I began walking down the road, right in the centre where the lanes met. Black hair, black dress; the sun was almost down, and I was a night-thing too. I made a low sound in my throat to see if anything would answer. When no response came I cackled, and somewhere in the distance a bird shrieked.

Crepuscular. I said the word under my breath. Something was coming, that much was certain. Something was coming, and I was walking straight into it.

Acknowledgements

Some of these stories have previously appeared or are forthcoming in literary journals, magazines or anthologies, or have won or placed in competitions:

‘The Leopard Next Door’ was a winner in the 2015 Nat. Brut Flash Fiction Contest. It appeared in Nat. Brut in July 2016.

‘Tongue-Tied’ won the 2019 Iowa Review Award in Fiction, and appeared in the December 2019 edition of The Iowa Review.

‘Powerful Owl’ was runner-up in the 2018 Bristol Short Story Prize, and appeared in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology vol. 11.

‘Arm’s Length’ appeared in Landmarks (2017), an anthology published by Spineless Wonders.

‘Harbour’ was shortlisted for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

An earlier version of ‘Monstera’ (‘Communion’) was shortlisted for the 2018 Manchester Fiction Prize.

‘Frogs’ Legs’ was a finalist in the 2018 Robert J. DeMott Short Prose Contest and was published in Quarter After Eight vol. 25.

‘Hold Your Fire’ was published in Granta 151: Membranes (Spring 2020).

‘Blood Bag’ was longlisted for the 2018 SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction.

‘The Drydown’ was shortlisted for the 2016 Margaret River Press Short Story Competition. It appeared in that year’s prize anthology, Shibboleth and Other Stories.

‘Exchange’ was published in Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Issue 7.2 (October 2014).

‘Joyriders’ was published in The Big Issue’s 2019 Fiction Edition. It was also shortlisted for the 2019 Bath Short Story Award, and appeared in the 2019 prize anthology.

‘Break Character’ was commended in the 2018 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, and was published in Australian Book Review online in November 2018.

‘Animus’ was runner-up in the 2017 ELLE Australia Writing Competition, and appeared in the February 2018 issue of ELLE Australia.

About the Author

AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH: NICOLE CLEARY

Chloe Wilson’s ‘Hold Your Fire’ was published in Granta 151: Membranes (Spring 2020); ‘Tongue-Tied’ won the 2019 Iowa Review Fiction Prize, judged by Rebecca Makkai; and ‘Harbour’ was shortlisted for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She is also the author of two poetry collections, The Mermaid Problem and Not Fox Nor Axe, which was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Judith Wright Calanthe Award. Her work has appeared in numerous publications. Chloe is a former Voiceworks Poetry Editor and holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne, where she currently lives.

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