Norylska Groans

by Michael R. Fletcher

There was also a single dusty shelf stencilled with the words Historical Languages and no books. “Fuck.” She turned in a helpless circle. Should she go in search of a librarian? Was there one? “Fuck!” she shouted, voice echoing down stone halls. “Fucking be quiet!” someone shouted back. “This is a fucking library!” Well, that probably answered the librarian question. “Where are the fucking books on ruinic Plemya?” she screamed, voice raw from the cigareta. “On the fucking Historical Languages shelf!” replied the distant, echoing voice. “They’re not fucking there!” “Oh!” And then, after a score of heartbeats, “Try the History section!” “Thanks!” she hollered down the hall. “You’re fucking welcome!” Kat went in search of the History Wing.

“Women fight different,” she said. “Slow. Subtle. We win by changing you, though not the brutal and clumsy way a man seeks to change a woman. We win by changing what you want to be.”