I meet you in the rain, the fat drops slicking our cheeks. We splash in puddles like children. You kiss like thunder: deep enough to shake the earth, even if only a little. The sun reemerges and sparkles on the wet tar. I turn to see your face sparkle, too, but you’re gone. I look…
Dog is Berty’s first choice, cat a poor second, and anything’s better than rat. Anything. Three years ago, at Berty’s eleventh birthday party, aunty Terrine said God was punishing the world for our many sins, and it wasn’t the Moreau virus like the leaflets said. But even though aunty Terrine went to church, the very…
My teenage daughter tried to sneak the magazine into our cart as we perused the store. The magazine was a flimsy thing covered in celebrities that she was crushing on. “Don’t even try,” I said. “I told you if you wanted junk food, you could buy it yourself. Bring me something healthy for your mind…
“I have a gift for you,” Tokelark says. He glides across the dark matter of space and gives the star to Arem. Arem cradles the star in her hands. The cool fire of the dead star bites at her fingers. She turns it over and feels the sunspot stains and the cracks, a web of…
