by ChibiSaboten Raven flies south, chasing the hot season while playing hide-and-seek with the sun along the great spine of the world. He soars high above, day and night, until the cool lushness of damp cedar forests thick with fir trees and rivers that run red with salmon fade into a seemingly endless expanse of […]
Category Archives: Text
23
Aug
A Third of a Chord To Please the Lord
by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel Clem had known that they would not be cast in The Marriage of Figaro, and they ultimately didn’t want to be: Dr. Opal, the chair of the music department, was directing the production, and the old coot had been markedly hostile to Clem since their appearance in a national feature about […]
23
Aug
Virginia Smolders
written and illustrated by Iron Eater Odd hunched in the shade of a twisty little mountain tree with an equally twisty hand-rolled cigarette, his clothes still dusty from the grave he’d started digging before sunup. Nobody out there worked in the noontime sun if they could help it. Something about the sun in the high […]
28
Jun
Fine Wine
by spicy-wrenegade illustrated by Yellow Wagtail Adélie was kneeling on the warm earth, tending the vineyard, when slender arms wrapped around her shoulders. Red curls blurred her vision, and the scent of honey filled her lungs. “You are still working?” a bright voice asked with just a hint of reproach. Adélie looked up into the […]
28
Jun
There Stands The Grass
by Togi Kayako (土宜草子) Dace hammered in the last stake needed for their newest windbreak with a couple sharp blows of their mallet. Under their floppy straw hat, the few ragged tufts of hair they could grow were soaked with sweat, while the thicker carapace-like patches between them itched. They were coated with dust from […]
28
Jun
Kindling
by Iron Eater Hawk had chosen his adult name when he’d inherited the fire and the tools to tend it. As he’d placed his first log on the glowing embers a hawk had flown up out of the forest like a piece of whirling ash, so that had been that. It fit him so well […]
28
Jun
Casting Pearls
by Greta Jia-Kang Cabrel Dee had not expected a good time at the gala, and he was glad it was almost over. It was an annual white-tie to-do in his hometown, and the crowd included former classmates who had mocked him viciously for years for crying during fourth period screenings of The Glass Menagerie and […]
28
Jun
Landscape with Oak and Irritated Traveler
by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 If he saw one fucking bug, he was going to kill himself. One single fucking bug. An ant. Ants were bugs. Weren’t they? Fuck. He was regretting every decision he’d ever made. Everything was moving. The ground was wet. The mud was staining his shoes. Everything was wet. Why […]
28
Jun
Lakeshore Delights
by Rey Rider illustrated by spicy-wrenagade The first cherry Patrick picks, he plops into his mouth. The skin bursts and reveals soft, juicy flesh, the perfect balance between sweet and ever-so-slightly sour. This has become a ritual: The first and last fruits Patrick finds go straight into his stomach, the rest get neatly organized in […]
28
Jun
Big Girl Words
by Etienne Telling There’s a bit of a line getting into Voxis’ gated district, but since it’s a major festival day, that’s not unexpected. Melody bounces on her toes and twists idly side to side as they wait. The dress Eirian got her swishes around her legs, flaring out, and she’s trying very hard not […]
28
Jun
I shelter you with my branches. I taste my fruit on your tongue.
by Devin Ambrosia illustrated by Spicy-Wrenegade, igbyi, & Devin Ambrosia I need to tell you this story, before it’s too late. But already I’m rushing, when what I really want is tree time, a slow yearning, an unfurling of rage and desire, because we both had plenty of each until it blossomed into love. Time […]
28
Jun
Summer Skin
by ChibiSaboten Aleka twisted a dial on the camera until the furthest rapid upriver came into focus. The giant umbrella he sat under sheltered him from the blaze of a midmorning sun which was starting to reflect off surrounding rippling water at an awkward angle, causing an ugly ball of glare to show up in […]
28
Jun
This New Season
by Rowan York You must understand: My assumption that the rusted chains around the great old oak were the remnants of a fertility ritual was founded on a basis of prior knowledge. Women of my mother’s generation whispered about it, in the mornings while they salted fish and in the evenings as they mended nets […]
28
Jun
On the Wall
by Shirozubon Saruko (城図凡然る子) Somehow, the one thing Sën hadn’t been prepared for was that it might be pretty. It was, though. Even going on ten years of his life spent pulling raw ores and gems out of the earth, it was one of the prettiest things he’d ever seen. He couldn’t help holding up […]
27
Apr
re: The Red Blossom Blades [final edits]
by shukyou (主教) Dear Edward, I received your latest round of edits with great interest. Astonishing interest. Unprecedented interest, in fact, because the edits themselves had no precedent either. In the seventeen years I’ve been publishing with Strauss & Baker — oh, I’m so sorry, I forget that you’re BillionsOfBooks4U now, how clumsy of […]
