Vivid imagery about the future of our relationship with ecological surroundings in these three melancholy speculative stories. “The Wild Inside” by Angela Penrose: “We had to close up another building that day—bolt the doors shut, board over the windows, stop up the chimney and all the vents with concrete”. “Packing” by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon): “Today is not the day I wanted to do this, but we aren’t always given choices. It’s time to pack for the new seasons.” And “The Last Ride of the Polaris” by Carmen Peters, in the Apocalpyse issue of Black Cat Magazine (download the PDF), has interiority, two guys, and a waterslide. [Content note: includes a homophobic slur.] “That’s how you needed to talk nowadays, in the past tense.”