Excited at the prospect of an entertaining departure from the monotony of parenting, his sleep-deprived mother accompanies him out the door and across the street to the house where a party is indeed in full swing.
Guests with painted faces and elaborate costumes heartily welcome the mother-son duo, luring them in with the promise of free babysitting and loads of tasty treats.
But no one mentions the presence of a magician in their midst, a magician who knows how to make little children disappear.
Anitha Krishnan is a speculative fiction author and an award- winning poet. Her fantasy novel, Dying Wishes, was a finalist for the 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in the Speculative Fiction category.
She has lived in and left pieces of her heart in many places across the world including Singapore, Australia, Canada, and most of all in her beloved birthplace, India. She presently lives in Burlington, Ontario with her husband and their cherished child.