Unserious postmodern paintings.

The squirrel had resisted the upgrade for three winters, preferring the quiet reliability of fur and wind to the buzzing uncertainty of…

The okapi had been told, long ago, that it was too large for the room. It had not argued. It simply stood,…

The mayfly had been granted legal personhood after a clerical error in the Department of Entomological Anomalies, and now, every dawn, it…

The aardvark had been told, repeatedly, that adaptability was the key to survival in the new economy. So it learned pivot tables,…

The locust had sworn off drama after the Great Migration of '09, when it realized no one noticed its emotional journey across…

The stoat had been knighted that morning by a committee of mice who mistook its twitching nose for resolve. It did not…

Bernard the loach had announced his semi-retirement three weeks prior, citing 'diminished current tolerance' and a sudden fondness for chamomile. He now…

The curlew had been waiting for the soup to cool. It had stood there for three hours, according to the clock on…

The sparrowhawk had been waiting for the water to stop dripping for seventeen minutes. It had tried sighing, then blinking slowly, then…

The martin had returned every spring for seventeen years, though it could not remember why. It did not miss the barn—it had…

The phoebe had spent three hours preparing its apology for existing too loudly during Tuesday’s quiet hour. It had rehearsed the tilt…

Every morning at precisely 7:03, the bobcat arrived, sat down, and waited — not for anything in particular, but because that was…