“Mrs. Anna Schaap sank to the scarlet whorled rug on her living room floor. She did not cry.
The creature in the mirror before her was not human. Eyes, hair, and an ostentatious nose, all sat in the places those features ought to be. The eyes blinked. The nose drew in air. But the face did not live. It was a face, a little pale face, unremarkable against any other olive-cheeked, paste-eyed face.
Her hand clenched the threadbare carpeting. A little came away on her palm, crumbling like a receding hairline.”
— “Blue Plum Jelly”, now available in the 2016 Scythe Prize collection!
Abigail E. Sims 