River Street’s never hard to find; in fact, you’re likely to stumble into it while looking for somewhere else entirely. Once you’re in, though, it’ll seem like a good idea to stay. It’s so easy to keep walking down this pleasant lane, with your face… River Street | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2oVDQlr

It had metastasized, and my mother’s belly was swollen with tumors. I took care of her because she needed me and I needed her, and also because Father was always at work or visiting his friends or Aunt Diane. I tried to feed my mother. via Pocket Talking to Cancer | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2OVmJM3

When he learn he couldn’t have one, he did find a child in the water. You figure this part goes without saying, ent? That a girl found gasping on the beach would be taken in by a kindly white couple once the husband learn how he infertile. via Pocket Gasping | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2w2Z6cN

I watched my love die in the claw of a Scorpion Man. I watched him sever her in half; watched as her long hair dripped down to the ground; watched as her hand let go of her spear; as her long legs folded under her; as the Scorpion Man’s tail rose in… Jewel of the Vashwa | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2PxwII8

Rose is ten when the blacksmith’s son pushes her into the river. She lands badly, rocks scraping her knees, tearing her palms. Her dress is cold and wet against her skin as she drags herself out of the water.  Her anger forms a hard lump in her thro… The Sharp Edges of Anger | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2EzMBXX

My brothers imagined themselves the first to speak without mouths—their fingers blood-pricked from learning how to pass a needle through lace—but it was only my mother and I who could understand the heaviness of the things we could not say. via Pock…

After the zombie outbreak in San Fontaine was put down, Zadie treated herself to a new hair color as a way to get away from constantly watching the news. via Pocket

A Siren’s Cry Is a Song of Sorrow | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2xDNiih My first memory is of orderly rows of human skulls placed on glass shelves. Little white cards that I cannot read rest in front of each. My parents had taken me to the Museum of Natural History as a means of expanding my educational horizons. via Po…

All Clear | Apex Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JQetcW Translated by R. Orion Martin When the security alarm rang out, Zhang Dong was at the very peak of the village, thinking about family. Recent bickering with his father had left him smoldering with resentment. Maybe it was just as Liang said—time to …