My sister Ellen likes to tell me I am a good plain cook. Rather than be offended by this, I take a pride in getting the basics right. It doesn't matter how fancy you are if it doesn't taste ... [+]
There are three things you must know about Lee: she likes potatoes, she likes memes, and on occasion she will open a word Document only to stare at it blankly for approximately three to four hours. Perhaps she will write. Perhaps not. Who knows? Not even Lee herself. "The Trees Have Eyes" was Juried winner in Short Édition's Long Story Short Award, 2020.
He wakes with a veil of fading orange sunset falling over his face. Slowly, he raises a hand, twisting it through the shards of light. There are no callouses. No dry cracks of peeling skin. It is softened and gentle. He lifts himself to stand, gaze lazing over a thick stretch of wild grass. It is silent. Trees line the burnt colored horizon in blackened, writhing silhouettes. Begonias litter the green in sparks of liquid red. He looks away, thoughts passing through his mind in a brush of shadow: he wishes he could stay. He doesn't remember why he can't. The quiet carries an edge now—the kind t