fiction
Grate Escape—Part I
JESI TAYLOR
July 10, 2026
The first time it happened, I watched the train and tunnel rise to the water’s surface from my bedroom window.
It was only a matter of time before the subsurface heat island effect imploded a subway station and forced hundreds of thousands of gallons of salt water through the weathering bedrock, sand, and silt holding the underground infrastructure in place.
I wrote about these dangers in multiple peer-reviewed articles for decades. Local politicians and scientists were thankful I wasn’t talking about my data and research–only publishing in journals, newspapers, and zines–because it was bad for business and shed light on their violence and neglect.
A mute expert in climate disaster risk management is a non-threatening one. Until they find a way to reach and convince more people of the truth. Or until they’re forced to.
The latter is what happened to me which is why I’m writing this testimony now. From Rikers.
The second time it happened I was, unfortunately, there. On the train. In a station as it imploded.
If it wasn’t for the wisdom of the Sandhogs I would’t have made it out alive.
I steal the pennies from the wishing well
MYKAH GREEN
My pockets are heavy with wishes. Children wishing for a Labrador puppy or for Dad to get a new job. Men wishing to be loved and women wishing to be listened to.
The one-cent lottery.
Sometimes someone drops a dime; either they have a demanding wish, or theirs has already been granted. The cold water closes over my hand, and when I withdraw, I will wash it off like blood. Out, damn spot. I wonder if I am pickpocketing dreams, this way. I don’t really believe; I only want something to eat; but these secondhand wishes will have to do.
Harvest
E. FLORIAN GLUDOVACZ
The Reaper of Souls stood in silence, surveying all that lay before him, measuring and gauging weight and size with a practised eye. Some days were easy, some days much harder, but it all balanced out in the end.
This was his time, his place. He lost himself in the moment as he closed his all-seeing eyes and drank in the silence. Soon it would be over and the deed would be done. He relished the moment as he knelt down and in one swift, sure motion plucked the ripe tomato off the plant and popped it into his mouth.