In Our Place Is In Between—a collection of 20 flash pieces, microstories, and prose poems—the fantastical and the real coexist. The real can be a portal; the fabulous, a mirror in shards. A quiet cat-owner, his life consumed by books, finds a lion-headed man barging toward him. A man’s lies to his boyfriend come to life. A tiny being’s defenses undermine it. And hauntings—both literal and figurative—jangle an artist as he faces his failures and age.

The real can be a portal, but it can also be a house, a concert hall, a small town turned prison. Characters dog questions in the face of pat answers. They skirt obstacles of the culture that’s failed them. Relationships salve until the outside worms in, or the inner life is tamped, sacrificed to the solace of groups. These texts trace the lives of those who seek the genuine. In flashes they glimpse the true, glimpse the good, as they glean through what rubble is left.

“A man dressed in black is walking up the street toward our house. With his steps so even he seems to float. Friya, my orange-cream tabby, and I are watching from the front of the garage. When he veers right we see he has the head of a lion. Once he’s reached the driveway he turns and approaches, boxer-broad, black work shirt jammed in black jeans, pale blond mane trembling, eyes a shining amber. Friya and I keep still, show him nothing. But when I hear pants and see his tongue loll, I lift Friya under both arms, saber-like; she hisses with an arm held out threateningly, whetted sharp claws outstretched.”

Contents:

WARNING

Resolution

In the Lion’s Den, In the Lion’s Mouth

What’s Left

Character

A Patrilinear Story

Repression

The Hand

Our Place Is In Between

Hauntings (A Sutured Tale)

Undying

Breakup Stories

Two Witches

How to Tell a Word

Forgiveness

The Unmaking

Aftermaths (Three Stories)

Those Words

Welcome

Beginning of a Story

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