I’ve been reading historical newspapers in recent months, and I’m hit with the growing realization that the past is never as far behind us as we think it is, and the world has always been weirder and wilder than we ever would have guessed.
For this issue, please say hello to Hannya Kay, a first reader who was so unstoppable at reading submissions that we had to promote her to co-editor. And thanks, also, to Kate Ravenna, Neil Willcox, Nicholas Jay, and Chana Kohl, for their indispensable help with reading submissions.
We offer you this selection of stories to bury yourself in for a while: we have fire fighters and monster hunters; angels who seek empathy and space travelers who reject it; a looping sunflower and an endless April; instructions for a demigod and inscriptions for your alternate self; a reason to keep fighting and the fear of perpetuating a cycle of war; a missing sister and a fake friend; a body part that’s an equal partner and a body part that’s an uninvited guest.
Have fun, and remember: objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
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proof
beginnings
They Take You as They Find You – Lane Robins (4,349,words)
Fighting Fire – Victoria Chvatal (871,words)
The In-Between Sister – Monte Lin (4,992 words)
Sunflower Loop – Beth Goder (1,932 words)
knead
put your weight into it
The PenWielder – Aditya Sundararajan (5,263 words)
Graduated Justice: An Amelia Li Mystery – Myna Chang (4,054 words)
Build Your Own Heart – Risa Wolf (1,037 words)
stretch
further than you thought
12 Things No One Will Tell You About Being a Demigod – Danai Christopoulou (2,111 words)
The Nadaists – F. Malanoche (3,944 words)
All These Inscriptions Are for Me – Carol Scheina (3,204 words)
rise
let it grow
For the Love of Drowning Isles – Laila Amado (2,429 words)
Rise – Theodore Hill (3,075 words)
How to Fail at Book-Smuggling (Across Several Timelines at Once) – E.M. Linden (4,864 words)
A Vertical History of Ramis’ Pillar – Henry Sanders-Wright (4,747 words)
Translunar Travelers Lounge 