Signals

The weather had been strange for weeks. No patterns, only habits. Chairs inching away from desks. Books returning to the wrong shelves. Time arriving early and leaving before the second act. She told no one. Dressed for several climates at once: boots and silk, umbrella and sunglasses. Her bag heavier

The fridge had a second compartment she hadn’t noticed before. It was behind the cheese drawer, and cold in a different way – not temperature, but tone. Inside were small Tupperware boxes, each labelled with a date that hadn’t happened yet. She opened one and found a conversation, perfectly

The university had a department no one could find on the map. Students were sometimes enrolled by mistake. The syllabus contained only questions that had already ruined someone’s life. Exams were silent and self-administered. Those who passed were sent a certificate printed on edible rice paper, which they were

The hallway wore his coat for three days. It never complained. She replaced the doorknob with a small jar of fog. It worked the same, but colder. The children learned to speak in weather. She nodded when they got the season right. He asked nothing, but rearranged the chairs until

The girl lived under a staircase that no one believed existed. It was there — but only sideways. She kept a notebook filled with diagrams of escape tunnels — none of which had ever worked. Once a week, she’d test the walls for kindness. They rarely responded. She was given a

A hedgehog opened a custody hearing in a parking garage. No one objected. The filing was done in marmalade. Three witnesses arrived: a left shoe, a decoy duck, and a regret that had been composted improperly. The woman spoke only through interpretive coughing. The man arrived late, wearing a leash

A group of well-dressed ants opened a consultancy firm. They specialised in urgency management. Their motto: Everything is critical, unless it isn’t. They faxed invoices to flowers. Held meetings at the bottom of teacups. Charged by the minute – including pauses for existential doubt. On Holy Saturdays, they wore tiny

A piano was found in a bakery. It played only crusts. Someone ate the sheet music, claiming it tasted like regret with a hint of rosemary. The baker swore he hadn’t ordered a piano, but admitted he had been dreaming in chords since Tuesday. In the alley behind the

A cupboard was found inside a lake. It contained a teaspoon, a half-knitted scarf, and one of those things that might be a seed or a stone, depending on who asks. The lock was made of jelly. The key was missing. A fish claimed responsibility but refused to testify. At

A toaster applied for citizenship. It was denied, but thanked the ministry politely and swallowed a postcard. Somewhere near a fountain that only worked in reverse, a woman sewed buttons onto a cloud and mailed it to herself under a different name. The letter arrived on a Tuesday, but she