Without arms, he could not eat. So he sat, shirtless, against subway concrete. But then the girl came, and she fed him good rice and feasted upon his stories. Afterwards, she thanked him. Baffled, he asked her why. “Because,” she said, “now we are both more than we were before.”

Diane Callahan is a freelance developmental editor and writer of fantasy and speculative fiction. Her YouTube channel, Quotidian Writer, is dedicated to providing practical tips for aspiring writers as well as encouraging discussion about the literary arts.