Old Fashioned, by Steve Toase
The portraits on the staircase plaster were worn and cracked by age, but Medford guessed not all the scars were caused by the passage of time. He had that in … Continue reading
Whiskey and Bones, by A.Z. Louise
Daddy came down off the mountain at dusk, the smell of ozone stars clinging to his duster. It was the longest he’d ever been gone, about half a month. He … Continue reading
Issue 20 Table of Contents
Birds are perhaps the creatures we see most often in our day, whether we live in the country or city. Here’s an issue, then, devoted entirely to them. Some of … Continue reading
The Water-Bearer and the Hawk-King, by H. Pueyo
I Once there was a king, neither handsome nor kind, whose domain extended through the entire Misty Peak. This kingdom, known then as Zaltana, was splendorous, surrounded by a … Continue reading
A Map to a Future Unlike Any Past, by Karolina Fedyk
1. An unwanted blessing. There is a vagabond sleeping in the king’s forests, huddled in a cradle of tree roots. If you creep upon them when they don’t expect it—and … Continue reading
Heavy Reprises of a Dark Berceuse, by Priya Sridhar
I. Moderato General Tanager pressed a gloved hand to the nearest pillar and studied the lines that formed beneath it as she left a smouldering print. She curled her lip … Continue reading
Report on the Wren Queen’s Dementia, by Rhonda Eikamp
(Content note for suicide) The kind of thing she says Back in those days our birds would give us dreams and then we would know what to do with … Continue reading
The House of the Camphor, by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
On the way to the House of the Camphor, Tsubomi spotted the three-legged crow. She squeezed Tomie’s hand, pointing as it sprang silent as an apostrophe from a cedar. It … Continue reading
Issue 20 Foreword
Birds must be big right now. We worried this theme would be too narrow and that we wouldn’t be able to fill a table of contents with avian tales. But … Continue reading →