Men wear hats outside. Black for the winter, brown for the summer. Hat brims are three inches wide. Once a man marries, he grows a beard but shaves his upper lip. Unmarried boys must be clean-shaven. When a man’s wife dies, he will not remarry, no matter how lonely. This is God’s Will.
Read MoreAnabaptistAs the world marches toward the guillotine of its finale, the sleeping beast shakes loose the slats of its painted unthought and licks the tang of dénouement from its fangs. It stirs upright on trembling ligaments, clad in starvation and rust.
Read MoreThe Beast at the End of TimeShadoua arrived early at his home, just after midnight in the full planetless darkness Kutraya’s farside enjoyed, a darkness he was all too aware of on this night.
Read MoreKutraya’s SkiesThere was a witch who lived up in the mountains, and I never heard but that she was a good one.
Read MoreRazorbackMaggie was sitting on an old packing crate by the docks, having tea with a lobster she had named Miss Snips, when Father O’Grady approached her. She heard the light, smart click of his heels first. He wore fine black shoes always polished to a high shine, so unlike the dull, work-worn boots of the dockworkers.
Read MoreBones of the WorldObiora knew it too. Just as she started to lick her fingers, I saw one glowing index digit poised to open me up to my purchase. She giggled, picked up a flame of pulpy flesh …
Read MoreSoursop
She beamed and held out her left arm. It was an oval-shaped tattoo, a glistening green jewel. It looked remarkably three-dimensional. Smaller, honeycomb-like markings guarded the central slit of a cat’s-eye image. But he’d seen something—
Read MoreThe Open-Hearted“Neither of you have eaten or drunk anything for twenty-four hours?” Ryan asked, hauling equipment into the room: sloshing plastic buckets, packs of hypodermic needles, coils of tubing, straps.
Read MoreRiding AtlasShe walked away, smiling proudly. The next three blocks took her past the barber shop (closed for another few hours still), the druggist (who didn’t allow kids at the soda counter anymore, Daddy had said, so there was no reason to go inside) and the library (“Every book approved by the Loyalty Program!”) before she reached the wide stone steps leading up to the Police Station.
Read MoreThat Lucky Old Sun