The last of the Ruim—quiet, hulking, magisterial—lived in a tribe of fifty in a forest of ruined skyscrapers at the edge of the sea. Among the rusted artifacts of their civilization, they reminded me a little of elephants in some great boneyard, trudging through bushwhacked paths of razorbriar on four stubby legs and impervious in […]
Geppetto makes his doll from bones, from chicken legs and foxes’ ribs, a pig’s left shoulder, and the skull of an owl. He binds them together with catgut, then laces them tight and gets to work on miniature clothes. There are corded breeches, a harlequin shirt, a felted green hat, a yellow cape lined with […]
Third Place Winner of the Voyage Lucky No. 7 Challenge ‘Twas Ravenna who died first in the Wraithwood. It was dark, and we were tired and hungry after our escape from town, and she unwittingly ate some poison berries. Her body lay sprawled over the roots of a tree, blood and saliva streaked down her […]
The Xiagu Market was once a place of unparalleled delicacies and unrivaled views. From Chun State, on the other end of the continent, people had journeyed to the fertile valley of Xia for a taste of the market’s offerings—thousand-spice pig trotters, oxtail soup simmered with pickled chrysanthemum greens, bear paw braised in hawberry wine. Bellies […]
First Place Winner of the Voyage Lucky No. 7 Challenge Now baby, promise you won’t fly too high? A man on the street gets too close when he speaks to me. His breath is a lit cigarette and the words it propels are a leering threat. I realize I’m not afraid in the same way […]
Dear Admissions Committee, I know I’m not your typical MDA candidate. You’ll see from my transcript that my undergraduate degree is in the mad sciences, and I only have the minimum required number of art and humanity credits. In my defense, I should say that the mad sciences were never a passion or even really […]
CHAPTER 1 I owed him my life, and then one day, he came to claim it. The card arrived first, announcing his intention to visit. In appearance, it was no different from the last birthday card, or the one before that, or any other card he had sent: the same stiff over-square envelope licked carefully […]
