•   CONTENTS                                                            Before Paphos
                          Estranged
           Art Gallery                                                  by Loretta Casteen
       o
                          By Bruce Holland Rogers 8 January 2007
           Articles
       o
                          11 September 2000
           Columns                                                      It starts again. The baby
       o
                                                                        begins to cough and choke.
                          After the divorce, my wife said she didn't
           Fiction
       o
                          know who or what she wanted to be. When Locked Doors
           Poetry
       o                  I heard that she had become a toaster, I felt
                          vindicated. A toaster! Was that all she could by Stephanie Burgis
           Reviews
       o
                          be without me? And she wasn't even good
                                                                         1 January 2007
                          at it. She could only do two slices at a time,
           Archives
       o
                          and they came out charred on one side and You can never let anyone
•   ABOUT US              white on the other. Obviously, she was the suspect, his mother told him.
                          one with inadequacies.                         That was the first rule she
           Staff
       o
                                                                         taught him, and the last,
                          True, I was unemployed myself. But a
                                                                         before she left him here alone
           Guidelines
       o                  toaster! I would never fall as low as that. I
                                                                         with It.
                          would take a job as a human being, or I'd
           Contact
       o
                          stay on the dole.                              Heroic Measures
           Awards
       o
                    Later, she worked as a hotel washing             by Matthew Johnson
                    machine, then as a high-capacity dryer until
      o Banners
                    she was demoted. She became one of those 18 December 2006
•   SUPPORT US      laundry hampers with four wheels and a
                    canvas hopper. Finally, she lost even that Pale as he was, it was hard
      o Donate                                                       to believe he would never
                    job.
                                                                     rise from this bed. Even in
         Bookstore
      o             Soon, however, I felt less and less like         the darkest times, she had
                    gloating. I still couldn't find any work at all, never really feared for him;
      o Merchandise
                    no matter how I tried.                           he had always been strong,
                                                                     so strong.
•   COMMUNITY
                    I next saw her while on my way to an
                    interview for janitorial work at a hospital. Love Among the Talus
      o Forum
                    She was in the parking lot, backed into a
                                                                     by Elizabeth Bear
      o Readers'    reserved space. And she was stunning.
         Choice
                    There was no mistaking her, even with all the11 December 2006
                    changes. She had white sidewalls. Her body
                                                                     Nilufer raised her eyes to his.
                    was lustrous teal everywhere but on the
                                                                     It was not what women did
                    inward curving white panels that streaked
                                                                     to men, but she was a
                    back from her front wheels. Her chrome
                                                                     princess, and he was only a
                    sparkled in the sun.
                                                                     bandit. "I want to be a
                    I just stood there in front of her, searching Witch," she said. "A Witch
                    for something to say until a man came out of and not a Queen. I wish to
                                                                     be not loved, but wise. Tell
                    the hospital and walked up to her.
                                                                     your bandit lord, if he can
                    "Beautiful, isn't she?" he said, fitting a key give me that, I might accept
                    into her door. "I restored her," he said, "built his gift."
                    her up a little from her original 283 small
                                                                     Archived Fiction Dating
                    block, gave her some juice.
                    Dual-Carter-carbed. You know cars? Want back to 9/1/00
                    to see under the hood?"

                          His generosity made me uncomfortable.