She Only Wanted an Apricot

I’m pleased to announce that the first chapter of my novel, Still Come Home, is published in the anniversary issue of Consequence Magazine. Consequence is an international literary magazine “focused on the culture and consequences of war.” Here are the first few lines of my chapter, written in limited 3rd POV on Aaseya, a 17-year-old young woman in an arranged marriage, living in the small Afghanistan village of Imar:

This is what it would taste like: candied moisture, a wet slice of sunlight in the mouth. It’s market day; the dingy streets of Imar beckon. There might be nuts, fresh bread. There might be produce—an apricot—and there it is again, a craving for fruit seeping from Aaseya’s mind to her mouth, her tastebuds sprung to life. It’s hardly enough, and what is a life, if not lived fully? She wants the fruit. She wants her freedom. She wants to do everything she shouldn’t. She shoves back her purple headscarf and walks to the open window of her small, second story apartment…

READ THE REST OF THE CHAPTER and support Consequence by purchasing this issue today! Consequence is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

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