Dear Rumi

Sabahat Quadri

life

1,400 Kilometres to Karachi

What did I think I was doing? What made me think I could make this trip by myself, a woman, in Pakistan, driving across the country on my own? Mom died in January last year, suddenly and unexpectedly. After her death, I packed up the house and flew from Karachi back to Islamabad, where I […]

Read More

One Day

“Pregnant?” His fingers clenched around the phone. “That’s—” he pried apart his teeth, “that’s great, Rani. Congratulations. When are you due?” He waited until his sister’s voice stopped, then nodded, caught himself. “Right, of course. Nine months. Sorry.” His gaze moved irresistibly to the wallet lying on the desk in front of him. The picture […]

Read More

Concentrate

A month ago, we found a rat living in our pantry and had to clear the whole room out. We dropped rat poison and waited a few days before the creature came out to the kitchen and flopped down under one of the cabinets. My three cats, none of whom could be bothered to catch […]

Read More