Category: issue 11

Annabelle’s heart was a hard nut to crack. He should have known it the moment she stepped into his study and remarked not on the human hearts lining his shelves, but the antique jars he displayed them in.

Grandma warned Jambu about Tavila’s thieves and cutpurses, but didn’t mention its bazaars. By the strange alchemy of roads that all markets wield as weapon, the bazaar had dragged him right to where his heart would beat the fastest. Everywhere he looked, the stalls were loaded with mountains upon mountains of yarn. Must hurry, he… Continue reading The Weaver of Uswalpur, by Abhijeet Sathe

Sure, my heavy metal band, the Desperados, needed the gig, but our 2024 booking agent should have clued us in on how much our cellphones resembled 2483 ID devices. The moment we emerged from the portal, a robot snatched the mobile from my pocket and examined the notification screen. She extended an appendage and tattooed… Continue reading Scam Likely and the Future Desperados, by Allan Dyen-Shapiro

Content warning: racism Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, 1913 When Takeda opened his tent in the morning, the mountain ridges on this tropical island were covered in snow. The pure whiteness had painted the trails, and the strong wind was whispering to his ears like a woman’s haunting lament. This was the colony in the… Continue reading In the Colonial Mountains, by Lillian Tsay

There is a queue of people wearing funny costumes in the garden, stretching from the porch all the way to the gate. They are here because Pātti died. Well, they haven’t come because she died, exactly. More because she’s not supposed to still be here. The people in costumes aren’t supposed to be here either.… Continue reading When Pātti Stayed, by Tehnuka

“The archivist called, earlier. She says they’re opening the herbaria today.” Till sets down the teapot with a clink. It’s jarring; ruinous of her nana’s cultivated peace. “Late notice, but you know what she’s like. She wondered if you’d like to come.” Her nana takes a careful sip from her mug. “Today?” Till grew up… Continue reading In Pursuit of Resurrection, by Kit Calvert

Eventually, I took Sallie home to get better. Not home to the city condo where we lived, where each night I plugged her into the silver charging station, waiting for her chirp goodnight. Not even to the place I procured her and the charging station (I got her for 35% off because of the dent… Continue reading Operating Within Normal Parameters, by Irette Y. Patterson

Content warning: disordered eating “No offense Iz, but that man would eat you alive.” Shaina’s eyes danced as the new designer disappeared into a frosted conference room. “Why? Because I’m fat and he’s beautiful?” Izzy toyed with the expensive gold bracelet she’d bought recently on the advice of her therapist; a reward for a body… Continue reading The Dinner Party, by Rosamund Lannin

Evie steered her car from the paved road onto the rutted service path that snaked into the heart of the old forest. From the backseat, her offering of a platter of deviled eggs emitted a faintly sulfuric scent.

Princess Carmin could taste the beer in the air. It cascaded off the balustrades from the floor above, into copper troughs that formed artificial rivers and fed gilded gutters that passed between tables filled with half-drunk nobles. A few feet from her table, the gutters fed into a well, flowing further down to the second… Continue reading The Alchemical Miracle of Shamra’s Endless Beer, by Akis Linardos