Page 61 - The Woven Tale Press Vol. IV #7

and for a moment I think he’s talking to me. “Come and see,” he says again, turning his head this time. “That’s The Temple of the Ducks, right down there. I thought we’d paddle there later, when the sun’s warmed up.”
him lead, then turn to reassure her, as they climb up towards the sky. I don’t have to be any closer to see the tenderness in his eyes. The Gentle Fam-
ily take with one hand, but they give with the other, and they must know that this is the most poisoned gift they could have given me. He and she climb together, leaving me alone all over again. Up to the top, where the steps vanish into the jungle air.
And then she walks out from the shadow of the staircase. Painfully young, even now, five years on. Her hair is braided like the schoolgirl she almost still is. He has his hand at her waist now, and she protests, laughing, at his kiss. He looks happy, younger even, than the night I had to leave.
Turner has been published in Hark Magazine, Stroud Short Stories anthology, and her short story “Long-Gone Mary” was published as a pocketbook by In Short Publishing . Her stories have been shortlisted and longlisted in various competitions, including the Frome Festival Prize 2015, The Fiction Desk New- comer Prize 2015 and HISSAC 2014
They start to walk up the exposed steps, concrete planks curling round the monolithic core. I watch
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Involution
poplar wood, acrylic paint 30” x 10” x 4”
by Kevin Bilelicki