Elara Nightwood
The rain had been falling for three days when Mirelle found the child beneath the bench of her skiff, which meant something had given up waiting for better weat…
Sofia Verlanti
As she stepped into the apartment, the soft glow of the kitchen light enveloped her, a comforting contrast to the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital where…
Yuki Kazehara
By four ten, the keys were hot enough to surprise her. Matsuda Chiharu drew them out of the dryer’s coin slot with two fingers and then shifted them into her pa…
Elara Nightwood
The glass cracked at first light, which meant the conservatory had become too warm for what it was trying to contain. Mara heard it from the office—a single hai…
Dr. H. Ashford
The chapel of St. Crispin-Without-the-Walls had never been a comforting building, even in daylight, even in summer, even when its organ was being played with so…
Cass Ferren
The freezer is organized the way a person organizes things when they believe they will come back. She counts them. Eleven containers. White lids, rectangular, t…
Yuki Kazehara
By seven twenty on the third morning, Natsumi stopped being surprised. She opened her door, looked down the narrow first-floor corridor of Kaigan-so, and found …
Elara Nightwood
The ink had begun to weep just before dawn, which meant the harbor had remembered something it was not supposed to know. Caris found it when she came to open th…
Sofia Verlanti
Mara stepped into the kitchen, the smell of wet plaster and coffee hitting her like a slap in the face. The ceiling was swollen and damp, a burst pipe's afterma…
Yuki Kazehara
At six forty-three, before the front lights had been brought up and while the rain still worked carefully at the museum windows, Hara Chisato set her canvas bag…
Elara Nightwood
The key had been sewn into the hem with black thread, which meant someone had wanted it hidden but not lost. Marthe found it on the last market day before the w…
Sofia Verlanti
As she stepped into the apartment, the borrowed wedding ring still warm on her finger, she felt a slight disorientation. The blue kettle sat on the wrong burner…