Matches, my dark(er) retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl, has been published in Edition Two of The Stygian Lepus Magazine. In it, a young peasant girl dreams of a better life while fighting off the stinging chill of the bitter winter wind.

As a frigid wind gusted down the narrow lane, the girl side-stepped into an alley to avoid the chill. She sat down cross-legged on the cobblestone, drawing her feet into her folded knees to try and restore some feeling to her toes. She was freezing, but she dared not go home. Her father would be there, waiting, expectant. How many matches had she sold? How many pennies had she earned? None? The girl winced involuntarily at the crack of her father’s belt. She knew what was in store for her if she returned empty-handed.