The rule was not about health.In Eden, nobody got sick, or injured. There was no warning labels on sweet fruits, no funerals in the afternoon. Every sunrise looked as if it had been polished before being hung in the sky.The rule existed because smoking was unnecessary.And in a world designed to be complete, unnecessary things … Continue reading Cigarettes in the Garden of Eden
Category: writings
In Sacred Spaces
The first thing I noticed about his apartment was that it did not feel lived in.It felt prepared.We had been dating for six weeks when Daniel invited me over for dinner, He made a delicious arrabbiata, apologizing a dozen times for the mess while standing in a kitchen so clean that it looked staged. When … Continue reading In Sacred Spaces
The Last Song
Act I: The Man Who Knows Grief Chapter 1: The Weight of a Coat The violinist missed the F sharp.She knew it before anyone else did. Her left eyebrow lifted imperceptibly, the quiet way people apologise to themselves before saying it aloud. A little girl stopped on the wet sideway to listen until her mother … Continue reading The Last Song
Muse
I will write you in every story I can.In every way I know.For as long as I have words left.Sometimes, you might be the heroine.Sometimes, just a stranger passing through the lines.Sometimes, you will not be there at all,yet every sentence will belong to you. In one story, I might compare you to a rose.In … Continue reading Muse
Everything Must Burn
By the third night, he had learnt two things.1. No one was coming to save him.2. Cold would probably kill him before the hunger does.The island was small. The sea surrounded it in every direction, endless and glassy.During the day, it almost looked beautiful.At night, the island turned to ice.The cold sat next to him … Continue reading Everything Must Burn
A Writer’s Sin
In the middle of the night,my mind writes.It writes of dreamscapes and fantasies,of old love and new heartaches,of conversations that never happened,and stories that ended differently.It writes letters to those no longer here,and speeches I will never give.It rewrites past,and drafts future.It invents worlds,and mourns their death.My mind,in the middle of the night,does not wish … Continue reading A Writer’s Sin
How to Romance a City
The ten dollar bill was lying lonely on the pavement, fluttering slightly in the morning breeze like it had somewhere important to be. Jade bent down to grab it, feeling both lucky and a little guilty, as if he was stealing someone else's treasure.He looked around, expecting someone to shout “Hey, that is mine!”But the … Continue reading How to Romance a City
The Girl Who Burnt Troy (at my coffee shop)
That single side look of hers made me feel like someone had thrown me into a blender and pureed my soul.You know the lookNot an intentional look, that can be explained. This was one of those corner eye glances, the kind that burnt Troy to the ground. The kind that has men writing poetry or … Continue reading The Girl Who Burnt Troy (at my coffee shop)
Train Dreams
3:33amI wake up completely drenched in a puddle of my own sweat. It is always the same train in my dreams every night.A massive red locomotive that arrives precisely at the moment I fall asleep.It never stays on the tracks, just runs straight through my house, through the living room, through the kitchen, through my … Continue reading Train Dreams
Paper Crown
The black fedora sat at the edge of the shoe rack in a thrift shop that not a lot of people walked into.The hat was not anything extraordinary but it still caught his eye. It was an impulsive purchase for thirteen dollars and fifty cents. The kind of thing you buy because it makes you … Continue reading Paper Crown
Currently Reading
The river moved like it had somewhere to be, but at the same time it had no urgency of getting there. The water was clear enough for me to see the pebbles beneath, smooth little obstacles that had long since become part of the river's shape. Sunlight broke through the large canopy of oak trees … Continue reading Currently Reading
Blind Nights
They say that broken women know how to love, but not always who to love, and she stood as proof of that.She looked around the room, last night lingered in small, scattered ways, like light filtering into a space through crooked blinds. It had been good, he had been what she wanted him to be, … Continue reading Blind Nights
Tinderbox
Like a matchstick, waking up in the ruins, of a house it burned down,
Piku and his bag of Peanuts
Ever since he was a boy, Piku had always carried a small bag of peanuts.No one really knew why, not even Piku. It was something his grandmama had started.She used to put a handful into his pockets before he ran out to play.For what exactly, she never explained.Years passed, grandmama was gone, the reason did … Continue reading Piku and his bag of Peanuts
September’s Stage
September had been a bikini bar dancer since last March. Not exactly her dream, but then again her dream was to marry DiCaprio and live on a yacht, so compromise had always been her skill set.She came to LA three ago to become an actress, along with a million other wide eyed blondes with head … Continue reading September’s Stage
The Same Ending Again
He never quite understood what letting go meant. People said it like it was a place you could walk to, like there was a door marked closure and all you had to do was step through it. He looked for that door often but never found it. He tried though, he tried the way people try diets, earnestly at first, then sporadically, then not at all. He deleted numbers, deleted conversations, avoided places that carried too many memories. He told himself stories about moving on, about growth, about how this time it is going to be different.
Loops (of us)
He found the earring under the cafe table after Nila left. Instinct made him pocket it, the way you keep a movie ticket, as if holding on to a piece of someone could anchor them back into your life. One evening, when he was closing shop, he realized his bike keychain had snapped. With nothing … Continue reading Loops (of us)
Things we forget to die from
For a guy raised in a tropical savanna climate, struggling with 15C feels almost embarrassing. What does that say about me? Have I gone soft? Or maybe I have just gotten too used to this Palo Alto air. I crack open the window, expecting the cold to wake me up fully or maybe numb something … Continue reading Things we forget to die from
Say My Name
They said the tree at the edge of Hollow Woods was older than the town itself.Its bark was rough and scorched, as if struck by lightning not once but many times, yet it never fell. A strange darkness stretched around it, cold and unnatural, it felt alive, as if it watched.No birds nested in it. … Continue reading Say My Name
No sleep, except to dream
Darling, all is lost, I fear,I wrestled doom, the end is near.First came the wolf, eyes like coal,He growled so deep it shook my soul. I threw a punch straight to his maw,He barely flinched, unsheathed his paw.I hurled a boulder in wild defense,He bit it, broke it, pure violence. Then from the woods, she … Continue reading No sleep, except to dream