The First #InternationalTwistOff

I've been following Canadian writer @ArjunBasu on Twitter for a while now and enjoyed the novelty of his "twisters" (the term he uses for his 140-character short short stories). Of course, being somewhat of a word-nerd, I wanted to play, too and challenged him to a "twist-off".

Via several emails, over several months, we finally found a date and time that would work for both of us and decided on the following format: 10 chapters ÷ (2 tweeters x 2 continents) = 1 micro-novel. As he was in Montreal and I, in Bombay, we would approach it like a long-distance game of chess with one of us making a "move" in the form of a 140-character chapter (we'd each get 5) that the other had to respond to with their own chapter, keeping the story flowing until the end.

For anyone who likes the esoteric and silly, here's how the first #InternationalTwistOff played out (read from the bottom, up):

@R_Khanna:

10. She couldn't promise that. Even though she knew she'd never find another man in Andhra Pradesh who loved gazpacho as much as she did. 

@arjunbasu: 

9. The key was magic, and it would open anyone's heart. I love soup, she said. He knew the truth. Just leave the poison out of mine, he said

@R_Khanna:

8. She needn't have hesitated at the door because it opened on the first try. She reached for his hand. "I always knew I'd be back."  
 

@arjunbasu:

7. He says, Come over to my place I made some soup, and she hesitates, naturally; the word stings, it whispers of a past, so soon forgotten.

@R_Khanna:

6. He watched her, enraptured. And rang his bicycle bell in time with the music. The villagers glowered at him but kept dancing. 

@arjunbasu:

5. And then a disco ball descended from the sky, anonymous villagers surrounded her, and they performed a glorious 10 minute song and dance.

  @R_Khanna:

4. "So, busted by a blackbuck in Bobbili?" he joked. Smiling at the alliteration, she got onto the cycle & sighed, "Thanks for the lift."

@arjunbasu:

3. She gave the driver money. Lots of it. Shut up and drive, she told him. She imagined her bright future. And then the car hit an antelope.

@R_Khanna:

2. "What are you running away from?" the driver asked, leering at her in the mirror. She glared back & wondered if the key would still work.

@arjunbasu:

1. The soup was cold. The news spread through the village. Meetings were held. Stories written. Mythology. She felt shame. And vindication.