Issue: August 2009

Walking Point

Three months after I stepped on the land mine, I saw my dead son. He was slim and dark-haired, serious-faced as only a twenty-year-old can be. Without a word, he stepped into my Rambam hospital room, lifted my truncated body into a wheelchair, and pushed me down to the sea…

The Vicissitudes of Time

“What’s it like to die?” she said.
“Do you want to find out?” he said.

He had met her at a roadside diner, on his way to Yuma. A little further down [...]

After

The glare drilled its way through Colin’s eyes as he landed with newborn-calf grace on his knees.
“Ow—Jesus!” He choked, clutching his left leg with one hand and shielding his eyes [...]

The Moth Collector’s Daughter

Remember, remember when you were born.
When Ti-ti was born, the Aunties came to anoint her with their declarative magic.
“Oh, her fingers are so short she won’t ever play piano,” said [...]

Smother

The tree in the yard, which wasn’t yet dead, had termites. Once it had been struck by lightning and part of it had died and now that dead part was [...]

B’alam

Her grandmother had traveled through the jungle and stood under that same dark canopy many years before. She had been younger than Ix Kan when she walked this path. Thus, [...]

Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand, by Samuel R. Delany

New staff member Ciro Faienza reviews Delany’s science fiction classic in one of our New Look at an Old Book series.