Your journey begins with\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2610 a stranger<\/p>\n
\u2610 a damsel in distress<\/p>\n
\u2610 a sticky situation demanding you skip town until it resolves itself<\/p>\n
\u2610 all of the above<\/p>\n
Your transport of choice is\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2610 a tin on wheels<\/p>\n
\u2610 a joke<\/p>\n
\u2610 a van that has seen better days, just like your wallet<\/p>\n
You call this\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2610 a road trip\u2014after all, you\u2019ve never seen the ocean<\/p>\n
\u2610 a quest<\/p>\n
\u2610 an unfortunate detour<\/p>\n
The girl you pick up on the side of the road\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2610 hasn\u2019t seen the ocean either<\/p>\n
\u2610 wears the skin of a frog<\/p>\n
\u2610 claims this isn\u2019t weird<\/p>\n
On the road towards the ocean…<\/p>\n
\u2610 you fall in love<\/p>\n
\u2610 drink water from each other\u2019s hands<\/p>\n
\u2610 kiss under the swelling moon<\/p>\n
One night, she…<\/p>\n
\u2610 whispers in your hot ear, \u201cMy father is the death king Koschei\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2610 giggles because you both had too much gin<\/p>\n
\u2610 sighs, \u201cHe\u2019s never going to let me go\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2610 disappears in a puff of acrid smoke<\/p>\n
Here are your choices:<\/p>\n
\u2610 run away (as usual) or<\/p>\n
\u2610 don these iron shoes<\/p>\n
\u2610 leave the van<\/p>\n
\u2610 walk until the world turns upside down and blooms like a strange forest<\/p>\n
Koschei\u2019s death is a needle hidden…<\/p>\n
\u2610 inside an egg<\/p>\n
\u2610 inside a duck<\/p>\n
\u2610 inside a rabbit<\/p>\n
\u2610 inside a chest<\/p>\n
\u2610 inside a deep, black cave<\/p>\n
If you want to pass this test, you will\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2610 twist, turn, bleed, chase<\/p>\n
\u2610 bite, fight, kill<\/p>\n
\u2610 snap the needle<\/p>\n
\u2610 break the curse<\/p>\n
When you both return to the van, holding hands…<\/p>\n
\u2610 brush off the dust<\/p>\n
\u2610 start the engine<\/p>\n
\u2610 watch the road unroll towards the blue ocean, just for you<\/p>\n
__________<\/p>\n
Laila Amado is a writer of short and very short fiction as well as multiple unfinished longer drafts. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in<\/em> Lost Balloon, Flash Frog, Necessary Fiction, Swamp Pink, HAD, The Deadlands, and elsewhere. Two of her works were included in<\/em> Best Small Fictions 2022 and<\/em> Best Microfiction 2024 anthologies. In her free time, she can be found staring at the North Sea off the Dutch coast. The sea, occasionally, stares back.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"