Sam Kyung Yoo is a speculative fiction writer and third-degree black belt taekwondo instructor living in Massachusetts. They have a BA in English, creative writing, and film studies from Brandeis University, but have since abandoned academia in favor of writing about ghosts, East Asian folklore, and sad robots. Their short fiction has been published through Fireside, Ghost Orchid Press, Neon Hemlock Press, among others, and their debut novella will be published by Interstellar Flight Press in early 2023. You can find them on Twitter @SamKyungYoo or at samkyungyoo.com.
The chrysanthemums are dying. The yellow flowers face downward, stems wilting at the neck. Their petals curl and brown at the edges like burning paper. You lift one of the ragged blossoms up, as if to try and help it support its own weight. You keep the flowerpot on the kitchen countertop right by the apartment window where it can get the most sunlight, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
Flaming orange tongues devour the walls around us. The soldiers outside batter at the old wooden doors of the back entrance. Gingko holds fast, the ornate mural of gingko tree branches and golden leaves glowing like painted sunshine.
