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The Road All Runners Come

12/4/2019

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There is a runner in the Incan empire whose job is to carry a fish. Normally he carries a message, running a leg and then passing it along to the next man. Today his charge is a fish. It is fresh from the coast and bound for the emperor in Cuzco. One fish. All that way. 

As the runner bounces through the Sierra, his mind wanders. Maybe he thinks of birds overhead or the far off jungle and its secrets. Maybe he thinks of empire and emperor or his place in the world and his own self, past and future. His fingers start to slip on what seem to be still wet scales. He realizes and tightens his grip but loses track of his footing. He slips and falls. 

​When he reorients himself he sees only the tail of the fish. It has been hewn in two, impossibly so, and the head is missing. It has gone over the cliff’s edge. It might find an alpine lake, grow a new tail, and go on with its fishy life. It might have already. The half fish mocks him. If the head were still there it would speak to him and laugh. He is doomed and he knows it. He feels shame, sadness. To the llamas grazing on the hillside above it is no great disaster.  
 
News reaches the emperor and he summarily executes the runner. Then he has a trout from the river for lunch.
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    Patrick Harrington

    Patrick Harrington is from San Francisco and currently resides in Madrid where he teaches English like a traveling salesman. Contact him at patrickh1993@gmail.com

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  • Fall
    • Tayler Karinen
    • Benjamin Lindsey
    • Patrick Harrington
    • Rich Ives
    • Kelly Kotewa
    • Craig Rodgers
    • Laura Fletcher
    • Jen McConnell
    • Remi Skytterstad
  • Past Issues
    • YEAR ONE >
      • Issue 1: October >
        • Dalton Day
        • Camila Maldonado
        • Elizabeth Burton
        • Daniel Kay
        • Shelby Bevins-Sullivan
        • Ryan Havers
      • Issue 2: November >
        • Rob Sturma
        • Candi V. Auchterlonie
        • Christopher Mulrooney
        • William James
        • Andrew Rhys Young
        • Michael Cormack
        • Kayla Pongrac
      • Issue 3: December >
        • Ann Huang
        • Peter Vanderberg
        • John Sweet
        • Daniel von der Embse
        • Rebecca Dutsar
        • Sarah Kersey
        • Geramee Hensley
      • Issue 4: January >
        • Stacey Balkun
        • Nolan Liebert
        • Charles Bane Jr.
        • Carly Gordon
        • Yoni Hammer-Kossoy
        • Bryan Harvey
        • Jonathan May
      • Issue 5: February >
        • Meggie Royer
        • I. S. Jones
        • John O'Connor
        • Daniel von der Embse
      • Issue 6: March >
        • Lauren Frament
        • Jordan Jamison
        • Steve Meagher
        • Lauren Milici
        • Emily Alexander
        • Vaishnavi Nathan
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        • Ace Boggess
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        • Kayla Wheeler
        • Larry Thacker
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        • John Grabski
        • Brennan Bestwick
        • Niles M. Reddick
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        • Steven Dunn
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        • Joseph Lisowski
        • James Fitzgerald
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        • Shannon Austin
        • Matthew Moffett
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        • Alexander Dang
        • Kathy Fish
        • Tiffany McDaniel
        • Leonor Morrow
        • Amy Silverberg
        • Alex Tedesco
      • Issue 11: August >
        • Louis Jenkins
        • Rebecca Harrison
        • Yuan Changming
        • Cathy Ulrich
        • Toti O'Brien
        • Erin Slaughter
      • Issue 12: September >
        • Anis Mojgani
        • Levi Andrew Noe
        • Davon Loeb
        • Paul Beckman
        • Lydia Havens
        • William Butler
        • Robert A. Kaufman
    • YEAR TWO >
      • Issue 13: October >
        • R. G. Evans
        • John Pistelli
        • Hannah Brown
        • Carl Boon
        • Christine Nichols
        • Joshua Robert Long
      • Issue 14: November >
        • Rushda Rafeek
        • John Grabski
        • Naima Woods
        • Peter Burzynski
        • Kathleen Radigan
      • Issue 15: December >
        • Jane Rosenberg LaForge
        • Darren C. Demaree
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        • Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad
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        • Lewis Mundt
        • April Vázquez
        • Emma Hutson
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      • Issue 25: October >
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        • Nicholas Morris
        • Ola Faleti
        • Phoebe Nicholson
      • Issue 26: November >
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        • Eddy Jordan
      • Issue 27: December >
        • Jon Bennett
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      • Issue 28: January >
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        • Sarah David
      • Issue 29: February >
        • Ron Gibson Jr.
        • Amanda Kabak
        • Travis Naught
        • Allen Forrest
        • Susan Monaghan
      • Issue 30: March >
        • Hannah Larrabee
        • ​Lino Anunciacion
        • Karese Burrows
        • Reneé Bibby
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        • Nina Murray
        • Daniel Blokh
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      • Issue 35: August >
        • Luisana Cortez
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        • Carrie Chappell
        • Adam Lock
      • Issue 36: September >
        • Jill Mceldowney
        • Leon Kortenkamp
        • Sarah Jones
        • Darren Demaree
    • YEAR FOUR >
      • Issue 37: October >
        • Hannah Stone
        • William Doreski
        • Sarah Wetzel
        • C. T. Salazar
      • Issue 38: November >
        • Kristen Ploetz
        • Stephanie Rael
        • Brittany Frederick
        • Jay Sheets
        • Andy Cashmore
      • Issue 39: December >
        • Taylor Mali
        • Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
        • John Williams
        • Iskandar Haggarty
        • Donald Hubbard
        • Kenneth Otani
        • Alex Miller
      • SPRING >
        • Simon Perchik
        • Lino Anunciacion
        • Colleen Rich
        • Donia Mounsef
        • Nitzan Meltzer Watman
        • Ann Hillesland
        • DJ Swykert
      • SUMMER >
        • Cynthia X. Hua
        • Heidi Seaborn
        • Daniel Nester
        • Ginnah Howard
        • Jonathan Bracker
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        • William James
        • Laura Bentley
        • Ally Ang
        • Kurt Luchs
        • Joanna Hoffman
      • Winter >
        • Danny Caine
        • Emma Wang
        • Maria McLeod
        • Darren Demaree
        • Susan J. Mitchell
      • SPRING >
        • Sandra Kolankiewicz
        • Michael O'Neill
        • Lino Anunciacion
        • Katherine Fallon
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  • Harpoon Books