‘Whoever cannot seek the unforeseen sees nothing, for the known way is an impasse’ (Heraclitus) Big and small found their masterpieces in the forest’s secret depths, the ageless lichen latching onto the ancient oak as surely as the oak embraced the ground. Mayflies lived forever in a day while eagles looked down on the forest… Read more Untrodden Depths

Now that Sir Gallant Silkenhair has told his version of the story, I beg the court’s patience to hear mine. My name is Fran. I am not an orphan, nor was I trapped in a tower in the woods against my will, besieged by a malevolent red dragon. My parents are alive and well and… Read more In Rebuttal to Sir Gallant Silkenhair

Boom Bap. Boom Bap. Boom Bap. “Get down! Get down on the ground now!” hisses my father, pushing my brother and I down to the ground. The echo of the drums grows louder, vibrating through the coconut trees. The mist came slowly in the evening as we took our usual evening stroll after dinner.  It… Read more The Night Marchers

When I first lived in the city, I got a job at Chock-Full-o’Nuts on 57th Street and Eighth Avenue.  One evening a very interesting man came in.  He had piercing eyes.  He sat at my station, ordered black coffee, then asked if I were a student. “No.” “An artist, then?” “No, I’m an actress.” “That… Read more The Stranger in Chock-Full-o’Nuts

I had come down to the shore early, assuming it would be deserted. I wanted a swim. For weeks it had been all that I thought about, each passing day becoming more aware of the grimy veneer thickening across my skin. It itched. Thousands of small fingers prodding, twisting, pinching. I saw it crawl once,… Read more The Beach

In the desert live a people made of sand. They rarely speak, for even the slightest movement of air sends their gritty forms into a cloud of dust. It takes weeks for them to coalesce. A child, I lost my way among sandstones and juniper trees and cried until no tears remained. A sand person… Read more Drink

“Let’s go, Blondie. Move it. We ain’t got all day, you know. “ “Sorry,” she said, blowing her nose again. “It’s being locked in that room full of straw. Really made my hay fever flare up. Can we stop soon?” “Just down this path. We can crash at my brother’s house. But we need to… Read more All That Glitters

“Everybody clear!” My body arched under the defibrillators, again and again. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone? A dull throb rose in my ears, quieter than a few moments ago; a regular, slight sound, washing over the other intrusions and my skin prickled. I looked around wide-eyed; dawn had broken, and tall trees surrounded me.… Read more Across the Limen

The young man couldn’t remember anything when he awoke, not even his name. He sat up, got his bearings, and found that he was on the bank of a dry riverbed. Something nudged at his memory like a fragment of certainty, a promise of context. A village? Yes. A day’s walk eastward. Naked and dirty,… Read more Herald

By the time the setting sun had cast its vermillion glow on the haveli, the last of the servants was already out of the door, casting a long, worried glance at the woman on the threshold before making her way down the dirt-path. The woman gave her a reassuring, tight smile as she pushed the… Read more Banni