"An Afternoon at Chop-Chop Square," Tanaz Bhathena

Tanaz Bhathena works at a trading company during business hours and writes fiction and travel articles during non-business hours. Her work has been published by Glossolalia, Sotto Voce Magazine, The Toronto Star and The National Post. She is currently working on a collection of short stories based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. One of these pieces, "An afternoon at Chop-Chop Square," won the Whidbey MFA Writers' Students Choice Award. On June 18, she gave a reading of “Chop-Chop Square” at CJ’s Café...

The executioner stifles a yawn and shuffles to the centre of the mosque’s deserted parking lot. His rubber slippers slap the tarmac with each tread and his mouth quivers, as if invaded by a swarm of invisible dancing ticks. He longs for a cup of tea, for the strong, soothing burst of tannin on his tongue, but it will have to wait until after the executions, when the owners of nearby tea-shops roll up their doors to do business after Friday prayers... more

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