Here's "Deus Ex Arca," a beautifully told, absurdist science fiction story about a terrible, wonderful box, by Desirina Boskovich. Desirina was one of my Clarion students about five years ago, and was extremely promising then. When I saw her name on a new story today, I was sure it would be beautiful, and wonderful, and haunting, and I was not disappointed.
Miss Amelia gazed in shock at where her table had been. "Well, I never," she said. She bent over to pick up the box . . .
. . . and turned into a giant celery stalk.
Where there had been Miss Amelia, there was now something else, and that something else was a column of celery, measuring approximately five feet and five inches, its limpid green fronds rustling gently in the breeze.
The box sat beside it.
Lightspeed Presents… "Deus Ex Arca" by Desirina Boskovich
