what killed the dinosaurs

Anika Kotapally

week one: it is nighttime and through the telescope, a spot in the sky is just a bit bigger than it was yesterday, still small and barely noticeable. i go inside and when i crawl into bed, later than i should, like always, you are already there, reaching for me even in sleep. week two: it is nighttime and this time i don’t need the telescope to see the spot in the sky, still small, still just another twinkling pinprick, still bigger than it was yesterday. i go inside to the kitchen where you are waiting for me, and there are cups of tea, and the cat winds between the stool legs as its tail brushes my leg. week three: it is twilight and still the spot is visible, shining and starlike, somehow even bigger than it was yesterday, pricking at something in my subconscious. i go inside and the person on the news mentions some new discovery, but you ask me to switch the channel, your favorite show is on at eleven. week four: it is twilight and i can see the spot, except it’s not quite a spot, it’s not quite beautiful, it’s not quite starlike. i go inside and when i check my phone there are a million news stories, proclaiming the end of the world. you hold my hand as we read them, faces twisted and afraid, cat purring in my lap. week five: it is daytime and the spot is not a spot because it is a weapon, a bullet, and we are the only thing in its path, defenseless and waiting. i go inside because i don’t want to see it and i don’t want to know and your face is a moon, pale and shiny with tears, and when i see it the pit in my stomach somehow, impossibly, lessens . week six: it is daytime and i am already inside because the spot is bigger than the moon now and all that’s left to do is wait. we have called everyone whose voices we wanted to hear and now we curl into the bed and each other, and the cat sits by your head and the birds chirp outside and i don’t close my eyes because i only want to see you as we go.

Lily Jiang

Cork popping

Watch the man

Bowl dropping

Stare at the wood

Breath stopping

Run to the puddle

My socks sopping

Grab the cleaner

Start mopping

Work faster!

Faster

Faster

Faster Before the fish quits flopping

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