About the Author Sophia Holder graduated from the University of Southampton in 1998 with an upper second B.Sc. Hons. in maths and French. She is now living in Costa Rica teaching English as a foreign language. She has been writing seriously for 2 years. As a teacher, she enjoys observing people and writing about strong emotions, the absurd and impossible. She has written a number of other short stories in the experimental genre. This collection of stories are her fist in Nuvein.

By his reaction to me, I knew that he was not the addressee. "Lads, lads come and take a look at this letter some bird’s sent John," he yelled mockingly. I danced out of his hands as he tried to clutch me in vain. His desire to make a fool of my romantic nature infuriated me and I slashed myself across his palm cutting deeply into his flesh. I swept gracefully to the ceiling as he snatched up at me. My movements were slick and smooth and try as he did, his clumsy rigid hands could not catch me.

I grew angrier when he did not give in, and slashed him across the face in one neat line, then floated back to admire my work. For an instant there was no mark, but then blood started to ooze down his cheeks. I moved forward, my intention to cover his nose and mouth to stop him from ever breathing again. He backed away from me, hands held high. I stopped, not wishing to arrive in the lover's hands blood stained and ugly.

"Bic!" I ordered in sounds only audible to stationary, "Write this message on the wall, 'you tell anyone of my contents, I'll come back and smother you.'"

I folded myself up neatly and found a new skin, slipping into a clean envelope lying on his desk. After Bic had rewritten the address, I dropped back into the basket, waiting for the intended recipient to read me with joy.