The Devil's Lantern
by Elena Zhang
In this movie, God falls in love with me. Our meet-cute is at the grocery store. I bump into Him and drop a carton of eggs. From the splattered yolk, God creates a dozen yellow-throated warblers. They aren’t exactly what I wanted, but He is so eager to please me that I take them home with me. God calls me the next day, even though I had not given Him my number, did not even have a phone. We go out to see a movie. His presence looms so large that the audience dissolves into dust. We are alone, and that is how I like it. In the movie, God gives birth to a girl. She looks just like my grandmother, except she has no eyes. We speak our vows. I cry. God shushes the baby. Tells me not to be afraid. This is the happy ending. That night, I go home and find an empty cage. Yellow feathers on my tongue.
Elena Zhang is a Chinese American writer and mother living in Chicago. Her work can be found in The Offing, Wigleaf, and X-R-A-Y, among other publications. She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, and was selected for Best Microfiction 2024, 2025, and 2026.
