Short Story: A Samosa For Every Season

S. Mubashir Noor shares a supernatural satire, making the reader chuckle and yet be awestruck by the ending.

Tick, tick, tick drummed the clock in my head like a sledgehammer to my sinuses. My pores hadn’t oozed this much sweat since my seniors threw me in the military academy’s swimming pool at dawn, limbs bound with twine.

They had a good laugh at my expense, but Captain Razia showed no hint of humor in her owlish gaze.

The squat barrel of her pistol was aimed squarely at my nose. Her face was as stony as the sandpapered tarmac beneath our boots.

Some quaint tea party this was turning out to be, I thought, gritting my teeth. Diplomatic farces should at least provide some goddamn amusement.