Feast While You Can

by Mikaella Clements

She wanted to be a god stretching out the fingers of her influence everywhere, all-seeing eyes peering into every cranny.

Angelina and her mother and her grandmother formed the lineage of Sicco women, a cluster of anomalies with a reputation for wildness.

She was fond of telling Angelina, “You’re all mine, baby.” But Angelina’s skin said differently.

Jagvi grinned at her. Pointy canines.

“I always thought the way the thing eats futures is like a war, isn’t it? You have all these grand plans for your life and your family and your country, and then the war arrives and takes it all.”

Good Joke, said the pit. Thanks, thought Angelina.

The black mouth opened to greet her. The dog on the bed sighed in its sleep.