Chapter 8Rapture’s self is three-parts sorrow.
Although we must die to-morrow,
Losing every thought but this;
Torn, triumphant, drowned in bliss.
Happiness: ‘We rarely feel it.
I would buy it, beg it, steal it,
pay in coins of dripping blood
for this one transcendent good.
—Amy Lowell
It was almost six p.m. when Aashi stepped out of her home next evening, fuming with a temper that threatened to become worse with the long walk she had in front of her.
‘When I have money, I would never again walk in such heat!’ she muttered to herself as she gave an angry push to the gate.
It had been an exceptionally hot day even for the last week of June. Heat seemed to be sweating out from everywhere as the sun slowly dragged its feet towards the west. Even the slight breeze that there was seem
