Issue 18 (Summer 2026)
Kinfolk
By Sarah Connell
The new body lay before her. Its muddy parts steamed in the morning sun having come from the deepest parts of the bog. Celeste hummed as she worked.
She had a good feeling about this one.
Her gentle fingers reached into the earthen body; through the hollow Cattail ribs, and past moss ball lungs to seek the place where the heart should be. After dredging the swamp, Celeste had found the final piece for her new kinfolk.
The stone was no bigger than a quail egg, and red. She settled the slick stone heart into its cavity of pondscum and watched ribs knit together.
(Read the full story)
