Fiction

Today is my Dissolution Day. I’m supposed to be relieved. I’m not. I’m not anything. I place my ear against the wall of our shared quarters and ignore the half-hidden glances of my bunkmates. This far down there is only a head’s width between us and the water. It’s a constant, a lapping hiss that…

The day Mohammad came into school after his father had disappeared was a memorable one, in that the teachers mostly did not know how to behave. It happened a day after that rip in space and time within the walls of the elevator. I wondered whether his disappearance was an unintended byproduct of that tear…

The woods at this time are poised, stalagmite; somehow, their lack of rustling voices makes them all the more disturbing. They are often compared to silent men, soldiers in solemn parade. But to Renée, the twisted conifers coiling themselves in throttling spirals move as women. Agonised, wild-haired, long-fingered, these trees crawl towards the sun. Like…

Note: now that certain obstacles and anxieties are finally out of the way, the big question is this: can you handle the security that monogamy promises without the boredom that causes you to fall asleep at the wrong time?

See through me. See through me. The base picks up, my nerves spark and the words slow down, stretching over me. Spin, spin, sugar.

My sister’s castle has three floors and a dungeon. There’s room for Barbie to move around the pink rooms without ripping her skirt. The downside is the doors to the spiral stairs are just stickers, purple doors pasted really badly onto thin pink walls. You could run your finger over them, trace the bubbles of…

I could start with Jair. Someone disbelieving, that’s all it takes. Their boyish shoulders bitten. Suggestive circles inside their airlocked briefs. Take the band in my mouth. Thread the yarn in the lapse between drops of sweat and their cotton removed. Kisses on moist foreheads; only then will the New York Yankees baseball cap flip.

We gathered at the Chinhoyi courthouse very early in the morning, as agreed. It was the quarterly date for circuit court and our journey was considerable; out to Mhangura, a small copper mine settlement on the Great Dyke. It was still cold.

“Ah, you want to go out and explore, old fellah? Lucky you! Let me know if you see anybody out there who may want to pop in for a cup of tea.” I let him out and return to my sofa.

“Rosie Brown has cancelled her cooking demonstration. It took us years to convince her to go public with her recipes. She finally got the confidence when this blasted pandemic put a stop to that.