io9 is proud to present fiction from Lightspeed Magazine . Once a month, we feature a story from Lightspeed ’s current issue. This month’s selection is “In the Zone” by Lisa M. Bradley. Enjoy!

In the Zone

by Lisa M. Bradley

As her head hit the pillow, Yadira felt exhausted and relieved. Exhausted, because she’d worked on a very large collage almost the whole day straight. Her shoulder blades ached from hunching over her worktable, and, despite scrubbing, she still had ink under her nails. Relieved, because she felt like she’d left it all out on the field, rather than still vibrating with artistic energy. That meant what she’d experienced that day was a natural creative high, not the start of a manic phase. She wished she didn’t have to constantly question her moods, but she hadn’t

See Full Page