He sticks out his tongue, blue from the candy. Blue like poison dart frogs and busted glass bottles and other things you’re not supposed to put in your mouth.

I stick out my tongue right back; artificial red.

We’re two animals flashing warning signals we intend, boldly, ruinously, to disregard.

Mikaila Nalbantova is a speculative fiction writer with a focus on the epic, the folkloric, and the Classical. She received her MFA at Sarah Lawrence College and her work has appeared or is forthcoming on Apex Book Company, in Club Plum, Tension Literary, and Statement Magazine. You can find more of her work through linktr.ee/mikaila.nalbantova.