Julia Rajagopal

“Mutually Assured Destruction” by Julia Rajagopal

I am so hungry I could eat my purse. It sits innocently on the passenger seat like a giant candy bar. It’s a buttery-smooth chocolate-brown Bottega Veneta Cassette bag, so it would be a delicious, if expensive, snack. Instead, I grab a tin of sugar-free mints and pop one in my mouth. They say mint suppresses appetite, but it’s not true.The light turns green, and I slam on the gas. My SUV jumps from the light with a jerk. I take a deep breath and lift my foot. It’s 10 am on a Sunday, and the roads are nearly empty. There’s no need to speed.A ...

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“A Tale of Two Cities” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #248

It was the best of times, then the worst of times, and we didn’t see the change until it was too late. I was in third grade when the fires started. Dozens of people died, and the pictures looked like the end of the world. Our school ran a clothing drive for the victims. My sister Janelle donated some of her less-used teddy bears. “They lost everything, Jacob,” she told me. “That means they lost all of their stuffies, too.” My parents were so smug. “Why would they build those McMansions in the middle of the forest?” my mother asked. “They kno...

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“The Happiest Place on Earth” by Julia Rajagopal

Felicitous D. Abernathy was not happy, which was strange considering he lived in the happiest place on Earth. His grandparents had purchased the intergenerational stay at Happy Valley Amusement Park nearly one hundred fifty years ago. His parents, and then he, had been born into generational happiness. Felicitous knew he had more privilege than the billions living outside Happy Valley's walls. Yet he could not ignore the feeling that something was wrong. When Felicitous was 6 years old, he sat at the dinner table with his parents. Their robo...

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“All the Signs” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #245

Detective Arthur Winson crouched over the dead body with a weary sigh. As a Capricorn, he could go days without sleep, but he didn’t feel good doing it. A short, round, dead man lay before him with no visible wounds. The only signs of distress were the black veins that ran up the man’s neck and onto his right cheek, a textbook Scorpio poisoning. The air in the apartment was hot and stale. Under his suit coat, Arthur’s broad back was wet with sweat. His temporary partner, a Gemini named Derek Tomasso, stood in the corner of the room. With a s...

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“In a Flash” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #244

I see it in a flash. They say you can’t remember your first few years, but that’s not entirely true. I remember crying, my little face wrinkled in pain and frustration. I’m angry because I have colic, though I don’t know what that is. I only know that the cramps in my stomach make me feel like I’m going to be ripped in half. My mother is holding me, her brown hair a mess of permed curls surrounding a pale, chubby face. She looks down at me, her face tightened in anger and irritation. A pinch of hatred wrinkles her brow. Someone has snapped t...

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“The Mountain of Light ” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #242

As his painting slides out of the crate, the Maharaja, Duleep Singh, opens his large brown eyes. Several white-gloved conservators carefully grip his frame and ease him onto the wall. Duleep freezes while the livings are there. A dozen men and women stand before his painting as the conservators gently adjust the security features behind the frame.A warm, dry breeze blows through the silk gathered at Duleep’s waist. He feels the breeze, but the fabric remains still. It never moves while livings are present outside of the frame. The artist pai...

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“Revenge Heist” by Julia Rajagopal

If you want to find security camera blind spots, watch where security guards use their cell phones. My colleagues congregate in the museum's dark corners and hidden nooks to check text messages and update social media statuses. The two-hundred-year-old building has plenty of nooks. I’m unsure how I’ll use the blind spots in the heist, but it is helpful information. The name on my badge is Edward Tuttle, though that is not who I am. Edward Tuttle is a low-level Marketing Executive at a third-tier ad agency and an unrepentant high school bully...

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“Suburban Apocalypse” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #241

“You told them,” Hannah Gregor said to the woman at her front door. “I can’t believe you told everyone about our extra supplies.” The cool night air blew in through the open door. Light from the flashlights and cellphones shone at her like a spotlight in the dark. “Hannah, they don’t want any trouble, but you have to share,” Rachel Andrews said. “You’re hoarding food, and it’s not right.” Shouts and grumbles came from the people behind her. The group had started as a few random individuals, but more neighbors had filtered out of their houses...

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“A Different Kind of Life” by Julia Rajagopal

*Warning: Some swearing and murder." “I didn’t abandon my son,” the old man said as he scratched his gray beard. “He thinks I did, but I didn’t. It wasn’t like that.” The deep wrinkles in his ancient face looked ghoulish in the bonfire's light. “Why does he think you abandoned him?” the younger man asked. “That’s not usually something a person gets confused over.”“He thinks I sent him away because he’s deaf,” the old man leaned back against a stump. “I mean, I did send him away because of his deafness, but it was best. I sent him to a school...

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“Tarot Fairy Godmother” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #240

Blown by the warm summer wind, a small, wrinkled card tumbled onto their blanket. The card had a white horse and skeleton, and the word DEATH was printed across the bottom.“Well, that’s ominous,” Helen Knox said as she picked up the tarot card. “Does this mean someone’s going to die?” A cloud passed, casting a shadow over their picnic. The wind blew through the busy park, ruffling the napkins tucked under the corner of the picnic basket and nearly overturning their plastic wine glasses.“It doesn’t always mean death,” Erica, Helen’s girlfrien...

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“Alive” by Julia Rajagopal

Tessa had met Freddie at a MeetUp group. She wasn’t sure why she had invited him back to her apartment, only that she had been lonely that evening. He had seemed nice at the bar. He bought her two glasses of chardonnay and offered to get a third. Tessa had declined, not wanting him to feel entitled to anything from her. They were kissing on Tessa’s brown leather couch when Tessa decided she wanted the man to leav...

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“The Potter” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #239

On a bright Saturday morning, a young woman sat before her parent’s stone cottage peeling carrots. The sun shone in a cloudless sky, and the wind from the sea blew brown hair around her face. She glanced around and pulled a book from her apron pocket. “Ariana. Carrots,” her mother stepped outside. “You’ve graduated from school now. You need to start helping more around here. At least until you start your own fami...

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