Fiction

It’s not quite a selkie story, but Oakland writer Laur A. Freymiller’s “On A Thursday” is a haunting and contemporary spin on a timeless tale of the sea’s gifts given and taken away.

This sly, wry, surreal, and vaguely Lovecraftian parable is an apt season closer for the apocalyptic summer of 2020, and an unnerving point of entry for the even more uncertain autumn that’s still ahead.

Fancy a romantic travelogue, or maybe a mythic tale of elemental passions? Don’t let Anne Wilding’s “The Basque Wind” carry you away …

A domestic cyborg yearns for a life of connection and commitment, but is purchased for entirely different reasons.

Briana took her snake carefully from the cool cave, cooing while he hissed softly. He was by far the favorite of her jump ropes. Not too long, beautiful stripes, smart and devoted completely to her.