The ceiling shakes above us, reminding me of that scene in Aliens when the acid-dripping spawn shower down. We grip our eggnogs and stare up at plaster flaking like fake snow blanketing the California lawn outside, hearing nothing but the weird unhuman voices of our offspring moving closer closer closer.

Kate Horsley’s first novel was shortlisted for the Saltire Award. Her second was published by William Morrow. Both have been optioned for film. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines like The Cincinnati Review, The Citron Review, Fictive Dream, BULL, Paragraph Planet, Blood+Honey, Tiny Molecules, Flash Fiction Online, SEXTET, Ink, Sweat, & Tears, Fish Barrel Review, Cake, and Strix, and placed in competitions including Bath, Bournemouth, Bridport, Oxford and Smokelong. She’s a creative writing lecturer.