‘Sup, Handsome?

I set down my phone. It felt heavier than it had an hour ago. “Do we have to?” I asked. “He seems so…nice. And kinda sad.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going soft!” Ayisha scoffed, looking up from her freshly polished crossbow. She applied beeswax every day, just in case. “Even if you were gay, that thing isn’t even a man. It’s a monster!”

Even if I were gay.

“I guess…”

“Hey, if you’re actually horny, we can bone tonight when we’re done.” She kissed me lightly on the cheek. “I’m going to get the car. Meet me out front?”

“Sounds awesome,” I said, looking away. Even to my own ears, my words seemed clumsy.

Another two guys had messaged me on the app, but they seemed to be ordinary humans. Ignorable, right?

© 2023 Sharang Biswas

About the Author

Sharang Biswas is a writer, artist, and award-winning game designer. He has won IndieCade and IGDN awards for his games and has showcased interactive works at numerous galleries, museums, and festivals, including Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, and the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. His writing has appeared in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Fantasy, Eurogamer, Dicebreaker, Unwinnable, and in the anthologies Unfettered Hexes: Tales of Insatiable Darkness and We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2021.