My grandmother knit the ocean.Up all night with bargain-basement yarn, she watched old nature shows and knitted fish. Silver fish, red fish, pink-and-orange-polka-dot-vodka fish. She finished each with a knot and prayer-spit and set it out to sea—which was her room in my mother’s house, painted blue. She knit fish like it was her job…
Flaming fiddles, it looks like there’s a roadblock here! If you’d like to finish reading this piece, please
buy a subscription—you’ll get access to the entire online archive of
F(r)iction.
Syr Hayati Beker
Syr Hayati Beker (they/them) is a writer, experience creator, and transdisciplinary artist in search of the queer love language of climate change. Their novella in mutated fairy tales, What A Fish Looks Like, is forthcoming from Stelliform Press in 2025. Syr would like to thank the editors at F(r)iction and especially Helen Maimaris for her extraordinary care with this story.
Kayla Rader
Kayla Rader is an illustrator and designer, originally from Texas, with a passion for storytelling, worldbuilding, and character creation. She is very fond of cowboys, pirates, and vampires (oh my), and loves using intricate linework and bold color in her work. Currently, she’s focusing on freelance illustration, selling handmade stickers and prints in her shop, and developing a webcomic. When she’s not drawing, she’s out adventuring with her party in Dungeons & Dragons or playing a narrative-led video game.
