I think I first knew something was wrong when it snowed in July. The air was all wrong, and the snow fell like ash, covering everything in white silence. Then came the sleepwalking. I would lie down in my bed and wake up in the creek, my head resting between two stones, cold water licking at my skin. And always, always, there was a fox. Red against the white. Watching. Waiting. But the moment my e...

He’s a broken man, and he knows it.

His ears ache when God

speaks to him at 10 p.m.,

and no amount of vodka will

make the voice stop.

In the mornings, he wishes for

something different—

though he’s not sure what or why.

You meet him when you’re at

your own low. You’ve never heard

God, and the smell of

alcohol makes you hide

beneath your bed,

hoping the door stays shut.

You don’t ask his name,

an...

I know of a bird with blue feet,

A result of the fish they eat,

And its name is kind of silly.

I know of another bird that’s grey,

With a call that sounds like

“Kuh-wê!”

And a name that is kind of silly.

Then there’s a bird hard to imagine,

That looks a bit like a dragon,

And has a name that is kind of silly.

-

These are their actual names:

Blue-footed booby

Grey go-away-bird

and Satanic ni...

_(The stage is set: tall grass stretches endlessly. The dim light of dawn creeps across the horizon. A soldier crouches, rifle in hand, as motionless as the air around him.)_

**SOLDIER**_ (whispering to himself)_:

I'm but a man of entertainment.

My rifle is as light as a microphone,

and I’d rather tell a joke

than take a life.

_(He glances down, feeling the weight of the rifle in his han...

Astrid runs, the forest closing in around her, branches scraping her arms. Her mind is racing. She could keep running, disappear like Matthias taught her, or she could circle back, find a way to help.

The decision gnaws at her. She isn’t sure if it’s bravery or recklessness, but she stops. The sound of fighting echoes faintly from the village behind her, and that’s when she spots something—or rat...

Someone asked me when was

the tiredest I’ve ever been

and immediately, my mind went back,

back to the years when I didn’t

even know what tired was.

I only felt it after long days at the park,

the sun’s warmth still on my skin,

my mouth still tasting the ice cream

my mom swore she wouldn’t buy,

and my hands still covered

in the fur of all the dogs I pet.

When all I could do was close

my eyes, ...

Mr. Durke pulled me aside after class and said, “Juliet, the more you chase something, the further it becomes.” Then he asked me to try harder on my work.

The entire time he was talking, I was imagining myself running—running for hours after the sun until it finally vanished into the night. I’d stop until it came back, then continue to chase it. But no matter how fast I ran, it would always stay ...

None of them knew who should break the silence. For a long while, all they could do was sit there, the fire crackling softly in the cabin as they lost themselves in their thoughts. Astrid couldn’t stop staring at her father. He looked different—older, with lines on his face that hadn’t been there before—but in a sickening way, he was also the same.

It was like just yesterday he was brushing her h...

I lied about being hungry.

From the first moment—

newborn skin, wet with tears,

to the last,

eyes hollow, staring through

hospital lights.

I cried, and they fed me,

saying I needed to eat

to get better, to grow.

But what if I don’t want to?

_ Tell me—was Eve starving_

_ when she reached for the fruit?_

_ Was it hunger, or something else—_

_ something she didn’t even understand?_

If I st...

Stefan and Matthias were ambushed on their way back to the village after picking up supplies. Three men, dressed in charcoal gray, stepped out from behind a boulder, their faces pale under the shadow of their hoods. One grabbed Stefan by the wrists and yanked him back.

He barely had time to react, his eyes widening not in fear, but in rage. Stefan was not a man easily cowed. He fought back, manag...