Skin by Susmita Bhattacharya
I They sit side by side on the train. To anyone else, they may as well be strangers. He feels her warmth pressing against him and is comforted. He scratches…
I They sit side by side on the train. To anyone else, they may as well be strangers. He feels her warmth pressing against him and is comforted. He scratches…
I watch the froth develop as I pour from one cup to another; lift my arm high, let the liquid descend like an earthy waterfall. “Prepare the finest chocolates, Chantico,”…
Simon eased the door open to avoid the whine of the old hinges and tiptoed inside. Thirty-four and still sneaking about like a damned child. He straightened up, pressed his…
He presses his nose against the window and squints through the wall of rain into the back garden. He exhales as he surveys the damage and devastation: the uprooted spuds,…
It had been months since I opened a window. The temperature outside was in single figures. Rufus was working on the rig, so it was just me in that big…
The heist was a bust. We all knew it. Alice’s plan had been fine until it went wrong. That wasn’t her fault though. Johnny’s truck was shot up pretty bad…
Vincent cut into the meat, grimacing at the effort needed to saw through the stringy, pink flesh. He sliced off a portion, speared the chunk with his fork, and skated…
On the park bench, headscarf tied over her grey hair, tartan shopping bag by her feet, coat buttoned up tight, she’s throwing bread into the empty pond. Bemused pigeons and…
Sarah and I arrived on Christmas Eve, just in time for lunch, then spent the rest of the day between the spa and the pool, the restaurant and the bar,…
I think of you every morning as I shake her Coco Pops into the bowl. Never Frosties or Rice Krispies. Only Coco Pops will do. Clipping tokens from the box,…
My fingertip is rough; it drags along my skin, over the curve of my breast. It’s not slippery like I need it to be, and I don’t have much alone…
Anna keeps a small mirror in her closet tucked behind a pile of dusty things she inherited or can’t remember buying. When she looks in the glass, it shimmers and…