iRead

Sometimes we encounter some stories and we can't help but share. Here are links to some.

Igoni Barrett's short story "You" in ITCH

"You've been staring at the blank MS Word sheet for so long that when she creeps up behind and mashes her breasts against your back you know, even before the words burn your throat, that you will be mean. She recoils, her mouth falls open, her baby face crumples, but she turns away before your remorse overcomes the frustration of knowing that you will never write anything of the least importance to anybody. Then the thought that even she, who loves you like a mother, but better, because you fuck, can turn her back on you, bursts in your head like a smashed tomato. You leap up and kick the chair away; it falls over with a crash. You scream at her without raising your voice. Your words sink into her like punches. You gloat as her shoulders sag, as the force of your assault pins her against a wall you cannot see, as her eyes grow wider and ooze distress. When she stumbles from the room, you laugh, harshly, so she will know you're not afraid."

"The In-Between Woman" by Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Nivedita Sen in Guernica Mag

"Nibaran got married to a petite young girl wearing a nose ring, whose eyes brimmed with tears. Her name was Shailabala.

Nibaran mused to himself that the name was very sweet, and her face quite lovely. He felt like observing her expression, her appearance, and her movements with some special attention, but he just could not manage to do so. On the contrary, he had to pretend as if she was just a slip of a girl, that he had invited trouble by marrying her, and that he could get some respite only if he could somehow avoid her and attend to the sphere of duty that suited his age."

Love Story by Kimarlee Nguyen

"You and I, on the edge of the seawall and I wanted to tremble in the radiance of the sun at its highest point in the sky. I would have said nothing and basked in the glory but you turned to me and told me to tell. So I did and I gave you the words for you to carry. I saw your lips reciting bits of it and how the story trembled in your mouth, the words too terrible for anyone. I thought I had made a mistake, I wanted to take each word back but then you did a very brave thing. You reached in to adjust each word, the sharp bitter ones and the sad, all jumbled together, until they fit in the curve of your cheek. And then you smiled to tell me that it was okay, but I knew better because a smile like that was the heat of the bricks against our feet as we stood and walked back to shore. A smile like that tugged and tugged at me so much so that when you went ahead of me, I didn't bother to run to catch up. I watched the sway of your braid, the steps you took and how your shoulders bent forward as if you were a bird pecking at the sand."

The Children of the Main Street by AC Wise

"The first thing the children of the colony learned after the ship landed was how to change genders.

They'd been born in the long dark between the stars; not one had ever set foot on Earth, on good, solid ground. They'd never known a fixed sky, just the star-shot dark tumbling past the ship's portholes as they hurtled towards a new world.

They'd grown like weeds in the cracks of the ship, playing quiet games. Laughing and running were forbidden, making them always too loud, and too much in the way."

Follow the links to read more. Have an amazing weekend Bookaholics!