“#Spring Love, #Pichal Pairi” by Usman T. Malik

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Story can be read on-line: https://www.tor.com/2021/03/03/spring-love-pichal-pairi-usman-t-malik/

Rating: 3/5 Stars

A story that starts as a series of interviews between a journalist and a person in Pakistan who is said to be a pichal pairi, a ‘monster’ with reversed feet. The initial impression is of a story of a man meeting an unusual girl with a defect, not a supernatural monster. They then proceed to be attracted to each other and a develop a romantic relationship.

But there are moments of unusual activity and behaviour that betray that she may be more than just a person with deformed feet. And it is only when the whole world is suddenly shut down due to a pandemic (name not stated in the story) that the real fantasy elements of the story come forth, making the reader re-evaluate who she really is and whether she is still around.

Story read from 2021/04/06 to 2021/04/12