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History

Ann Cwiklinski Fiction

“One-way or round trip?” The technician doesn’t glance up from the glowing tablet strapped to her wrist.

“Round trip,” Marie decides on the spot.

“Class?” 

“Class? As in First or Seco–?”

“No, no: class, as in class, genus, and species. What are you coming back as?” The technician’s false-fingernail stylus, polished with gold and blue stripes, hovers over her tablet screen. Marie is momentarily distracted by the fingernail, which reminds her of the colorful King Tut poster she displayed in her 6th-grade classroom for nearly 40 years: Tut’s headdress was striped precisely the same lapis blue and burnished gold. Funny how humans, so dazzled by technology, never really stray far from their ancient roots, she muses. Does this brisk young woman interrogating her realize that tablets and styluses were popular 3000 years ago? Humans are humans are humans.

“So… class?” prompts the tech impatiently, tapping her screen. 

“Um, I’m thinking maybe… bird?”

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About Ann Cwiklinski
Ann Cwiklinski started writing short stories about ten years ago, while raising four children in rural Pennsylvania. She previously worked as a writer for various organizations in Washington, DC, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her stories have won first prize at The Baltimore Review, CentralPA Magazine, and Yorkfest, a local arts festival, and have also appeared in pacificREVIEW, Minerva Rising, and The Flexible Persona.

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