Sylvie: Smoke

Enduring ancestral fallout requires the strength to hold your breath.

After twenty-six years, the corrosive words of Sylvie's mother have etched their way into her bones. Carrying her weight like a suit of armor against a world that views skunks as a systemic liability, she sits on a park bench with nothing left to lose.

Then comes High Tails, a sanctuary disguised as an adult club, run by a fox who offers her a piece of clearing where the willing are allowed to take root. For the first time,...