Alien

How do you describe an Alien? Some of the writers within this magazine have met one: in the office, in the fridge, in space; in the sea. Some have become one, by peering into the mirror and finding a stranger, from opening a letter sent from the Home Office, by wearing insults hurled from intolerance and fear. A fusion of short stories, flash fiction, reviews and poetry echoing into the unknown.; "With one long exhale, my skin unzipped and out she slid, quiet and instinctive." - Unzipped. By Claire Walker; "Although they had told her - and shown her the images - that the creature had not only wrapped around her body but had penetrated it as well. Sally had read horrifying examples of the damage that parasites could do to their hosts but she'd never felt better." - Sally's Little Friend. By Lee-Ann Coleman; "Like when mum went to the City Council for housing and was told she should be ashamed for asking. That there were better people than her (and him) more deserving of a proper home, a garden - a piece of a bulldozered field that is forever England." - On Being of Polish-German Origin in England in the 60s & 70s. By Louise Longson