In 1980’s Oregon, Smokey is trying to survive childhood with a young mom who is increasingly desperate in her search for love. As their mother’s boyfriends come and go, Smokey aches for the safety their mother can never quite provide. When a dangerous new man moves into the house, Smokey seeks refuge in the nearby forests– finding comfort as they give themselves over to the strength and beauty of the natural world. Charlie J. Stephens is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race writer from the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, Charlie has lived all over the U.S. as a bike messenger, wilderness guide, high school English teacher, and seasonal shark diver (for educational purposes only.) Resident of Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast, they are the owner of Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center. Charlie’s short fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, Best Small Fictions Anthology, New World Writing, Original Plumbing/Feminist Press, and elsewhere. Their debut no
