it and walked on smiling, thinking, maybe this could be that moment of realisation.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
One response to “The Totalling Moment”
This reads like a quiet, intimate moment of reckoning—and it works because nothing dramatic happens, yet everything changes.
I really like how you open with silence and small, almost accidental movements: the TV turning off, the phone slipping, the pixels dying. That damaged screen is a strong metaphor—it mirrors Reva’s sudden crack in comfort and certainty. Subtle, but effective.
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