fairy skeletons.: Fiction Friday [1]: "Bones"

Inspired by LiAnn Yim's "Fiction Fridays" over at Little Fictions, I'll be sharing some choice bits of fiction with you all every Friday, to go with my weekly Music Mondays.

One of my favorite literary magazines to just browse through is The Golden Key (which LiAnn actually co-edits) - described as publishing "poetry and fiction that is open to the strange and marvelous possibilities of the world around us. Each issue explores one of the wonderful things – either literal or figurative – one might find upon opening the little iron chest. Each celebrates the curiosity and enchantment of the Grimms’ tale with work that is odd, surprising, and unafraid to venture down the unknown path." It's inspired by the Grimms' story of, well, the golden key, and the work that can be found here in these free-to-read issues is just exquisite.

illustration for "Bones", done by The Golden Key's talented resident artist Libby Burns.

Today's piece that I'd like to spotlight is "Bones" by Sylvia Linsteadt. Here's a small excerpt:

They sink fast into the earth, faster than iron and glass. As the ground presses them to pieces, they first break with jagged edges and sharp ends. To become smooth, this takes centuries, this is always resisted. And then they echo and echo, like the whale vertebra reverberating its once-song.

Linsteadt does a beautiful job of bringing magic to an archaeological dig, and her prose is truly rich in quality. There's history in the curve of her words, breath in her sentences. It's awe-inspiring, really. If you've got a spare five minutes or so, I highly recommend you read it. It's one of my very favorite parts of Issue One, but honestly, I've been through The Golden Key's archives so many times because it's a wondrous literary magazine. Happy reading and happy Friday!