The Longest Breath
Ayuko hadn’t spoken aloud since Mina brought her to Seven Palms nearly a month earlier. She was angry at her daughter for forcing her to leave Japan for Florida. At the same time, she resented Mina, her only child, for not making more frequent visits to the retirement home. Ayuko avoided interacting with the Seven […]
Sing the Phoenix to Flame
Once, Tena Na Tena had been certain when she sang. Injustice gathered within her, swirling tighter until it solidified into a beat, lyrics, melody. When it clicked into place, she let it out. It wasn’t as if she planned carefully, weighing the implications of her words or the mode of release. She knew right and […]
The Boggart of Campsite C47
Boggarts don’t generally pick up rubbish but Moulde has no choice today. Loosening tent pegs, pouring water on sleeping bags, opening cooler lids—nothing discourages this year’s campers. Like wild boars across Yorkshire moors, the bloody pillocks just keep marauding through the campgrounds of Alberta Western Provincial Park. What Moulde wouldn’t give to be back in […]
The Chrysalis
“You don’t actually believe all that do you?” “You’re such a baby!” “Caterpillars don’t become butterflies.” “The adults just switch them when you’re not looking, you idiot.” “Magic’s for babies.” “Leave her alone! You’ll ruin it for her.” “Maybe you’ll turn into a big smelly cockroach!” Loz tried to look away, but her cousins were […]
I Think That I Shall Never See
Good afternoon, fellow tree lovers, and welcome to the North American Biosphere Tree Museum. My name is Aliah—I’ll be your guide today. Step through the airlock and we’ll begin the tour. Please feel free to ask questions at any time. Our museum houses the most extensive collection of preproprietary tree species in the world. We […]
Farming with Cranky
It’s hot. It’s always hot. It is cooler up at the other end of the field under the shade of the big trees, but I still prefer it down this end, in the heat. The trees are so big, so dark and mossy and quiet—it’s scary. Dad says they grow like that because of the […]
I Hope This Email Does Not Find You
Debris crunched beneath Pepper’s wheelchair as she rolled along the top floor of the Stonegrove Shopping Mall. Just small scraps, though, the kind she could roll over without her wheels catching. This area of the midsized mall was largely cleared out since most of the community lived up here, where they could access the vegetable […]
The Windtech
The first thing we learn when the windtech arrives is that wind turbines are female—or at least he calls them all “she” for some reason. “She looks to be in remarkably good shape,” he says as he peers through a pair of binoculars at the nearest turbine, which is standing idle in the distance. Its […]
Miss Angela Dean
Alabama hadn’t changed a whole lot since Grandpa’s time. Born in 1993, had he lived just a smidge longer, he’d’ve lived in three centuries. As it was, nineteen-year-old Sam was riding in the backseat of Papa’s car boat, watching the murky waves of the swamp lick the boat’s anonymous sides as they headed to clean […]
A Tree amid the Wood
That woman has come into my house again. I hear her husky voice as she grills my caregiver for anything she can learn about me. Some of the words elude me. The curtains, woven from the translucent leaves of living plants, rustle in the air, distorting the murmurs from the next room. Often I cannot […]
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