Brutha tried to nod, and thought: I’m on everyone’s side. It’d be nice if, just for once, someone was on mine.

More from Small Gods

• And it came to pass that in time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One: “Psst!”
• Bishops move diagonally. That’s why they often turn up where the kings don’t expect them to be.
• Brother Preptil, the master of the music, had described Brutha’s voice as putting him in mind of a disappointed vulture arriving too late at the dead donkey.
• Dhblah sidled closer. This was not hard. Dhblah sidled everywhere. Crabs thought he walked sideways.
• Give anyone a lever long enough and they can change the world. It’s unreliable levers that are the problem.
• Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off.