The Gift That Keeps on Aggravating I was so used to the fairy pigs that I forgot to tell my cousin visiting for Christmas. He woke up to his robe gone and two misshapen sacks by his bed. I rushed in at his cry of shock. “Wow, what beautiful shoes!” I exclaimed. “Listen,” I whispered,…
Tag: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
The Restaurant on Top of the World
The Restaurant on Top of the World On aesthetic grounds, I was sad there was a restaurant on the summit of Mount Fuji. Spoiling nature and all that. Practically, I was overjoyed to sit down in the warmth after climbing seven hours. “How do you get the food up here?” I asked. “My daughter carries…
Evening Concert at False Alarm City
Evening Concert at False Alarm City Two wires lead from the ground, the only link to the people below. I connect my guitar and microphone. “How’s the weather in there today?” I ask. Last year, we thought an asteroid was going to kill us all. 100 super-rich preppers descended to their bunker and sealed the…
Best-Friend-Teddy
Best-Friend-Teddy I should probably just go ahead and die. But, somehow, I still feel like living. Most citizens died long ago in the Terrible Event. The survivors fled. Now it’s just me: bad-back-white-haired-half-blind me. Me, and Teddy: that missing-eye-singed-fur-depleted-stuffing bear I found while scavenging. Teddy sits across from me at dinner, and I tell him…
Freedom of Movement
Freedom of Movement Jax stared at the ancient watercolor. “The cars had wheels? Why?” “They stayed on the ground.” “But what if there were trees? Or water?” “Well, you couldn’t drive on that part, just on the road.” “That’s so narrow! They must have felt suffocated.” “No, it was normal then. You don’t miss what…
The Shell Forger
The Shell Forger I didn’t plan to be a seashell forger. I saw one once: rounded mottled back, with a narrow ridged opening underneath. Easy enough to carve from a piece of antler. My neighbors snickered as I kept carving my shells. My village was far from the sea, that mythical place where all rivers…
Movie Night in Kowloon
Movie Night in Kowloon “Looking forward to having you guys over.” “We’ll be there about 7:00. What’s the address?” “Well . . . first you go to Junction and Carpenter Road and go in the 8th entrance of the walled city, heading east. By the noodle shop.” “Noodle shop . . .” “Go in 120…
Browsing the Infinite
Browsing the Infinite The heaven of the AltUni Mall, with goods from every alternate universe, was the choices. The hell was also the choices. “I just want an American flag with ducks instead of stars,” Nel said for the thousandth time. Every muscle in Kylie’s body screamed. “I’ll make one in Photoshop,” she said. “Ten…
First Day in the Trenches
First Day in the Trenches The first day of school was over. A group of shell-shocked first-years sat huddled together in the back of the restaurant. “I knew high school was hard, but . . .” “The twelfth-graders were huge! I honestly feared for my life during first period.” “One of them called me Fartin,”…
Build For What You Want
Build For What You Want In my culture, hospitality is life. And hospitality fills the space it is given. Build a 2-man tent and you can only have one guest. I wanted a tent for a hundred friends. No one makes tents for a hundred people. Merchants scoffed. “You need a palace,” one said. “I…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 