SL Huang: Up and Coming: Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

Now, though, faced with the first dog that don’t back down at your coat-cape, you’re not so sure. You try to bark at this one, but the sound catches in your throat, like the dog’s keeping it there with those burning green eyes. His dark gray fur makes you think of ashes. He even smells like smoke.

Billy just keeps on yapping until the dog barks back. One bark, deep and rough, and it’s all your brother needs. He lights off running, kicking up gravel behind him. The dog gives chase, but he’s aiming for the closer meat. You.

It takes everything you got to to catch up to Billy, and by the time you do, you can feel the beast’s hot breath slicing through your jacket. Your sides throb. You can’t go on, but the Cur don’t slow none. Then your leg juts out to the side, catching Billy’s shin, and down he goes.

He howls. It’s a weak sound like his puppy barks, one that don’t reach the neighbors. But it’s awful, that scream. Not the noise, but the way it stops. Sudden. And you know. The silence cuts you sharp as teeth.

When you finally look, the Cur is gone. Only Billy remains, lying still, his neck all torn and crimson and his eyes open to the clouds.

Everyone says it wasn’t your fault. Sometimes you can almost make yourself believe your leg kicked out by accident. But you know what you done, and you know where you’re going. They don’t call the Cur a hellhound for nothing.

bayraktar —standard-bearer (Turkish) (translators' note).

The old Turkish name for the Bulgarian town of Stara Zagora (translators' note).

Armenian version of the author’s name (Ivan Popov) (translators' note).

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"Pearl" is also slang for a locally produced hallucinogenic that is sometimes used in meditation. Despite the name, the connection with either natural or android nacre has not been confirmed, largely due to lack of research.

APC: Android Production Committee.

These are commonly referred to as Androids, as this has been the popular term for many decades—however the universal applicability of the term has been questioned on various grounds. Still, other proposed terms, such as Gynoid and Cyborg, although more accurate in certain cases, are no longer in widespread use.