On the wall above our sofa, there’s a graph that Mom drew on butcher paper. It charts the rising metal levels in my bloodstream, which she carefully measures every night. Lumpy began finger-painting on the graph with the polish, and he turned yesterday’s spike into an adult penis. “That’s awesome,” I said, my stomach roiling as if he’d painted it on my skin.

In this episode of the Strange Horizons podcast, editor Anaea Lay presents James Robert Herndon's "Bodies Are the Strongest Conductors."

I doubt my English so bad / my tongue switches flour for floor flour for floor.