Size / / /

Content warning:


Slippery skin of a slippery fish
Rubs against me as I swim
Through the apple green water
Of my mother's youthful memory

She would tell me stories
Of this pond, her sweet escape
And all the spirits that called it home
The entities she made friends with

Ah! How stupid!
But I never told her that
It would have broken her heart
She grew up with these spirits of the dead
So I feigned faith in her magic instead

The slippery fish, while I think
Has begun to nibble at my toes
Reflexively, I pull out my feet
And stuck to it are giant teeth

In shock, flabbergasted, I try to see
The creature that took a liking to me
It sucks my blood
And numbs my limbs

Even a toddler would know
It is not a fish
Perhaps some species
Science had yet to discover

Vigorously I shake my leg,
And pull the unknown slimy thing
Off my feet
It comes off, so easily
Unexpectedly, it begins to disintegrate,
Within my hand, into literal pieces
Above me is a golden mist,
And gently it flows with the wind

I come home without even a scar
Perhaps the bleeding wound had healed
My clothes are drenched
“Mom,” I say
“today I made a spirit friend.”

I feel her smile
From afterlife



Jasmeet has had a potent love for writing since age eleven and is currently pursuing sciences in the twelfth grade, thanks to a vague fascination with biology. For higher studies, Jasmeet will be pursuing a degree in creative writing.
Current Issue
21 Apr 2025

tomorrow when i have hardened, and your body has renewed.
A recent wave of research into the quantum properties of emotion suggests that love may be more than a fleeting human experience
Wednesday: Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim 
Friday: This Cursed House by Del Sandeen 
Issue 14 Apr 2025
Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons
Issue 7 Apr 2025
By: Lowry Poletti
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 31 Mar 2025
Issue 24 Mar 2025
Issue 17 Mar 2025
Issue 10 Mar 2025
By: Holli Mintzer
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 3 Mar 2025
Issue 24 Feb 2025
Issue 17 Feb 2025
Issue 10 Feb 2025
By: Alexandra Munck
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Load More