The Flower of the Dark Night

“The breeze is so cool and soothing” she said. That day her face was different. Her spirits were unrestrained. A gust of wind sprinkled a mass of her hair on her face. With her right hand she started pushing her disarrayed hair backwards. I observed her pearl studded bangles the same bangles that she wore long ago while she had nursed my fever-ravaged body. She turned and our eyes met. The cold breeze tingled sensations; the nocturnal wind was lurid.In the background of the first century BC coastal Orissa a riverine port town a fatal attraction developed between the beautiful daughter of the court singer of Kamalpur and a young flute player who rose to prominence in the kings army. Will their forbidden love be crushed by society or will their love succeed against all odds?