THE CAPTIVES By Shivani Mehta In 1438 the dying were buried before they were dead, thirty seconds before their eyes closed. To look at the faces of the dead was thought to bring a lifetime of bad luck. The family of the soon-to-be deceased stood by the freshly dug grave, waited to catch their loved one’s … [Read more…]
THE DRESS-MAKER By Shivani Mehta When my twin sister and I were young our mother was a dress-maker. Beautiful dresses were all around us, dresses we weren’t allowed to touch, dresses made of crepe, cambric, calamanco, faille. At night we wore nightgowns mother sewed us from sack-cloth and imagined how those other dresses might feel in … [Read more…]