The childless couple did not name her, first because she was a dog and second because they didn’t own her. Nameless was just a tolerated scavenger, a pitied-upon beggar, an overstaying visitor, but never an adopted pet. All the same,…
Category: Short stories
Prince Charming
An-an leaned down and pointed the tongs at the croissants. “This one, sir?” she asked the customer on the other side of the glass shelf. “No,” the man in pink shirt said. “The bread on the left.” “This?” An-an asked,…
Going Home
Dr. Tan removed the stethoscope from his ears and let it hang around his neck. “Can I go home, Doc?” Indo asked in a wheezing voice, buttoning up his shirt. “Not yet, Nong Indo,” the young doctor said. “We have…
Only The Good Die Young
March 28, 1971, Kaptai, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) Mrs Samad ran. She ran like she had never run before. Barefoot. In a kaftan. Missing her bra. Eyes bloodshot. Hair undone. Ruffled. Flailing her arms. Crying hysterically. She ran through a…
Monsoon Melodies
“Grand ma, grand ma,” Tina came rushing up the stairs, one stormy evening. Grandma, who stood in the dining hall, setting a table for two, glanced at her and asked gravely. “What is it dear?” “Our cow has just given…
The Wait
Nine days after her husband left for another woman, Elda, after discovering she was pregnant, became worried. She knelt crouching over the chamber pot that morning, retching air, and spewing spit, her stomach contracting as though her innards were being…
Diary of a chirpy toddler
Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a king and a queen. They lived in a beautiful castle. The king was very kind and humble. He was a healer. He liked to heal people from their…
Return to Origin
I was back. I was back in this familiar alley. I could see the book shop “Mitra book stall”. I looked up. It was evening time. The sun was setting. I stood there mesmerized, breathing in the last of the…
When the Sun Went Down
The sitting room was lit up till few moments back as the frailing sun was still able to beam down its rays but in a conspiratorial manner, the sky had started getting overcast and turned grey in a drone like…
SwaPPed
As Gautam walked through the security gate into the confines of the tech park, the only thing that was troubling him was the phone call that he received from his co worker previous night. There was seemingly a bug in…
God and I
I am unceremoniously startled to a new dawn by the blowing of shankh (conch) and jangling of bells. My mom has just finished her puja (prayers) and is readying to bombard me with her much rehearsed lecture on benefits of…
‘My Little Dragonfly Secrets’ by Sonam Dema (Bhutan)
Do you know a secret about dragonflies? When I was a little girl, I would sometimes run away from my math classes and go to the river banks near my school for some very serious reasons. Reason one, I hated…