22
Aug

Walkies

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by 2013 Simon was sure it was the right apartment. It had the right number. His key worked. Tiny was sprawled on his orthopedic bed in the middle of the living room floor. But the man in the blazer and boxers was new. Of course, from the look on his face, […]

27
Jun

Halfway

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by Tofu Intellectually, he knew the sky he saw outside the prison was the same one he’d seen while in it. But it felt different somehow, viewed without the frame of walls five times higher than he was. He wanted it to be bright blue, picturesque, the Platonic ideal of freedom; […]

25
Apr

Rule 63

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by Tamago (卵)   Like any good scientific endeavor, the Parallel Universes Research Laboratory ran on rules, and we all had our favorites. It was hard not to — they were all absolutely necessary, and yet so weirdly specific that you sort of couldn’t not get attached. Maggie latched onto the […]

21
Feb

(unsent)

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by KMO Read this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki.   December 2, 1962 Dear Calvin, Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I hope that you and Michelle   — December 2, 1962 Dear Calvin, Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I hope that you and Madeline will be very happy together […]

20
Dec

Wild

by shukyou (主教) See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. In the dream, she’s always running. Her bare feet hammer against the forest floor, its hard-packed surface overgrown with pine needles and moss. In the distance, the blast of a hunter’s horn rolls across the heavens like the world is ending. She has […]

26
Oct

Rose Red and the Huntsmen

See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. by shukyou (主教) illustrated by the Winter Cynic Max spent nearly an hour outside the shop, huddled under an awning that barely shielded him from the bitter rain, smoking one cigarette after another down until he nearly burned his fingers. He was desperate, that much was […]

23
Aug

If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by beili   Shayel began to mutter something under his breath as the ship hit the atmosphere, something in Hallic that Uzhab couldn’t understand. Uzhab chose not to interpret it as a critique of his piloting skills. “Switching engines,” Uzhab said, pulling the lever that toggled off the propulsion system that […]

28
Jun

Xunantunich

by shukyou (主教) It was just after sunset when they saw the woman walking alongside the road.  At first, Hilde didn’t think anything of it: This was about a rural as Belize got, after all, the sort of place where those who did own cars often wound up walking anyway for how often they broke […]

26
Apr

Novice

by shukyou (主教) Of course Aryun was balls-deep in him, pinning Gino’s hands to the mattress above his head, when Yuliya walked in. It wasn’t how he’d wanted her to find out. Gino wasn’t sure how he’d wanted the high priest’s daughter to find out, exactly, if at all, but he knew it wasn’t this: […]

29
Feb

From the Cold

by shukyou (主教)   “The prisoner has confessed, Your Majesty, and the sentence has been declared,” said Grand Advisor Maspa with all the smug self-righteousness of a man watching the jaws of a well-laid trap sink deeper into a prey animal’s leg. Daraya bit the inside of his cheek to bleeding to keep from snapping […]

23
Dec

His heart must be ash where his body lies burned

by shukyou (主教) See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. Now Marron Fletcher clutched his hunting rifle in his left hand, pointing toward the edges of his estate with his right. “That’s where it was seen?” he asked. The young boy nodded, looking pale as a well-laundered sheet. Marron supposed the pack of […]

27
Oct

Instinct

by shukyou (主教) See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. Graham kept one eye on the watch in his hand and the other on the cage. The nautical charts were pinned to the wall behind him, but by this point, he could have recited them by heart. His breath was so shallow it […]

26
Aug

Combination Lock

by shukyou (主教) illustrated by beili See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. Eli was just about to give up on the evening when the cops arrived. A collective groan rose through the patronage as the lights in the bar snapped full up and a little joke of an air raid siren began […]

23
Jun

𒀭

See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. by shukyou (主教) illustrated by beili She drew herself to her full height when she saw me, setting her chin at a regal angle, announcing without words what she thought about herself and where she stood — or at least, what she wanted everyone to think […]

28
Apr

Quarry

by shukyou (主教) See this piece’s entry on the Shousetsu Bang*Bang wiki. Novice Theo was not supposed to hate. He was expected to feel some negativity, of course, but he was not supposed to. Purging that was part of his novitiate training, burning away everything but love for and devotion to the Great Tetratheon that […]