The steak crackles in the pan, then comes out. In goes the butter, then the mushrooms, psilocybe cubensis. They brown. The steak reenters. Since his wife’s death, John’s appetite has been temperamental. His belly full, he stumbles to bed, blinks… she appears as a whisper… then melts… dripping into eternity.

G. O. Elliott is an emerging writer based in Santa Barbara, CA, where he is the father to two boys and the spouse to a smarter and kinder soul than he. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Syracuse University. When not writing, he enjoys volunteering, going to the beach with his family, and eating tacos.