Evolutionary strategies Fariah started taking her lunch outside onto the narrow concrete balcony, unable to chew her parathas while...

Sea Sick Rosalie had been having a reasonably fine day before her four-year-old daughter vomited in her lap. Rosalie had suggested to...

Rebirth in Yellow Have you ever watched how, in early September, the leaves turn yellow? I used to think it was an early autumn, a gift....

Birthday Flowers For Mom “Do angels have a birthday?” Naamah asks while braiding her thick sable hair in bed. Satan pauses, frowning. He...

Quality of Life Andy hates his job. He hates that his coworkers, supposedly holders of computer science degrees, fail to write the most...

“I love that. LOL” “I love that. LOL,” I type with the pads of my fingertips until my body is thrown to the passenger side of my car and...

tw: sensitive content, vulgar language Provincial Town Taxi Rank They came out of the shadows of a side street, through the swathes of...

Through the Dark Woods I have always related to Faust, even when someone can look at him and tell he's an idiot. Why drink in the nectar...

(Inspired by “Café Terrace at Night” by Vincent Van Gogh) It’s late, and I’ve watched the street fill with that honey-moonshine light,...

Transgression When out-of-town children ask my gender, I tell them I’m a witch. –Charlie Bondhus 2013 If they had any identity at all, it...

Andromeda She found sea monsters to be kinder when her mother and father anchored her to the cliff with chains—her body bowed and strung,...

Ghosts Anatole set his pen down. He had expected the baby to quiet once Rosalie went to him, but nothing of the sort happened. After a...

As Simple As Flowers "Do you have the time?" Lina looked up from her salad and book to see her colleague standing over her left shoulder....

Temptation When they went past the palace portcullis, like Orpheus, Persephone looked back. "Somehow, I don't think a pomegranate tart...

Aesthetics in the Dictator’s Aftermath I. Once upon a time, I thought Poetry is a fairy tale. From that delusion, I came to stand in...

Moon Exploring After dinner with her siblings, Ngozi walked up the carpeted stairs of her house, gripping the rail with semi-drowsiness....

Caretaker Arms brimming with groceries and textbooks, Maria allowed herself a deep, profound sigh just outside her own apartment. And...

Aftermath It’d gotten cold again, and after Linda joined her, Rachel studied. She was doing something. Being someone. She was giving up,...

The Man in the Mirror Kaye stands naked before him as she has so many times before, vulnerable and afraid. Surrendering herself to his...

Spin the Bottle Before There was no romantic kiss at the station. The sky stood a uniform grey, sentinel the day he left. His suitcase...