Brown-eyed, pink snout, prominent white mark on forehead, frail-looking, peeping out of the cheap red pails and the rancid meat, whining and wailing like a toddler, before locking eyes that collect my sympathy. The tenth adoption. Homecoming. Rain pattering. Pleasant petrichor. Tippy taps, tails wagging, tongues licking and happy songs.

Soumya Doralli from India is the author of two books of fiction titled ‘I Seek You’ and ‘Hues of the Sky’. Her short stories have been published in a journal and a couple of anthologies.