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THE MAN WHO DANCES WITH RATS
The rat is not my wife, he says, they all are. And as he bows, the creatures hop onto each other’s backs and make a pyramid, a reverse pyramid, and other shapes like a water ski stunt show. A rat is a hand that he takes and kisses. He dances and the rats shimmy. In a room upstairs there’s a book that his daughter is tucking into her purse. After her wife leaves for work, she reads about what it takes to make a ghost someone can touch. She thinks a fern might be right for her, and at night she asks her wife to brush her hair with her fingers while she thinks of pinnate leaves.
K.A. Honeywell (she/her) is the author of Damn Wilds and Veiled Scarlet. She can be found online at kahoneywell.com and on social platforms as @kahoneywell.