by Beth Mathison

The edge of the field was hard-packed mud, deep ragged cracks gaping under the hot summer sun. Henry knelt, knees popping in the still air and picked up a handful of dirt, letting it fall slowly from his callused fingers. Rain wasn’t forecast, tomorrow or the next. The crop withering in orderly rows he had planted himself.

Beth Mathison has work published in The Foliate Oak (including the 2008 and 2009 annual “best of” print editions), 365tomorrows.com, Drops of Crimson, and Colored Chalk. She also has two short story series published with Untreed Reads. Beth lives with her family in the Upper Midwest, and during the cold winter months dreams of snorkeling in the Riviera Maya.