Author

Elisabeth Fairchild

Elisabeth Fairchild was born in San Francisco and grew up among the coastal redwoods of northern California. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and is currently working on a collection of short stories, The Pacific. [2011]

CONTRIBUTIONS

34.2 Cover. Cover Art: Contemporary Romeo by Alexandros Vasmoulakis.

Fiction

Jul 17 2011

A Heavy Breath

Her breakfast tasted like whale. It was a perished, fishy flavor that covered everything on her plate. Pauline swallowed her bacon and beans in several masses, leaving only drips of pork fat to be sopped up with yesterday’s bread. She and Ezra ate in silence while the baby slept. When Ezra’s plate was cleaned, he wiped his hands on the linen of the tablecloth, gulped down his coffee and rose to dress for work. He put on his bloodstained clothes.