THE HEAT OF BEING ALIVE; WARM BREATHS, HOT BLOOD, FLESH BURNING WITH DESIRE. DO WE FAN THE FLAMES OR EXTINGUISH THE FIRE? There is so much that goes into burning. Kindling, a spark, the flames, the ash, the smoke, the aftermath. The stories in this anthology recognize that burning is serious business. A man drowns in an emotional shower (the flames are doused) after encountering a merman who resembles his deceased childhood friend. An all-consuming passion (desire is so helplessly flammable) turns a man into a bat. A medical assistant narrates how the lost placenta of a premature infant triggers a chain of curses (the ash, the smoke, the aftermath). A love triangle between sisters leaves a mother with no choice but to replace her daughter as the bride (the burning down of everything). A potted plant enlightens a timid woman about a sassy way to escape from her control freak mother-in-law (this is how you make your way out of a fire). An arsonist uses a tangle of red string to draw her husband’ s fiery qi into herself (the vocabulary of love is a vocabulary of burning).