Author S. K. Nicholas

Leading me ever on, she pulls so hard on my arm I’m sure she’ll dislocate it from the socket. Opening my mouth as wide as it will go, the cold air hits my lungs like the piercing blade of a knife. The pain causes me to double over. In the first second that follows, I Read more

Out of the corner of my left eye, I see the branches of the tree raised to the moonlit sky, and out of my right, a nude Meeko standing over my shoulder reading the words I put to paper while she was in the shower. It’s not much, I don’t think, but it shows a Read more

With the sky mirroring the ground, she leads me by the hand as we walk through a field of snow; our twisty-turny footsteps trailing far into the distance like the tiny feet of stalking birds. To our left is a vast lake frozen into a thick sheet of ice. In the summer, boats sail long Read more

In one reality she rubs her nose against mine, while in the other, she stands in the doorway of the bathroom—her body glowing in the steam escaping through the bedroom window. She’s shaved her pussy, and in the smooth triangle of flesh I know so well, I hear the same music that’s coming from the Read more

“Where are you?” she asks. The question circles my head like cartoon birds. “Are you here with me, in this tree, or someplace else?” Gazing at the light that shines so bright, I absentmindedly swat a mosquito against the side of my neck. “I’m not entirely sure,” I reply, “it feels like I’m here, but Read more

The stars disappear in the same manner as the buildings. In some other life, there would be consequences, but tonight, I can’t think of a single thing that’s out of place. Watching Meeko as she dances in her childish skin, I barely notice the tree taking giant strides through the melting landscape to the forest Read more

Dazzled by the pieces of my life that burst like bubbles before my eyes, Meeko continues to flap her arms. They’re not yet wings—won’t be for several years—yet it’s easy to see just by looking at her that she’ll fly so high once those feathers of hers see the light of day. Tilting my head Read more

For Meeko, the moment of revelation is knowing her father lives despite his mortal demise. Everything else is contained within this one discovery. For me, such knowledge is secondary. It’s not that I’m unimpressed by this supernatural occurence, but what shakes my bones is that through the images I’ve been shown, how is it that Read more

Basking in the light of the drawn veil, the branches of the trees reach for the stars. Pinching them with their leaves the same way a grandmother squeezes the cherub cheeks of a child, they pluck them from out of the sky before flicking them like marbles into deep space where no doubt they’re sucked Read more

She spreads the night as wide as she spreads herself, which is as wide if not wider than the sight of any open door I’ve ever known. Gazing at what her fingers reveal, the town in which I’ve spent so much of my life is torn to pieces before my eyes. It offers as much Read more