"In the Gynecologist’s Waiting Room, Aunt Flo Reads Female Frogs and Dragonflies May Feign Death to Avoid Mating" by Mikki Aronoff

When Jake’s home randy from trucking and candy, Flo’s amphibious—a moist, round thing. She sticks her skinny limbs out rigid—her rigor mortis impression. Her bulging eyes stare at the ceiling as Jake orbits her like he’s assessing tires on a used pickup. Once, she took a stab at dropping from the sky, crash-diving to the floor. A tiny, whiny whimper and a faux wing flutter, and Flo lay motionless on her back, buggy peepers squeezed shut. Jake rolled over, defeated. She covered herself with dry leaves and twigs. When he reached for her again, he couldn’t find her.

Mikki Aronoff’s work appears in New World Writing, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Roi Fainéant, Flash Boulevard, Bending Genres, Milk Candy Review, Gone Lawn, 100 word story, Atlas and Alice, trampset, The Offing, Midway Journal, and elsewhere. She’s received Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best American Short Stories, and Best Microfiction nominations.