The word hung in the sterile air between them: Insufficient. A judgment passed down from a leather chair, sealed by the rustle of papers. Dr. Tanaka cleared his throat, his gaze fixed on a point just over Yumi’s shoulder. “The criteria for seidoitsusei shogai—gender identity disorder—are quite specific, you understand. We need a consistent, long-term…

The observatory at the top of the mountain has changed since we were here last spring. Some animals have moved in and the computer now runs slower and the NASA logo on the wall is flaking away like the patch on your old coat. Signs have fallen or disappeared along dark corridors leading to dark…

Lucky Snake My grandmother willed half of her thirty-acre farm estate to the young handyman who frequently visited her house to fiddle with the old wiring and oil the creaky doors, a leather toolbelt slung low on his hips. The document she’d printed from Wills.com stated that this was because he reminded her of my…

I saw a man get executed in the street today. Masked gunmen surrounded him before unloading a hail of bullets into his Carhartt jacket. I watched it on my phone during my lunch break in between eating a hard-boiled egg and checking my emails. Subject: Quarterly fiscal reports due this week. Respond. Delete. Subject: New…

I think I get what this person’s problem is, but could you say more? What do they want? What’s in their way? Have you considered giving them a fatal flaw? What if they’re just paranoid or too trusting or trapped in their own head?  Would anyone ever really call them that? Do people still say…