…. He passes a boarded up shop that smells strongly of urine and he turns his face away in disgust. He starts as the snake hisses, close to his eyes, curling off the shoulder of a man in tatty robes. Its tongue flicks in and out. The man has three horizontal lines marked on his forehead, marks of Shiva, the Destroyer. The Lord of Death. His hair is long and matted, part of it tied up in a topknot. He is laughing, hoisting the giant serpent onto his shoulders and carrying it off. A laughing Shiva, walking through the streets. His throat is blue from drinking the poisoned oceans at the start of creation.
The Englishman feels dizzy. …..
by Priya Sharma
Priya lives and works as a GP on the Wirral. She started writing a few years ago and has had short stories published in Dark Tales magazine. Her family emigrated to England from India in the 1960's and the "The Englishman" is a story based on them seeing India again for the first time in several decades.
