Me and Seed Sheself
I been wid dis woman since she was small, and now is like we shell casing break in two, in three. First ting I remember from being wid she is hearing she little girl voice. So close it make me vibrate. “Wait, Mommy, wait. Please.” She mother busy clearing up de table after dey had […]
Hiraeth Heart
We build the fire high just as the frosted fingers of dusk start to creep through the desert, the horizon unobstructed by the city skylines that once stood here. “Is it always this cold at night?” I say. I pull one of our blankets tight around me. Not even the pile of sunbleached bricks we […]
Phoenix Tile
I take one more look at the mirror and check the angle of my pocket square. The suit looks good, but then it always does—one of the few perks I have left. One more admiring look before I pull the image from the mirror, ball it up, and put it in my pocket. I don’t […]
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
“Don’t forget to use Bubbie’s atmospheric pressure chart.” My mom’s voice sings across the kitchen. “Show these people that Esther Goldstein can bake on any planet.” These people: it’s a funny term for the family she is hoping will join ours by the end of the evening. My future in-laws and their son—provided I get […]
Electric Waterfalls
A solar panel was malfunctioning in Cluster 4, Quadrant 6 of the Prudhoe Array. Measuring approximately three hundred miles across and hovering one thousand feet above the water, the floating array was co-owned by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, and SARC, the Subarctic Regional Corporation, which had bought out the floundering renewables divisions […]
Tomatoes
The tomatoes in our garden are hungry again. Nanna is not enough anymore. She has been feeding them for too long. Soon, she will be dead and then it will be my turn. This is what I think when I scarf down our tomatoes with every meal: A heavily scented stew; an acrid salad; a […]
Sorry We Missed You!
New Ceres: Now Serving Delicious! I press my face to the cold glass separating me from space as my mother docks The Flying Potato to New Ceres Station. The outer hull of their marketplace level is transparent, revealing a line of people waiting for our ship to arrive. My hair smells like peanut oil and […]
My Mother’s Samosas
Dark, small, withered, my mother’s fingers curve around the half onion. With her other hand she wields her knife and dices the onion into bits so small they rival the garlic at the edge of the cutting board. I hover by her shoulder and ask what I can do. “You?” she says, as if I […]
Más chileno que …
I hold my birth mother’s name like a string of pearls between my gum and my molars. I hold it on the right side of my mouth, where my teeth are strongest, where my smile rests, and I keep it hidden. It is my most valued possession, the only proof beyond my skin that I […]
Review for: Izakaya Tanuki
Review for: Izakaya Tanuki Reviewer: Tom W., New York, NY Stars: 5/5 Brace yourself, because this is going to be a long review. Like, recipe-on-a-mommy-blog long. But I can’t tell you what a relief it was to find this place! Some backstory: my husband was born in the sixteenth century. Usually, he isn’t too particular […]