
This story was originally published in Day One, a weekly literary journal that was run by Amazon and dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers. The editor at the time was Morgan Parker.
Read the interview that was published in the Day One Magazine with the editor, Morgan Parker, here.
Amita and Girish, an Indian couple living in California, are on their third attempt to have a baby. Desperate to make it to full term, Amita convinces her husband to visit their local Hindu temple. But she can’t persuade him to pay for a blessed golden amulet or to let the oily salesman of a priest conduct the protective puja ceremony. Unable to reconcile her deep-seated Eastern values with her husband’s evolving Western sensibilities, she decides to go through with the ceremony without his knowledge.
Now a secret lives within their marriage. And when Girish uncovers it, the consequences could propel their relationship into a tailspin that no one can undo.