Self-Portrait of Someone Else by Dilys Wyndham Thomas
When Jill’s eyes adjust to the light, she comes face-to-face with a life-sized painting of a naked, spread-eagled woman. It takes her a full minute to recognise herself.
Mud Lungs by Jenna Grieve
The pond cradles them in its mouth like teeth. The statues. Cracked and shattered. They’re reskinned and restitched with moss and algae.
Observations in a Layby and a Missing Dick by Cheryl Markosky
When the alien lands in the layby [PLACE TO STOP TEMPORARILY AND DRINK AMBER LIQUID FROM THERMOS FLASK] on the A303 at Barton Stacey near the Travelodge, it climbs down the steps from its spaceship into gloomy light.
Ernst Is Coming Home by Jack Morris
The rumours arrive on the dawn wind and by mid-afternoon the village ladies have landed in Leonora’s kitchen to disembowel the news.
False Notes and Other Fragrances by Rowan Tate
From the time she was seven, Ketra could smell lies. Some reeked of burnt hair. Some of overripe plums. A half-truth had the scent of chewed mint, stale and thin.