Susurrus

Standler Scarecrows

"His once dark hair lightened to the color of straw more each day, and the dirt on his hands got harder and harder to wash off. The lines created when he winced gradually became etched into the sun-damaged burlap skin of his face."

"A Woman Might Say This Is What Birth Looks Like"

Balefire

There were supposed to be two of us, but the Other was half-dead by the time I got here, and full-dead about six months in. I buried her body around the back of the light and told no one that she had passed. Loneliness becomes me, I think.