It was dangerous–traitorous–for people to speak aloud of their memories of Earth. It meant they risked giving the Dendul exactly what they wanted. And yet, people often couldn’t help but dismiss that peril when they entered Sonya’s Earth Bread Shop. Sonya looked up as a man entered her business. He was the typical sort. In his […]
My lungs ache, full of water. Within the ache is a sparkling burn that I love already. I need it like I needed air.I pull my head from the waves. The beach hisses, tinny and sharp. Water streams from my nose and the acrid tang of traffic stings my nostrils.I want to run up the […]
It’s the first time Camille sees his bone collection.She prowls the edge of Simon’s bookcase, brushing her fingers along the specimens on the shelves. The softly lit bones remind her of seashells, smooth and white, silky under her touch. Small animal skulls with teeth sharp enough to pierce skin; a larger one with twisting horns, […]
“It’s not enough,” you say. We’re in the living room. The upstairs neighbors are vacuuming and the downstairs neighbors have music on and I am holding you. It’s an apartment; it’s how it goes. Sometimes it’s so loud you feel sandwiched between sound and sometimes it’s deafening quiet. Sometimes it’s neither of those and still […]
Last year, we were faced with a drought of reprints. It takes a lot of submissions to find just the right stories for the magazine because most subs don’t fit in some way or another. As you know if you’re a long-time reader or as you’ll see as you open this issue, we have a […]