Vagrant Adacra

A sleepless crew member contemplates her destination, the lives of her shipmates, and the cutting-edge biotechnology of the vessel carrying them.

Woe To That Land

There came after the shot a silence so pervasive it rang like a mistake. The deaf forest recovered, first with birdsong and snowmelt, and then the wind returned and the world recalled how to breathe again. The first boy, the youngest, the one holding the gun, lifted a gloved hand to point at the prostrate …

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Deserter

There was a gun in his waistband. He probably shouldn't have brought it, let alone held onto it for this long. If he had any other option, he wouldn’t be here in the first place. The bus had dropped him a few miles from the orchard where he then lingered long enough for the next …

.38 Special

Everyone loves a clown. Especially when he pulls the trigger...

Ballad of Still Waters

Only after the wind had died, leaving them sea-battered and brined, did the howling fall upon them...

Black Lambskin

There’s smoke and heat, and in his delirium the blaze looks like sunshine...

Charon

He came from the salt plains, carrying the minerals on his pants and duster and into the sloping prairies where he first met the witch and her spittle washed him clean again...