“Kinmen, 1969”: Fiction by Deborah Jang

  2024 Grand Prize Winner, College Category On odd days of the month, the mainland bombards the islands with shells. On even days, we return the favor. The steel capsules come thick and fast, a distinctive whistle in the air. My teacher instructs us to take cover in the concrete-reinforced bomb shelter under the school’s track. I don’t learn very much on those days.  Half a million shells landed on Kinmen in forty days. If Kinmen is 150 square kilometers, calculate the number…