The Falls of Us

In these sharp, genre-bending short stories, ordinary lives crack under the pressure of systems that were never built to sustain them. A grandmother in “Fragments” fights to hold on to herself as dementia splinters her memories, while those who love her watch the person they know slip away in pieces. In “Memory Stoned,” a policy analyst is offered a chance to feel other people’s memories, raising the question of whether borrowed empathy makes us more compassionate or just better consumers, and whether she’s regulating her feelings or quietly becoming addicted.

“Expiate” follows two strangers pulled into a ritual of public repentance where even small acts, like being asked to remove your shoes, become measures of guilt and worthiness. In “Cliffhangers,” a driving lesson gone wrong leaves an instructor and her student stranded on a literal ledge, forcing them to confront entitlement, generational survival, and the thin line between accident and consequence.

Blending literary prose with speculative twists, The Falls of Us is a collection of microfiction, flash, and full-length short stories for readers of literary, speculative, and socially conscious fiction.