“I actually made it, man. I couldn’t find it, so I-uh, you know. I made it for you man-sir. Chef.”

Loretti draws the steel tiffin from the bag, flips it open, recoiling his head back as he does. He sniffs, then drags the second knuckle of his pinkie across the lid, just enough to lift a smear of the white paste. He inhales sharply, his ribs and nostrils flaring to maximum capacity, muttering, “Wh...

no professor there’s no need to call it “in between stars” to give it a deeper or flowery meaning, because it’s also beside, beneath, behind, ahead, and above. to answer your deeply hollow prompt, the poetic pretentiousness of which truly infuriates me, is nothing. nothing is between. and there is no problem with that if it’s not the best description. who’s the judge of this “best” even? also, it’...

Mustaq’s wok rarely spills when he tosses onions. In fact, it almost never happens. This must be the second or third time I’ve seen him sweat since I joined Baloki Kitchen as a junior chef three years ago. For someone usually as imperturbable as a monk, watching him falter feels almost voyeuristic.

“Natasha, I need the sauce in five!” he barks, his eyes suddenly unfamiliar, carrying a strange he...

After hours of walking into the horizon, with seemingly no end, I turn around and find her statue, looking up. Her neck bends back completely, face perpendicular to her body. Mouth wide open with a tensed jaw. For some reason I imagine a thick gray light rising from the bottom of her stomach, shooting straight out of her mouth into the sky, like a mouth-sized tube, stretching thousands of kilomete...

A: Your time is up. Better run!

B: Look, I know what this may ...

A: I will not repeat myself again!

C whispers to B : I really think you should run.

A: Do you even understand what you've done? I'm sparing you by letting you leave. I'm giving you a living chance. This is a life line. I will not be able to help you if you stay.

A: Do you hear me?

C: Hey?

A: Don't just stand there mute say so...

how overlooked is a rubble

though she and i are nearly built alike

i mean scientifically it’s all stardust,

rubble and i.

but how unfortunate is she

to not feel awe and suicidal

what a beautiful thing it is

to feel awe and suicidal

and i don’t mean suicidal in a deep way-

just the autonomy, the sheer power

to hold that choice

is it not the ultimate magic trick?

one that works even when the secret ...