“We’ve failed,” XDS-4 blinked flatly, solar fins hanging dejectedly from her torso. “Now millions will die and there’s nothing we can do.” No one else in the pod liked what she was saying, but no one could argue with the… Continue Reading
Appa grew up in a little boat town in Kerala called Alleppey (pronounced al-ah-pee). He stayed on a little rice paddy farm and bought the essentials 6 months in advance from the boatmen who passed by. “When I was young,”… Continue Reading
My first day alive, four days before my last, was cold and bright. The Woman had made me sometime in the morning when the air was damp and the garden was quiet. Before she gave me my eyes, I could… Continue Reading
Darlene sits in the kitchen wide-eyed and happy as I feed her. I spoon the mashed carrots into her mouth and she takes them. Occasionally, I make a little airplane flight path with the spoon and a vroom sound she… Continue Reading
For three years I’ve been thinking about divorcing my husband. Google tells me there are trillions of nerves in my body, and Barry has gotten under every last one. The scary thing is I’ve never lived alone, not once in… Continue Reading
The Unknowing Boy followed the Fuck-You Kid onto the bridge. The moon provided light for their footsteps but cast the train tracks below in deeper shadow. The Oklahoma wind tossed the trees back and forth, filling the air with a… Continue Reading
Henry wished he had remembered to put on his wristwatch that morning. It was hell sitting in the hospital waiting room with no semblance of how much time had passed. A broken clock hung on the wall, ticking, though the… Continue Reading
We’re some distance away from the commercial Scots pine plantations (they’re too well guarded for what we have in mind), in an area of ancient woodland. Bump, bumpity, bump goes our pick-up along a narrow, snowy track. “Keep your eyes… Continue Reading
This should have been our best Christmas yet. But it all comes unravelled with the prick of a needle. Jake has become so blasé about these finger prick tests that he doesn’t even notice the message when it first pings… Continue Reading
Dear Nick, It’s been a day of snow and night and the hush of steel runners against ice, as I head south through the Arctic. I’ve taken sleigh number four (you don’t use it much) and two of the retired… Continue Reading