A Haunted House Qartulad -

In the old district of Tbilisi, where balconies lean like tired old women and grapevines choke the wrought iron, stood a house that did not belong to the living. It was a sakhli —a two-story dwelling with a crumbling brick façade and a courtyard overgrown with thorns. The neighbors called it Sashishlo Sakhli : The Fearsome House. No one spoke of it in Georgian without crossing their fingers.

English: Is there a haunted house in this village? Georgian: არის ამ სოფელში აჩრდილებიანი სახლი? (Aris am sopelshi achrdilebiani sakhli?) a haunted house qartulad

The bride lowered her noose. The children’s hands unclenched. The father’s eyes grew back, soft and wet. In the old district of Tbilisi, where balconies