By Stephen Shewmake I watched a yellowish light cast ever-changing shadows across the deck from a single lantern swinging at the ship’s bow in a lazy rhythm to the sea’s motion. Silhouetted against the light sat a lone sailor on the railing, his legs dangling over the water. He had one arm looped through the…
Read moreBreach
by Sarah Busching The whales took my siblings with them. For three years in a row, I watched each one transform and go into the sea forever. When it was my turn, I asked them to take me, too. During whale season, whether the sky was clear or darkened with a coming storm, I waded…
Read moreThe Legend of Zapam-Zucum
by Shailendra Ahangama I have been lost in the desert once. It happened many years ago, when I was a child of nine. As the years progressed, I consigned that dreadful experience to the back of my mind, for it was both an unremarkable and unpleasant memory. Even so, there was one element in that experience…
Read moreGynoid Angels of the Convergence
by Douglas Kolacki Sam Fitzsimmons shifted uneasily on his feet and sized up the uniformed customs official on the other side of the glass. The Frau’s chiseled face and aquiline nose reminded him of Mussolini—not a good sign—and contrasted with the WILLKOMMEN IN BERLIN banner with its black, red, and gold stripes spanning the hallway…
Read moreWay of the Wolf
By Leland Hames Leonard sat around the fire in a semi-circle with the others, each sipping cups of hot coffee to fight off the chill, their cups leaving wispy trails of steam in their journeys from laps to lips. The group sat on lawn chairs, stools, and crates. A few were on short pieces of…
Read moreA Gravedigger of the Deepholds
by J. Scott King Today, in the quiet darkness of the deep Halls, I buried the last of my people. There is no one left to put in the cold ground. The question of my own grave will fall to the kindness of others, Gods willing, though I doubt I will see another soul in…
Read moreBoat Ride
By Henry S. Reimert Photo provided by Patrick Shaffer Kari’s bicycle tires crackle and pop as they roll over the crushed oyster shells of the parking lot. She lets the bike coast to a stop and performs a practiced dismount. She lands with a little puff of white dust that spurts out from beneath her…
Read moreThe Way of the Chapels
By Ken Foxe Once, they used to race bicycles up the hill. Sinewy men and women, engorged calves and thighs, on near weightless machines resolutely climbing at what must have seemed like superhuman speeds. They called the race La Flèche, the Arrow, a coincidental harbinger of what the ascent has since become. The hill itself…
Read morePack Animals
By Leland Hames Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of “The Bodark“ Mike heard the howls of wolves echoing through the nearby forest as he stood enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine on the house’s front porch. As a field researcher on wolves and wolf behavior for most of his twenty-odd-year career with The U.S. Forest…
Read moreDevil’s Bargain
By Denise Longrie “I’m not worthy. I—I’m not a virgin.” Gods help me; it was the truth. A few gasps escaped from the people gathering outside our front door. Other people tittered. My beloved Vane, the cobbler’s son, stepped away toward the edge of the crowd, but he did not escape Papa’s glare. “The lot…
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