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Unbroken Cycle
Posted on January 27, 2015 13 Comments
His long slender fingers rake through his dirty blonde locks, and Randy wonders briefly why his hair always has that slightly greasy look about it, even when freshly washed. The first glimmers of daylight peek tentatively over the horizon. Clipped moments strobe in his mind, snippets of events. Bodies shimmering with a patina of glitter, […]
Rekindling
Posted on January 24, 2015 3 Comments
Scented candles ignite into life, filling the air with wisps of an ambiguous flower aroma as she holds the lit match to the wick. The label proclaims “Rose”, but it’s enigmatic enough to be mistaken for any flower. Red rose petals scatter across the white linened bed, and march neatly, crocodile-file into the bathroom. Malika […]
Jane and Jen
Posted on December 31, 2014 8 Comments
We are Janus. We came into the world together, two faces one mind. I am she, and she is me. Our parents call us Jane and Jen, but they never know who they’re talking to. Jane and Jen born in June. We toy with them. We have played this game for as long as we […]
The Gods of Thunder
Posted on December 28, 2014 3 Comments
Day 1: The thunder gods are angry. I can hear their rolling rumble, building to a climax of house-quaking booms. Everything pales next to their fearsome temper. Surely, they will punish our transgressions.
Arranged Marriage
Posted on December 21, 2014 2 Comments
Priya, how will MummyDaddy react? Radha, do you want me to go through with this arranged marriage and spend my life in misery? You’re my cousin-sister. I thought you’d understand. We have maintained the lie till now, but we both know that by morning, I will be gone.
Durga Puja
Posted on December 16, 2014 16 Comments
Om Ayim Hreem Shreem… Eyes closed, palms together, I give in to the murmurings of the meditative mantra. Wisps of sandalwood incense invade my nostrils, transporting me to the innumerable other times that I have sat like this, blanketed in the bhajans and bell tolls of a temple celebration. Aromas of soap, talcum powder, hair […]
A Suitable Bride
Posted on December 11, 2014 12 Comments
The cacophony of clamouring cars, inching and nudging slowly forward assaults my ears. Poised pluming tendrils of dust and diesel fumes lurk in wait for any exposed airways. I pull the edge of my sari tighter across my nose and mouth, then flick it over my head to cover my ears. An arm snatches […]
Prophesy
Posted on November 25, 2014 3 Comments
Larni’s fingers grip the steering wheel, knuckles whitening. Nanna didn’t sound well on the phone. She sounded old and tired. A large shape on the road catches her eye. A full-grown wedge-tailed eagle picks at the bones of a mangled carcass, the latest road-kill victim of a hurtling road-train. She doesn’t have time for this.
Redemption Missed
Posted on November 21, 2014 14 Comments
The old woman smacks her now toothless gums. It is her anniversary today. Forty years have elapsed since that fateful day when she left her family, left all she had known, for the man she loved. He had been kind to her, and loved her in his way. He had been patient with her, holding […]
Asha Rajan 