VIVEK’S FICTION AND NONFICTION HAVE APPEARED IN LITRO MAGAZINE, INDIA CURRENTS AND BRILLIANT FLASH FICTION. HE CURRENTLY LIVES IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA.
Rajappan pedaled his bicycle across Vittoor Bridge. A thick fog hung over the surrounding farmland. He noticed an old man hobbling in the darkness. He flagged Rajappan down and asked for a light, his voice raspy and feeble.
The match lit the man’s face, wrinkled and weary. It slipped from his grasp and fell, lighting on its way down the old man’s tattered shirt, mud-stained lungi, and cloven hoofs.
Rajappan dropped his bicycle and ran across the bridge. Encountering another man, he frantically pointed towards the bridge.
“Pothumkaal, Pothumkaal!” he gasped.
The man lifted his lungi and said, “Like these?”
END