Thirty-six hours into the malpractice review, they finally ask the question that matters: Would I have done anything differently? I stare at the MRI showing Sage Cohen’s glioblastoma, wrapped around her temporal lobe like a dark star collapsing. The imaging was clear, the path obvious. And still, she hemorrhaged on my table. […]
At the massive, open-air pulga, a man could get his car windows tinted, save his eternal soul, and lose it again—all in one place—while a soundtrack of Ranchero and reggaeton blared from every stall. Jared didn’t need snakeskin boots or chicharrones. But he’d pay anything to see his daughter again. A
La Perla de Gran Precio Read More »
As soon as Carna steps into the lift, her pager notifies her of a job on the other end of the galaxy. The pay would cover her rent, but should she choose to accept the run, the cosmic bike courier would, as the ad promises, have to make it all the way across
A Galaxy Run in 30 Minutes or Less Read More »
By the dim light of a dying candle, Grandmother’s hunched back looms over your small, quivering body, fever high. She presses horn against stone—withered skin pulled taut over smooth bone. Smooth bone hard against jagged, carved rock, pour water, mix—the murky water is magic. When did her hands stop looking like
An Elegy for Horns Read More »
I was five days overdue. “Go fetch the washing off the line,” Mom said, “let’s see if that gets things started.” So I grunted down over my belly, grabbed the laundry basket, and lumbered through the yard in bare feet. I glanced back. Mom was watching my slow progress from the back step,
With the summer solstice sun melting into the horizon, Ulrike hits the gas pedal and screeches out of Glendale along the I-5 to East Hollywood, where she parks in front of a Walgreens boasting a “now with extended hours” sign. With trembling…paws, she adjusts the rearview mirror to check her reflection. Hair—coarse and
I saved the world once. Twice, if you count that time in Budapest. But that was back in my glory days with The Agency. Back when secrets were stored on microfiche, and guys like me could do our job with a poker face and a whole lotta badass. When
After four long hours of descent, the deep-water submersible Goby reoriented to glide along the ocean floor. I prepared for another lonely journey, with grief my only companion. I clicked the LEDs on full. Their bleached glare pushed against sulfurous clouds. Gripping the stick, I leaned forward, straining to see.
Crawling Toward the Light Read More »
This is how they tell it, those childless people who long for a child. The forest witch keeps a mossy glade, and it is full of healthy babies. You can pick one up and keep it to care for as your own. Tanet was not there to get one of the
On the beach, in the darkness, two men handed out life jackets. They gave one of the men in our group instructions on how to turn the engine on. Then they disappeared. Others pulled the dingy out into the water, and we climbed in, waiting for the motor to start. It
Not Drowning but Waving Read More »
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