Fiction Archive | Page 3 of 28

The Stench of Flowers | Prarthana JA

January 20, 2022

Nila hopped on a train to Mansoori, on a day the sun was skippy in the sky between the long ropes of clouds. Her father slid her suitcase overhead and tucked another wad of notes into her palm. “Here, put this away safely,”he said. “You’ve already given me enough, papa,” Nila said. [Read the rest...]

The Noose | Naresh Kumar

January 15, 2022

The noose was fashioned from a thin, jute rope; it dangled from the old oak tree that marked the middle of the city’s square. The King’s soldiers circled the noose and the tree, their shields high and their spears sharp. A large, quiet crowd filled the square beyond them, swaying sadly to the tune of the day’s warm breeze, not unlike the noose itself. [Read the rest...]

The Debt | Steve Carr

January 15, 2022

Several macaques scurried across the wires that stretched above the street as the motorized rickshaw stopped abruptly, halted by the traffic jam ahead of it. The driver slammed his hand down hard several times on the horn, as from behind his seat, Arjun pounded on the back of the seat, sending vibrating jolts through the driver’s entire body. [Read the rest...]

A Gödelian Incompleteness | Chitra Gopalakrishnan

January 10, 2022

A little before noon, as the day hangs between morning and afternoon, in an emergency hospital room in New Delhi, I avert my eyes from its scrubby disarray to its furthest corner, to blank walls, empty, steel-framed beds and shuttered blinds, to their symmetric, white lines, hoping for the cohesion, the cool distance they show towards their surroundings. [Read the rest...]

Thambi | Jeyamohan

November 3, 2021

Name: M. Saravanakumar. M.A. English Literature. Works at a private college. A dark, well-built body. Black, trimmed moustache. I leaned forward from the table and observed him. Whenever I do so, I fix a well-practiced smile of warmth and sympathy on my face so that the patient doesn’t feel that it is a look of inspection. He had firm shoulders and firm eyes. It is very rare for such people to be affected by a mental illness. And if it does affect them, it is not easy to manage. [Read the rest...]

The Gotukola Patch | Ciara Mandulee Mendis

October 27, 2021

It was a peep at first. To see if Sherine was cooking. To see what Sherine was cooking. You always wondered if they ate the same things you did because they spoke a different language. It was a part of your daily routine to go to Sherine’s Facebook page from your daughter’s mobile and scroll up and down for no reason. [Read the rest...]

Hsi-Wei and the worn-out brush | Robert Wexelblatt

October 10, 2021

By the time Chen Hsi-wei retired from his life of wandering through the Empire leaving straw sandals and verses in his wake, the Sui Dynasty had come to an end. To the relief of everyone, Emperor Yangdi had been assassinated and a promising new dynasty had just begun, its glories still in the future. [Read the rest...]

Faculty To Tears | Haritha T Chandran

October 5, 2021

“Mole! Do you want us to come to get you from the bus stop? ” “No, Amma. I will walk home.”

The walk home felt like the placid prelude to an incessant storm. She evaluated the importance of the walk … [Read the rest...] “Faculty To Tears | Haritha T Chandran”