It’s here – midnight & indigo issue no.12!
midnight & indigo celebrates Black women writers with the fourth Speculative fiction issue of their literary journal. A collection of stories that traverse the strange and the hauntingly real, 21 Black women storytellers across the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe share tales in which the impossible becomes possible, and every corner hides something magical.
Contributors include:
Jessica Araújo, Azure Arther, Erin Brown, Jo Ferreira, Erica Frederick, Kalkidan Gezahegn, Caroline Haughton, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, Chantel Melendez, Kendra Y. Mims, Mon Misir, L. Nabang, Hannah Onoguwe, Fan Sissoko, Lalah-Simone Springer, Ava Tiye Kinsey, Annabelle Ulaka, A. Michelle Walker, Olwen Wilson, L. Marie Wood, and Jade T. Woodridge.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Short stories
A Black neighborhood is being vandalized by a band of ghost children in “The Crossing” by Mary McLaughlin Slechta.
After a lonely spiritual advisor in Louisiana loses her second husband, she utilizes her innate gifts to procure another partner in “Alone Again” by Ava Tiye Kinsey.
A young girl from another time appears in a South London community allotment when a woman arrives to pick thyme to prepare a healing soup from her childhood in Jamaica, in “The Disappearing Garden” by Fan Sissoko.
“Saturday” by L. Marie Wood is a tale about a Saturday that has not gone as expected.
“God’s Will” by Kalkidan Gezahegn introduces a day in the life of an elder medicine woman and mystic who reflects on her life and impending death.
In “A Banquet of Stolen Dishes” by Annabelle Ulaka, fourteen-year-old Mimidoo strikes a deal that causes her younger brother to vanish. As each day passes, she battles with her conscience.
Many people go missing on long stretches of highways. Some are immortalized by highway memorials, while others are forgotten. In “Mile 153” by Jade T. Woodridge, this spirit doesn’t want to be.
In the world of “A Good Woman’s Guide to a Ladylike Death” by Azure Arther, women die, often violently, sometimes with their bodies never to be found. But some do come back. Naima just met a death maiden, and her rage at being chosen will fuel her afterlife.
In “Blood Sisters” by Jessica Araújo, Isaura is the Grand Bruja with the gift of sight, but even she couldn’t see what was in store for her and her best friend. When a vision comes true, grief and anger push her to a fatal decision.
A village is plagued with annual visitations from their deceased loved ones in “The Visitation” by Kendra Y. Mims.
How does a society rebuild itself in the aftermath of a collapse? In “The Locket” by A. Michelle Walker, a child raised on readiness finds themselves unprepared to confront the realities of a crumbling world.
In “No Cash Payments, Please” by Hannah Onoguwe, Onome unwittingly discovers that her husband had a previous wife and son who died under mysterious circumstances. She gets help from an unexpected source who has a score to settle.
In a future with a shortage of human healthcare workers, Nurse Aurora, an automaton, cares for a terminally ill patient in “Viscera Automata” by Lalah-Simone Springer. She prioritizes the patient most in need of intensive care in the only way her kind knows how.
A young mother grapples with grief, inadequacy, and resentment in “Remnants of Red” by L. Nabang. As she braids her daughter’s hair, she’s haunted by guilt over her twin sister’s death and strained relationship with her mother. A magical scarf from her childhood, rich in Cameroonian tradition, symbolizes their fractured relationship.
In “Call Out Her Name” by Caroline Haughton, a Black woman is locked up in an asylum with no explanation.
Cybil returns to her hometown in the mountains to attend a funeral service in “Recess” by Chantel Melendez. While laying memories to rest, she decides to revisit her childhood classroom.
“Gruff” by Erin Brown is a reimagining of a famous fable involving a bridge, a troll, and a couple of goats. This time, the scariest monster might be Polly, the eldest sister in a family of powerful witches. Lost in a strange forest and beset by monsters, she must do whatever it takes, to whomever she needs to, to survive.
In “A Taste of Change” by Mon Misir, a woman comes to terms with her identity while in a heterosexual marriage. As the undercurrent of dissatisfaction with her life becomes impossible to ignore, extinct animals begin to emerge from her throat.
While dealing with the grief of their mother’s death, Carl and his twin brother must contend with even more devastating news in “The Solitude Booth” by Olwen Wilson. Burdened by the weight of it all, Carl regresses into a tantrumy toddler and becomes fixated on the one thing that keeps being denied to them. At least until their circumstances change in a way that can never be reversed.
In 1976 Bed-Stuy, two boys find a dead body in an empty lot and one of them discovers more than he expected in “Something Outré” by Jo Ferreira.
In “At Fire’s End” by Erica Frederick, Ollie wakes up to a smoke monster searing above her bed. And because she’s lonely (and because why not?), she chooses to sleep with it.
