I wonder what my son thinks of me as I read to him at night. I wonder if he thinks I’m odd compared to the rest of the mothers who visit his school. I wonder if he questions his pale skin. I wonder if he questions my pale skin. I wonder if he knows that we are bonded by the ...
A most extraordinary event took place as Ian took the phone off its cradle and began to dial his sister’s number — there was no dial tone. Shaking the receiver because he couldn’t think of anything else to do, a whimper from the dark recesses of the receiver sent a rash of goosebumps from his arm to his back and ...
…and as that Mexican proverb goes — they didn’t know we were seeds. But seeds we were. As Papa said — Be grateful for the opportunity to fight, because to fight means to survive. Fighting is what we’ve been doing for eons. So to war we went. And it’s at that moment when I plunged my incisors into his jugular ...
Once you’ve sprayed citronella around your bed, you breathe in the heady miasma it creates and curl into a fetal position and decide to take a one-way trip to dreamland. The mosquitoes form a halo around you as they are kept at bay by the invisible barrier constructed by the citronella droplets. It’ll be a good night, you think. As ...
The sweat bubbled up slowly until his forehead was neatly aligned with globules of wetness. He muttered in his sleep, and lapsed into silence. Without any warning, he opened his mouth and let out an enthusiastic roar of screams. That’s when his parents came running into the room and having pulled at the switch, flooded it with light that seared ...
Dear Simone, I know you and I can never be. And that’s ok, my love. I rather entertain the beauty of what may have been rather than be steeped in reality and accept that it can never be. I’m smiling. You remind me of the quintessential teenage girl: gawky, nerdy, clumsy and yet with an aura of wisdom that’s loved ...
The rain pattered down on the pavement; Marian cuddled in deeper under the duvet, and searched for Poirot’s hand. The radio filled the cool night air with static, which lingered questioningly, and then comfortingly segued into that one singular song that the Cascades were known for. As Marian, now alert and alarmed, grew cold with fear and thought — Who ...
As Peter reached home, he was thrilled to find that there was a nicely wrapped gift box sitting quite like a wayward puppy, oddly coiffured with a blue ribbon. Grabbing the box deftly, he opened the door; reached the pantry; smelled the gorgeous miasma thrown out by the slow cooker having its way with the beef fillet he got yesterday; ...
Leo, feeling quite flustered, erupts into a scathing diatribe, which ends with the following line: Do you know why capitalism succeeds and communism fails? Pete, on the other hand, feeling rather nonchalant and preferring to sip sherry rather than get involved in another social-economic-political debate utters: I haven’t the slightest idea, Leo. Leo, exhausting whatever dregs of patience that was ...
We’ve all probably heard the usual story before; you know the one where you struggle through school, university, embrace a career, and work incredibly hard to make something of yourself. That’s what most Lankans born in the 70s and 80s did: they migrated and started a new and vibrant life abroad. Dr. Maryse Selit is no different. Here was an ...
