Clay County, Illinois April 4, 2017 My whistling dies on my tongue the second a familiar scream rips through the trees. It comes again before I’ve extricated myself from the briars of the Ghost Woods’ treeline, and dropping my school library copy of Of Mice and Men and a ziplock baggie of foraged morels, I […]
The sea off Dapit-Hapon holds untold magic. That much I’ve always known. When I was small enough to fit in the crook between her lap and her belly, Mama would tell me of the enchanted waters and the secrets they hold, her golden shell necklace warm against my cheek as she spoke of the sirena […]
“Mine.” The word claws me away from the consoling tentacles of dreams, and I’m wide awake, sitting bolt upright on the couch. I hunt for the source of the sound. The apartment is completely silent. My chest is heaving as I gulp down air. My blood is rushing in my ears. But there’s no one […]
At dinner on the third day, Nate looks up from his plate and asks the question. “Why did you die?” It is the first time he has opened a conversation since Em arrived. For the last three days, he has communicated mostly in monosyllables and glances, only speaking in sentences if he has to give […]
“Thanks for coming,” Andrea says as she steps aside to hold the door for Laura to come in. Her friend shrugs out of a powder blue fleece jacket and drops it over one of the kitchen chairs. Andrea passes her a Wonder Woman mug of Volcanica Free Range Kopi Luwak, the best coffee she has. […]
She’s bending the strings of her third song when the soldiers’ eyes needle across her synthetic skin. They’ve stopped; they never stop, not here. If they’re hoping she might lose her fingering, that she might tilt her head out of fear or supplication, that her song might be cut short by their mere presence—no. Fuck. […]
~Dolly~ It was December 10, 1903, when I boarded the Rio-Grande Western Railroad with Horace’s letter tucked neatly into the inside pocket of my petticoat, and his Christmas gift, a heart-shaped ruby brooch, fastened securely at my breast. My dearest Eliza, the letter read, I have wonderful news! All my efforts have not been for […]
