Short Story

Christmas festivities had been arranged for the inmates at a prison complex in Arizona, in the United States. Roxy, an Eelam Tamil prisoner involved in drug trafficking, had been brought to the prison that very day. At the officers’ command, he joined the queue for Christmas dinner. As he approached the table where various dishes were being served, the man ahead of him picked up a paper plate and handed it to him. Taking his fried rice with curry poured over it, Roxy followed the man. Other…

1 ‘Hey, Nabeesa, they say One-Handed Ibrahim is dead. A wild elephant trampled him at Surulipatti early this morning. They’ve laid out his body at his elder brother’s son’s house. All the women are going to see his face one last time. What’s there to see? They’ve gathered him up and brought him back rolled like a bundle of cloth. The elephant left only his face alone—squeezed and crushed the rest to pulp.’ Nabeesa was silently sweeping the little house. With her right hand, she wiped the sweat from her forehead…