4085 words

They’re monsters, the combines and threshers inching along the highway—I’m almost to Saskatoon when they surround me. I drop my speed from 110 to 15 km/hr, and my GPS recalibrates to say I’m an hour and fifteen minutes from downtown.

I look for the end of the vehicles but there’s only smoke and metal. My pulse picks up. Remember to breathe. I make this mistake every year, driving into the city when the ag-show is ending. I want to smash my head against the glass, but that won’t get me to my hotel faster.

I check in ninety minutes later. My phone buzzes, and it’s my partner, wanting to know if I’ve arrived safely. Another beep—the conference app informing me registration’s open. A fellow presenter texts to say she’s inspired by me and can’t wait for my keynote.

When I order pizza, it arrives so greasy it leaves an oil sea on my bed. My phone keeps buzzing, so I have to post something. I write...


Table of Contents

Fiction

We Whose Fathers Have Transformed into Wild Animals of the Land, Sea, and Sky by Spencer Nitkey

Mother’s Bane by Madi Haab

What Is A Lake Beyond An Extinct Word? by Corey Farrenkopf

Strawberry Island by Emily O'Malley Liu

Poetry

The Carcass of the World by Ai Jiang

What to Watch For by Jordan Hirsch

A Science Center Education by Lynne Sargent

The Archivist of Vanished Tongues by Oladosu Michael Emerald

SOLD: One Soul, Gently Used by Nico Martinez Nocito

Non-Fiction