A chapbook of short stories. Eight pieces that might be claustrophobic, or semi-hinged, or regretful, or vengeful, or sardonic, or evil. ☞ A drunkard commits armed robbery, armed with a venomous snake. ☞ An ecological event endangers a boy's health; his mother is panicky, his father eerily unconcerned. ☞ A dying woman faces an impossible compromise. ☞ An ageing superhero worries for a future world she won't be there to pacify. ☞ And more. These stories were previously published in JMWW, The Denver Quarterly, Litro US Online, and elsewhere. They are collected here for the first time.