Unserious postmodern paintings.

The ocelot had decided, after three years of unsuccessful ambition, that mediocrity was a sustainable career path. It now devoted its energies…

The merganser had been waiting for the bus that never came, though it had never intended to take one. It had read…

The abalone had been employed, briefly, as a paperweight in a real estate office that closed after the market crashed. It was…

The goshawk had been pondering the weight of silence when the raindrop appeared, hanging in the air like a question without an…

The greenshank had applied for the position three weeks prior, unaware the role was symbolic. It arrived punctually at 8:15 a.m., placed…

The avadavat had resisted the upgrade for three weeks, but the municipal ornithology board insisted. Now, perched on the sill, it felt…

The woodcreeper had spent three mornings rehearsing its speech in the hollow of a dead cedar, convinced that heroism required volume and…

The mesite had been waiting for the quarterly review for seventeen months. It knew the protocol: stand still, do not blink, let…

The orca had been found wedged in the drainage ditch behind the hardware store, still breathing, still confused. The owner, a retired…

The dunlin had flown inland following a misread magnetic anomaly, landing in the break room of a defunct sock factory at 3:17…

The mouse had earned seven degrees, three postdocs, and a fellowship no one else qualified for, yet here it remained, waiting for…

The phoebe had been practicing sincerity for seventeen days, refusing to fluff its feathers even when cold, and insisting on stating the…