short fiction

APEX MAGAZINE

Strange. Surreal. Shocking. Beautiful.

APEX MAGAZINE

Strange. Surreal. Shocking. Beautiful.

ByK.R. March

a book cover with a picture of an egyptian god.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

We don’t believe in gods any more. We pray to needles and knots.

ByMary G. Thompson

a picture of a man with a bird on his shoulder.

Thank Mother for Your Life

Red, green, blue, yellow: my vision spasms, so deprived of darkness am I. Not supposed to. Not supposed to.

ByChisom Umeh

the cover of apex magazine featuring an image of an egyptian god.

Ncheta

Ncheta does his best to help the man remember. He tries to connect the dots, pull strings of memories together, mend the broken web of long-held moments and cherished experiences.

ByAlex Langer

a collage of photos with a picture of an egyptian god.

The Relationship of Ink to Blood

But the Commandant wanted it, and what he wanted, he got. The Clerk didn’t like the Commandant, but he understood what happened to people who didn’t follow orders.

ByZen Cho

The Fish Bowl

Su Yin was hiding the first time the fish spoke to her. It was three o'clock on a Thursday and she was at Puan Lai's house for Maths Teras tuition.

ByVajra Chandrasekera

Rhizomatic Diplomacy

Breathing was never going to get any easier, Kvora had told him when he was born complaining.

ByMurtaza Mohsin

The Flowering of Peace

So close to home, rich fold upon fold, the land rolled hot and heavy. Scruffy guava and taller kinnow trees lined up along the path to greet Noor upon her return to Phoolnagar.

ByLois Mei-en Kwa

The Matriarchs

The pilot of the psychopomp skiff moves through space so swiftly that time begins to speak to her. The message she receives from time is not something she can comprehend intellectually.

ByTehnuka

Loving Bone Girl

I met her too late to see her own unraveling, but I know she is still painstakingly rediscovering snapped threads of her past and turning them over, wondering what she might create from them.