Birds Play Chicken?

A flock of little birds sat in a sunny patch of sidewalk. I jogged toward them, still half a block away. Manicured conifers lined the lawn to my right.

A car roared around the corner. All but one of the birds fluttered into a tree.

I jogged closer, watching the last little bird. When I was about three pavement squares away, she took off. I watched her fly to the very top branch of the tree.

She chirped a long happy trill. I could almost hear her saying, “Ha ha, I’m the bravest! I get the top spot!”

Writing About Cancer

Cancer, by Ryan North, in Lightspeed, July 2013

“Cancer” is from the anthology This is How You Die, edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and David Malki !.

When Helen is born in 1990, a prediction machine reveals her cause of death: cancer. But the infallible prediction machines have more in store for Helen as she grows older.

Spoilers ahead! I’ll be writing about my reaction as I read through the story. Go ahead and read it now before you continue with my blog post. I’ll wait. 

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Starry Theater, Slug, and Broken Egg

I like reading fantasy and science fiction stories, especially flash fiction. In this blog, I plan to review stories and books I’ve read. If they’re available to read for free online, I’ll include a link. I’ll specify whether each post includes spoilers for story endings; this one does not.

I’d love to hear what you thought of the stories I review, and I’d love to hear your story or book suggestions. Continue reading