"All the Single Women" by Christine H. Chen

All the Single Women

were invited to the pilot program of HappilyEverAfter where the newly invented HomoSapiens

module would spit out genetic codes to assemble their perfect partner. The single women

presented their mile-long list: thick finger-losing never-thinning hair, good teeth, perfect toilet

aim, fart-less butt, diamond-gifter etc. They shriek with joy at the sight of their handsome man,

but soon their men shrugged away to flirt with younger and more beautiful women. Outraged

women ripped each other’s mane before turning away from their foolishness, hair flying like

freedom flags. Left to their own device, men melted back into a puddle of primordial soup.

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Madagascar before settling in Boston, Christine H. Chen’s fiction work has been published in CRAFT Literary, SmokeLong Quarterly, trampset, The Citron Review, and other journals. She is a grateful recipient of the 2022 Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship and the co-translator from French of the hybrid poem-memoir My Lemon Tree forthcoming in 2023 by Spuyten Duyvil. Her publications can be found at www.christinehchen.com