Living inside a Thermos Flask
…is lonely. Days and nights meld together between its insulating walls. Ghosts of your past life haunt you. They torture you with glimpses of the time before you started living… Read more »
After the Soldier Comes Home
Closely it will follow. It’ll hiss in his ears. “You’re a murderer.” “I did it for my country.” He’ll reason, but the leaf-green eyes of that dead Afghan kid will… Read more »
The Night Watchman’s Wife
Every morning, she watches him clean his kerosene lantern. How tenderly he replaces the wick, how he cleans the glass with undivided attention. When he’s asleep, she breaks the wretched… Read more »
Sisterhood of Pink Nail-polish
We meet after twenty years. While we wait for “Miss Corporate Hotshot”, Emily, we talk about husbands and kids. “How silly we were!” We laugh. When Emily arrives, we gape… Read more »
Opuntia
Prickly Pear aka Opuntia, Genus Cactaceae. The fruit of the cactus plant is green when raw, bright red when ripe. You see her, a prickly pear standing alone by the… Read more »
Bailey’s Birthday
I slumped on the couch after putting Bailey to bed. A few minutes later, I heard her laughing. She was sitting up, staring at the wall. “You okay, baby?” I asked…. Read more »
Monstrous Things
It was the right time to leave. I would miss the savory taste of Amira’s screams on my tongue and the comforting way they filled my belly. I didn’t want… Read more »
Purgatory in Binary
Garrett wasn’t what Susan expected. She usually went for the intellectuals, the bankers or the attorneys. You know, the ones who post professional head shots even on online dating sites…. Read more »
Holding On
She takes hot showers despite the humidity. On the fogged mirror, her finger writes messages to him. When she opens the window, the vapor mingles with the air outside, like… Read more »
Rekindle
In my tiny, oven-like kitchen, I persist. I throw in a handful of red chilies and garam masala into the smoking oil. The tempering screams, promising to ignite something within. Still,… Read more »