snippet (1)

(c) Harendra Alwis

... One of the early symptoms of my infatuation was an irrational jealousy. As I watched her from the distance of my dreams and perhaps frustrated by how little of her attention I was able to win, I felt jealous of her dog which had the pleasure of indulging lavishly in her company, which I was wholly deprived of. I felt it a grave injustice that a dog was not only allowed to brush carelessly against her, but she would also gently caress it, whereas I needed an elaborate excuse even to shake her hand. I would be jealous of a dress that hugged her delicate body, bangles that teasingly dangled at her wrist or a necklace that occasionally had the pleasure of playfully wrapping itself around her delicate fingers as if in a maypole-dance. In my secret thoughts, I gained reprisal over the little pendant that, despite its innocent brilliance, was shadowed in oblivion by the radiance of her face. But I could not conceal my envy for the hairpin that breathed in her shiny black hair every day, that despite my irrepressible (though un-confessed) love for her, I had been unjustly denied...