“That’s legacy insurance, sir. Read the fine print on the back.”
Arun flipped the envelope. There, in letters so small they seemed to crawl, was a single sentence: Upon the filing of Form 3857, the assured agrees that their absence is temporary, and the corporation reserves the right to verify the authenticity of the assured’s return, including but not limited to dreams, photographs, and the sound of familiar footsteps in an empty house.
He almost laughed. His father, the most rational man he knew—a retired civil engineer who balanced checkbooks to the paisa—had filled out a form like a riddle.