Kij Johnson, "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss"

A circus, a girl, and the monkeys that disappear.

"No one knows how the monkeys vanish or where they go. Sometimes they return holding foreign coins or durian fruit, or wearing pointed Moroccan slippers. Every so often one returns pregnant or accompanied by a new monkey. The number of monkeys is not constant."

This is a Short Story nominee for the 2008 Nebula Award. I thought it was very creative. Kij is a technical writer, and, like Bentley Little and probably others, uses some of that profession in her writing. There are lists, there are bullet points. I like how she teased out the mystery. It was a thoughtful examination of the unknown. Recommended.

Read it here.