I hear this is the brand the President uses to take notes (and doodle) during Cabinet meetings.
It’s September, which always fills us with back-to-school spirit and nostalgic memories for glitter gel pens and those little scented erasers shaped like fruit. There’s no mood more literary than this, so we’re pleased to present five speculative stories for your required reading list. Abbey Kos fondly recounts “When the Bees Came” in an elegant flash piece, and Brandon Barrett explores a girl’s unusual problem in “Sue Nguyen Sees No Ghosts.” The title “No One Died on the Moon” is not actually much of a spoiler for Keely Cutts’ sci-fi tale of loneliness, nor does “Our Lady of Fire” do more than hint at the terror churning beneath the surface of Laura Hogan’s haunting short. Finally, Kathryn Michael McMahon shares the story of a sympathetic shark and his comely human chum in “Loveteeth.” And if you love Japanese Snowy Octobunnies, you won’t want to miss this month’s cover art by ShirrStone Shelter.