I wake up sweating because the electricity is out again. In the faint moonlight, I see a gecko perched on the far wall. I bite my lip. What the fuck am I doing here? I look at my phone screen with bleary eyes. 3:16 a.m. All I want to do is go on the roof and scream so loudly that my own voice carries me back to the other side of the world. But there’s a beep. And the fan rumbles back to life. So I let a blanket of sleep wash over me, and go home in my dreams.
Pooja Joshi is an Indian-American writer currently living in Bangladesh. Outside of her day job in healthcare, she is an avid writer, traveler, and musician. Find Pooja at www.pdjoshi.com and on Twitter @poojajoshitalks.