A.P. Howell -- Pamplona

He applies pressure, though he cannot even hold his organs inside, much less slow the

bleeding. He thinks of the running of the bulls, in a city he never visited, its name escaping his

guttering thoughts. Nothing gained, nothing learned, just the ability to say I was there, too and,

perhaps, display a scar.

This had not been a bull, but something unknown. No “too” for him, he was first. What

would they learn from his wounds, from following the blood trail? The knowledge would be his

monument, though not the contribution he planned when setting foot on this world.

A. P. Howell’s jobs have spanned the alphabet from archivist to webmaster. Her short fiction has recently appeared in Martian, Underland Arcana, ParSec, Bicycles & Broomsticks: Fantastical Feminist Stories about Witches on Bikes (Elly Blue Publishing), and Darkness Blooms (The Dread Machine). She lives with her spouse and their two kids, and can be found online at aphowell.com.