Day in and day out, I witness many stories. Some are exciting, some thrilling, some full of suspense, some dubious, and some simply bizarre. Whatever the genre, all wish to end on the same note, “Just Married”.

Confused? Let me clear it.

I am the stamp on the Marriage Registrar’s table. With my impression on the marriage application, the man and the lady are declared husband and wife. It is here, that many marriages are solemnized, legally.

That day I was resting on the ink pad as usual. There came a man with a small built. He must have been in his 50’s. He wore a faded but clean, ironed shirt with an over-sized trouser that was secured tightly with a belt. With his shoulders arched and leaning, I could gauge the burden of life he might be carrying. His eyes had the shine of simplicity.

With him came a lady with a tall built and broad shoulders. She wore a dress that appeared dull but clean. I couldn’t check her eyes as she had glasses with thick lenses. She entered the room following in his footsteps and stood right beside him.

The registrar was busy checking and signing some documents; so, the man waited for a while. The lady growing restless pushed him with her elbow and egged him to speak. Turning to her, he nodded and cleared his throat while turning back to face the registrar, to announce their arrival.

“Give me your application”, insisted the registrar dispassionately with his head still buried in the file in front of him down.

“Sir, we haven’t filed it. But…”, he fumbled.

The registrar looked up and without letting him complete, said, “Without application and documents, I can’t do anything”

“We want your advice”, she said confidently.

“Regarding?” enquired the registrar.

“We want to get married. Will you solemnize our marriage and give us the marriage certificate?”, she asked.

“For that you have to apply with necessary documents. After 30 days of application, you can come here for the registering your marriage”, stated the registrar.

This time, she turned to him, prodding him to speak.

The man again cleared his throat and said, “But I am already married”

“In that case you can not marry, unless you legally divorce your first wife”, explained the registrar.

“I have applied for the divorce Sir, six years back. I have sent many notices to her too. But every time she receives a notice, she comes and stays with me for a week and again goes back to her parents”, he explained. “On the other hand, this lady, my friend, she stays with me and cooks for us. I work as a pianist in a local bar and earn enough to keep us happy. She used to sell the flowers outside the bar on the footpath. It was there that we met three years back. She is alone in the world and so I am. Together we have a better life”, he continued.

“And what if your first wife changes her mind and starts staying with you upon learning about your live-in relationship”, initiated the registrar.

“No problem. We will accept her in our fold”, replied the lady instantly.

“Yes, I will take care of both of them”, replied the man assuredly.

Their response left the registrar in split. He said, “You check with your advocate to expedite the divorce. Nothing can be done until you get divorced from your first wife.”

“The advocate is no more. He died last week”, supplied the man.

“Then go to another advocate gentleman. There are advocates around who are alive”, advised the registrar as calmly as he could.

“But sir, it wastes a lot of my money and time. Please consider our request as genuine and give us a marriage certificate”, pleaded the man.

“Gentleman, I can’t help you till you are divorced. So please go and don’t waste my time”, said the registrar sternly.

The couple lingered near the table for a while. I could sense the drag in their walk as they exited the chamber

Resting on the ink pad, I was intrigued by this curious case. It was the most unusual request I have heard in my lifetime!


Picture courtesy Pixabay
Explore previous stories at Stack of Stories
Categories: FictionShort Story

29 Comments

soniadogra · April 24, 2020 at 6:51 am

Indeed an unusual request. Relationships can be so baffling specially with all the norms in place. Interesting narrative from the pov of the stamp.

Dragons & Spaceships · April 24, 2020 at 9:48 am

Happens all the time. Great post and story telling!

Dashy · April 24, 2020 at 11:29 am

Wow, that was quite unexpected. Loved how you wrote the tale. Interesting couple with an interesting outlook. Nice one. 🙂

Swarnali Nath · April 24, 2020 at 12:45 pm

The story is unique one. A stamp is telling it’s story and the stories around. Beautiful, and the twist was awesome!

Shweta Suresh · April 24, 2020 at 2:12 pm

Wow! That is an unusual story indeed. I wonder about his first wife? Does she not miss him at all or does she not want him moving on with his life! Great story, Anagha. I’m a fan of your stories. Your stories are inspiring me to go back to writing fiction. Thank you. 🙂

sundeepananthd · April 24, 2020 at 2:15 pm

Surely a very unique story. I have never even heard of such an incident. Lovely portrayal, Anagha. Loved that this was all said by the rubber stamp.
— rightpurchasing.com

Viyoma · April 24, 2020 at 2:40 pm

Hilarious!! I cudnt stop laughing at the line – There are advocates around who are alive!
Very creative writing overall

Bharati Gadre · April 24, 2020 at 3:04 pm

Nice unusual story

Kikibee · April 24, 2020 at 3:10 pm

Interesting from a stamp perspective !☺

Simon · April 24, 2020 at 3:23 pm

That is indeed an unusual request ✨😉👌well done, you are at your best! Have a beautiful day ✨🤗💐

nooranandchawla · April 24, 2020 at 3:46 pm

Very creative piece Anagha! It’s sad that people are bound to unhappy marriages- really unfortunate situation.

Balaka · April 24, 2020 at 3:49 pm

Bigamy 😛 quite unusual indeed

Vaishali Khot · April 24, 2020 at 4:09 pm

Unusual story telling !! Sometimes legalities do make things difficult ..

alpanadeo · April 24, 2020 at 4:57 pm

Looking at the rings, I felt you are going to let the rings narrate the story. But your choice was way better. People live with such relationship or should I say drag a few relationships.

Madhu Bindra · April 24, 2020 at 5:19 pm

A unique perspective. When marriages turn sour, it is better to let go. There is no point in being miserable and making the other person miserable too.

Pradeep · April 24, 2020 at 6:11 pm

Interesting to see that you have narrated the story from the Stamp’s perspective. Nice.
Relationships are always complicated.

Srivalli · April 24, 2020 at 6:29 pm

Unusual indeed. He seems to not know how to stand up for him happiness. That man does need a better lawyer and has to stop his wife from coming over each time. That would help more than a marriage certificate.
That was a clever way of handling the day’s alphabet. 😀

Nisha · April 24, 2020 at 7:04 pm

Such a cute story! Loved the perspective of the stamp.

purbajune · April 24, 2020 at 7:05 pm

That’s a truly unusual request. Enjoyed the narration 😊

Ira Mishra · April 25, 2020 at 2:01 am

Well, I have had unfortunately witnessed this kind of an incident happen with one of my relatives. The wife and her family didn’t want the husband to move on…. And tried all possible ways for divorce not to happen…. The case has been lingering on since past 8/9 years!! Your story today reminded me of that relative’s plight…. So this can actually turn out to be a true story and seeing the case linger for so long I guess it isn’t that unusual too these days!!

Lovely narrative as usual… I was actually searching for your post on U before sleeping yesterday and was disappointed that I had to go to sleep without getting to read your story on U :)!

TheDreamGirlWrites · April 25, 2020 at 2:20 am

Please do continue the story.. I want to know more!!

U is for Uncover
https://thedreamgirlwrites.wordpress.com/2020/04/24/uncover/

msjadeli · April 25, 2020 at 6:42 am

He should have just stamped and been done with it. What harm would it have caused?

Unishta · April 25, 2020 at 11:41 am

A very unusual request indeed. Why couldn’t the couple continue with their arrangement and draw up a contract between them that would protect both their interests?

jayanthi6 · April 25, 2020 at 1:15 pm

My goodness, truly an unusual request! And so very well written!

bloggeray · April 25, 2020 at 5:25 pm

The POV is uniquely wonderful. To see it visually from there is a completely different look. Unusual demand too, as is the sad reality of many such marriages.

Wonderful story. 🙂

Archana (@yenforblue) · April 25, 2020 at 7:28 pm

Autobiography of the stamp!! Indeed, we would hear so many interesting or strange things if objects could speak!! Good one Anagha!

Shilpa Garg · April 26, 2020 at 8:56 am

Unusual narrative perspective and unusual request indeed.
You are acing this series with such unique and well crafted stories, Anagha!
Well done!

amina · April 28, 2020 at 2:16 pm

This indeed is an unusual request! Really liked the way you narrated it…

Nutan Parekh · April 29, 2020 at 11:41 am

This story is so uncommon, different and unique…. As its name unusual request.

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