I’m sat at my desk eating lunch, it’s lasagne for the fourth time this week, and I’m absolutely sick of it. I can’t seem to get out of the habit of cooking a family-sized dinner every night, even though I no longer need to. Something twangs low in my gut at this thought, but before I can begin ruminating, I'm interrupted. My phone rings loudly, the vibration causing it to slide erratically around the desk. It’s an unknown...

The afternoon sun slithered through the gaps in the blinds, casting a warm, mottled glow across Janice's living room floor. Janice sat on the couch, the phone cradled against her shoulder as she listened to her mother's latest recipe for apple crumble. She nodded absently, scribbling notes on a pad balanced on her knee, her mind already racing through the list of chores she needed to tackle before dinner. Marc's laughter...

Prologue Shagufta groaned as she sat up in bed, her body aching from the lack of sleep. It had been another long night of taking care of her three children, all under the age of eight. She had been married for ten years now, and life seemed to have taken a toll on her. Once a young and vibrant girl, Shagufta was now a tired and worn-out housewife. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, taking in her disheveled appea...

After Cora's bedtime story with her eight-year-old daughter about the pumpkin-headed monster, she went back to her room. She lay in her bed and tried to sleep. From the balcony, a pumpkin-headed man entered and slowly crept to her bed then took off her garments. Cora felt dreaming as she opened her eyes and saw him. The lonely days without her husband made her titillated. So, she let him ravish her body. He ate her. The p...

After my two older brothers had left home it became a regular thing to hear my Mum and Dad arguing late at night in their bedroom, though they tried to keep their voices down I could hear my Dad berating Mum for being frigid, and never wanting sex, and if they did it, my Dad said, "It was like making love to a piece of meat."He also complained that she never wanted to go out and socialise and meet his friends.Though I pre...