What if I were to die? Now. Kavita reclined on her bed, Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner face down on her stomach.

She closed her eyes and saw Tania's image float in first. Depressed, sad, unable to concentrate on anything. She imagined a listless Pari, heart broken by her mother's betrayal.

It was a few days after the death of Kavita's mother. Pari had been four. They lay on the bed facing each other. Both of Pari's hands under her cheek, her knees drawn up to her ...