Fiction

There is a new batch of women arriving today. Sixteen new heartbreaks. They come down off the boat on unsteady legs. They are sunburnt and sick. Some fall onto the sand and cry. Others stay ...

Angel hadn’t seen a condom in years. But the sight of them, colorful and glossy in a clear glass bowl on the counter of the unisex bathroom, made her feel oddly nostalgic. They held her ...

[This story was longlisted by Ellen Datlow for her “Best Horror of the Year Vol. 14” anthology.] On some odd day — one of those million golden afternoons that breeds boredom or trouble regardless of ...

The Shadow District, locked between four relatively broad streets, is like no other in the City. While there are a lot of shadows here, not one of them strikes me as unnatural — severed from ...

Rich dropped the needle on their newest album, grinning as George parodied the countdown they’d used in the good old days. Then he flung himself down on the patchwork corduroy pouf in the corner of ...

Once there was a girl named Tiger who lived in an unenchanted forest, protected from the magic that rampaged through the land.  Her parents had been village dwellers but, after Tiger was born, they moved ...

I'm from La Jolla, but most of my clients are from Texas, mostly Dallas. They drive here in Lincolns and Cadillacs so the wives, the children, the grandchildren can spend the summer at the country ...

It took a while for people to get used to wearing signs around their necks. They felt awkward or resentful. But you had to admit, it was helpful to know where everyone stood.  Take for ...

Regular readers of this column may imagine how humbled I was (slightly) and excited (very) to be the food critic chosen to cover Strangers’ gala opening. I had my doctor’s assurance that my Humang metabolism ...

I was sitting by myself staring at a lasagna when the first text from my dead husband popped onto my phone. “r u ok?” I blinked at the message. It had to be a prank, ...

The fire started in the north and tracked down through the dry desert succulents. Inside the crumbling adobe church, the air was cool, and smoke trickled through a hole above where the altar had been. ...

This man is our home. We tickle his lungs with our wings. The sun always leads us back to him and, on our return, we dance our furred bodies on his tongue. Home rents a ...

When I see his face, I know I’m in trouble. Incandescent smile, with almost too many teeth. Wide-set eyes downturned at the corners, glossy-bright. Scrappy build, muscles ropy from hoisting around 25-kilo bags of soil. ...

Lunch in the home multiverse where Jenny and I are sitting around thinking what we'll do after we finish eating.  It was a really good meal with friends. Shit was sparkling all around.  I turn ...

Natalie I wake up abruptly to the sound of someone hammering at the metal door of the RV. Neil continues to snore softly beside me. Nothing short of a fire alarm disturbs that one. I ...

I live at the center of broken things.  I live in the middle of a junkyard in a house full of broken clocks. There are many cuckoo clocks and all of them cuckoo at the ...

Your invisible neighbor rarely leaves his house. So you assume.  When he does leave his house, your invisible neighbor is usually wearing only a few articles of clothing at a time. A hat, some gloves ...

Life outside of the moon base would be like flowers outside of the garden. Where would they grow? In the pipes and vents, blocking all the wires? Or maybe shooting out of the little cracks ...

When King Kong toured the Canadian prairies in the early part of the previous century, the anticipatory locals were often at a loss as to how to sufficiently house their guest. The great ape being ...

One. The room is dark and stagnant, like a puddle of murky water a week after rain. There are spiders here. You’ve grown fond of them. You imagine small, round bodies traveling on stilt legs ...

Lance had finally turned into some kind of a monster. Hal had joked that it was only a matter of time. You are what you eat, he said, and Lance had been consuming nothing but ...

No fewer than three doctors had told Icarus to not get too close to the microwave, but Icarus went ahead and got too close: we came home to find him melted all over the floor.  ...

I — Covid 23 0.75% of those infected die of complications. Many get well on their own. But a striking 3% of those infected emerge from the disease with more lean muscle mass and what ...

I smash mirrors everywhere. In my wake, shards of reflected sunlight litter ruined streets. Until they are splattered with red. Mothers hide their baby boys from me and when I root them out from cellars, ...