Two Covid-19 Microfictions By: Sarwar Morshed

Two Covid-19 Microfictions
By: Sarwar Morshed

1. The Good Wife

I received a call, seemingly from my wife, this morning. She was crying profusely. I thought Covid-19 has
injected strong doses of Thanatophobia into her moral fabric. A metamorphosed version of her original
being, she kept apologizing for her misbehaviour in the past. Sobbingly, she promised –
"I'll never be at cross with you, I swear. From now on, I pledge, I'll patiently listen to whatever you want
to say. I'll certainly comply with your commands, my sweet sugar honey man."
These soft, sincere words from a lachrymose lady moistened my eyes.
I don't know whose significant other this gem was, as unfortunately, it was a call from a wrong number
but surely she could have been the right wife for me!

2. The Palmist's Prophecy

Once, not long ago, a chiromancer, after reading the complex web of lines criss-crossing the landscape
of my palm, predicted –
"A time will soon come in your life when you won't need to toil anymore – no commuting, no work, no
office. You'll just regally cross your legs, relax at home, do facebooking, sit akimbo for yoga, relish your
food and sleep at your sweet will."
What a charismatic Cheiro or Nostradamus I have found in the man! In the wake of the august advent of
the Microbial Marco Polo, Covid-19, the government have imposed a countrywide lockdown and the
promised times have befallen me so soon!

( Sarwar Morshed is a Professor of English at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. His works have
appeared in, among others, The Bosphorus Review of Books, The Bombay Literary Magazine, City:
Journal of South Asian Literature, Contemporary Literary Review India and the Ashvamegh.)