There is an old house we call the house of spiders. No one has lived there in our collective memories. Of course, it is haunted. All old abandoned houses are haunted to adventurers our age. What really proves it is that older teens do not use it as a proper place to practice being alone together. No one has seen couples going in or out. With our elder siblings coupling in every available place like merciless machines, their not coupling here tells us everything. Eventually, I will have the courage to go in. And I will take Natalie with me.

Ken Poyner’s

four collections of flash fiction and four of speculative poetry are available from most web booksellers. He was an information warrior for thirty-three years, and now supports full-time his wife’s powerlifting. Recent work has appeared in Analog, Café Irreal, Rune Bear, and Tiny Molecules.

Author’s website: https://kpoyner.com/