"What kind of purple?" I hadn’t a clue. She prodded me forward. "Is it blue purple or red purple?" Blue purple, I was sure. "And what color is the shadow?" Purplish grey, I guessed. Yes, she said and awarded me the praising smile I coveted.

“The marigolds are dying,” Maggie started the conversation as if they were already in the middle of a conversation. She then sucked a cigarette, her exhalation roaring into the receiver. “It’s only September.”

Branko was right, Agoston was never very prosperous. He was a blacksmith in the old country

Just before dawn. Another blue sky turned orange. I burned through a neighborhood in Agoura Hills.

With dawn the rain abated, and as the boy unzipped and peeled back the tent’s door panel to survey the campsite

To be fair, Fred does try to "improve" the bus. A few months ago, he installed a wooden stove in the middle of the aisle

Only when he passes Ms Kriti in the main corridor does Pujari Lal realize what had happened.

A bump came up through the seat, another bump. They had landed. A string of runway lights gliding past, then a row of blue and orange Lufthansa tailplanes

She is sixty-seven years of age, she looks her age, and to me she seemed to have aged overnight one day in September 2019.

On the couch again, she propped her feet up on the turquoise ottoman and picked up her book but found she couldn’t concentrate.

My chest is still buzzing when we rise together from the planks and wander into the meadow.

They followed a path down to the shore, suddenly aware of the silence,

I turned toward her, trying to appear as though I were looking for a seat or watching out the window.

Had I been asleep, I might have missed the sound, like a strange scuttling against the walls. I glanced over at the boy in the corner, but he remained silent

A few days later, when they reclaim some of their courage, they call their daughter once more. Kavita explains that her condition is called PTSD.

Megh flings himself on the bed and takes the calendar from the table beside his bed. He has marked today's date.

His covers were bunched up and his arm was stretched out towards the door in the ordering gesture. He laid back down.

The police asked him “to come down the station”.  Those were their exact words, as if spoken on a television show, as if there were a script for this kind of thing.

She left the next morning. Asif did not put up a fight. He simply sat at the kitchen table while she packed her things.

Yes, yes, she continued to work while I was building the company but look at what she has now? She drives a Mercedes!

As Didi walks away, you look around and notice the acadia tree by the neighbour’s yard. Two boys are gathered around it, struggling to reach the top branch which holds a prized mango.

Mansi looks at them. They seem terrified. A sense of guilt starts seeping into her heart.