Them and Us by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar
I shook my husband awake and hurried downstairs to answer the door on Saturday morning at 7 AM. I knew they were coming. They stood at the door smiling: the…
I shook my husband awake and hurried downstairs to answer the door on Saturday morning at 7 AM. I knew they were coming. They stood at the door smiling: the…
The bright white blades of light slice through the spaces between the slats of the blinds and fall to the floor. I am not blind. I watch as the shards…
Ice and a snow weren’t the best material for the task, but Jason didn’t have much else to work with. He could cobble something together from the shattered concrete and…
For a year my friend paints only vegetables. While I work on alpine landscapes she traces the fine hairs on a runner bean. I drop by one day, uninvited, and…
Janet was not surprised – it was no stranger than a city stinking of finfolk or gamayuns over St. Mattan’s. Since Dave’s departure, she woke each morning to the intricate…
Thunder vibrates through my chest like an extra heartbeat ticking in time with mine. Lightning streaks as I fling my bare ass into the shock of cold water. The thought…
Her spine, like a shepherd’s crook . . . like a question mark—Am I still here? “I won’t be long for this world,” Aunt Mildred keeps reminding us. Our lack…
People think I give them sound advice, but I don’t. I always start by asking what their favourite brand of shoes is. Then I hand them a pair and ask…
My girl Orla and I have made a pact to get sober. As a final blow-out we’ve booked into a chalet on the river for two nights on some-one else’s…
My inbox filled. Phone calls from my mother went unreturned. The showcase of Japanese knives kept replaying on the shopping channel. My thumb was sore from scrolling. I started daydreaming…
Let us suppose that we do go to Venice. Let us imagine that child care can be arranged, that one of the people we’ve tentatively asked – ‘just an idea,…
Tommy sat amongst the debris of his meal. His hands twisted in front of him; a dance of anxiety he was powerless to stop. He had prepared for this evening…