Invisible Things

by Mat Johnson

“Green means life, baby.”

Stubbornly, he managed to ignore it for nearly a minute, until that ceased to be a practical plan of action.

“We’re not bearded dragons.” “No, we’re not. We’re the crickets.”

The cops providing security for the event had a much more practical response to the intoxication of the moment, and they had the billy clubs to express their emotions. To his credit, the senior officer directly in front of Nalini did bellow “Stand down!” to his visibly distraught fellow officers. It was a clear and admirable attempt on his part to de-escalate the situation; whoever he was, he was a good cop. But then he got hit with a shoe, too, and, upon recovering, said to no one in particular, “Last warning. Disperse!,” in a rather perfunctory tone, before transforming into a bad cop. He started swinging.

“That ain’t right.” Chase shook his head knowingly. “You can’t write off a whole city because some people fail there.” “They didn’t fail. They were failed.”

and she was hit with a wave of relief that she’d chosen to leave him.

You were kidnapped. Or you’re the descendants of the kidnapped—and, trust me, I know a little something about that ancestral phenomenon.