The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

by Scott Stambach

Life is unbearable, but it has the benefit of being real.

This is when I realized the limitations of fabricating your own mother—she can only help you with the stuff you already know the answer to.

Reader, in that place, at that time, Polina wasn’t dying, and I wasn’t a mutant. We shed our bodies and met in another place.

such a big life into such a small, broken box.

I read about being trapped with people just like me in every way except for the fact that they will never understand a thought that goes through my head.

On his way to the door, my mother appeared and reminded me that I was about to speak to the Most Mediocre Man in the World.

If this person goes away, I will die.