The resemblance was uncanny, really. The same bushy eyebrows. That wattle at the throat. Those teeth stained brown, lodged like pebbles in his gums. She was nine-ish on her wedding day, nine-ish years old when she saw him through the veil.

The angled windows above the bed looked like ghūl eyes. I didn’t believe in such things anymore because my dad told me they were made up by storytellers to scare children. But my mom told me sometimes people in real life could behave in ghoulish ways.

Aamukta Reddy is a visual designer and model based in Bangalore. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, and has work appeared in Vogue India and Grazia India, among others.

The elderly man hobbles the short distance. His hairline has traveled well past receding, and his belt barely contains his girth.