The northernmost island of Shanqui Jian was the Island of Pain, with its mountain peaks, high-altitude steps, and cable cars. It held the university campus, the capital city, and the castle of the king. The rest of the island was an untamed wilderness. “We sort of wanted the same thing,” the younger novice joked. “I... Continue Reading →
Mama Muni was the university’s librarian. She was forgiving and sweet, sharp-witted and patient. She was a matron to even the older women in the nunnery, and she intimidated all but the most senior men. Mama Muni kept the university's vast collection of holy books and ancient truths safe from those not ready to view... Continue Reading →
A collective of dolphins is called a pod. A group of ravens is known as a congress. A parliament of owls. A sangha of Buddhists. A murder of crows. But did you know a collection of beggars is called a taxation? A taxation of beggars. It’s from Shakespeare. And a gang of crack smokers is... Continue Reading →
Rachel couldn’t move voluntarily because every muscle in her body was so tense that she shook. “Have you been drinking tonight, ma’am? Do you have any weapons? Is there anything illegal in here that you want to tell us about before we find it? Do you have pencils or paper in the apartment?” The Captain... Continue Reading →
A young woman entered the office of the president carrying a worn piece of paper. Communication was under constant surveillance, so citizens sent private messages on paper like they did when the Trumps shut down the internet. Pencil lead was an expensive resource, but when put to paper it became priceless. Paper was reused until... Continue Reading →
On the east side of Manhattan, near 52nd Street, there was an old art high school where the teachers were working artists, and the students were an eccentric and eclectic group of creatively crazy kids from every borough of the city. We called it A&D, and we played D&D. “Tomorrow I want to wake up... Continue Reading →
In the Book of Genesis, man is made flesh by God. In the Garden of Eden, woman is made from man’s bones—and it is she who gives birth to the rest of us. It is woman who bears the messiah, the offspring that crushes Satan. Western religion begins by granting creation to God, then quietly... Continue Reading →
Rebecca waved her arms and it wasn’t working. Rebecca wasn’t even her real name. It was something she had found in a book. Mei knew that she was born in the Capitol, but Mei never knew anything about her family or why she left. Two young hoodlums tried to remove Little Mei Lubaba from the... Continue Reading →
Mei Lubaba was awake before the sun, before the cows, before the milkmaids and the farmhands. She was awake before the roosters, the housemaids, and the field laborers who slept with heavy hearts. It was 1908, and Little Mei Lubaba awoke on the opposite side of the world from Chicago, Illinois, in an island chain... Continue Reading →
The raising of a middle finger as an insult dates back to before the time of Jesus. In Ancient Greece, the aristocracy used the raised middle finger gesture to denote silent disapproval in the halls of government. For thousands of years, the gesture has meant many insulting things, but in the hands of Shine Greenbaum,... Continue Reading →
President Taryn tapped her well-manicured fingers on her well-worn mahogany desk. It was a beautiful relic, she thought, enjoying the sound of each of the seven taps against the long-extinct wood. She counted them automatically. She counted everything. The books on each shelf. The steps of each guest. The number of times they got her... Continue Reading →
The evening’s haze diffused the fading light of the setting sun beautifully as my craft descended and landed safely onto the planet surface. Thank the Gods. I was the first of my kind to set toe and claw on this blue rock. The first Lameer to visit. The first lizard traveler to claim an unclaimed... Continue Reading →
Sad, broken, and jostling without a seatbelt, Melvin Hawthorne left Chicago, Illinois, for Woodstock, New York, in the wee hours of the early morning. “I don’t know what to tell you,” Miss Haddigood whispered to the ten-year-old Melvin Hawthorne in the low light of the art supply closet. It was late on a Thursday evening,... Continue Reading →
In the fall of 1920, the first cars came to the islands of Shanqui Jian and to the streets of the Walled City on the Island of Progress. The cars had four seats and a hand crank to start. They were slower than the oldest horse Mei had ever ridden, and she did not enjoy... Continue Reading →
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