Pushcart 2026 L: Anthony Marra, “Countdown” from All-Story #28.1

Their UK visas were all of five hours old when Sonya’s husband, Alexei, looked up from the computer and announced they would never escape Russia. “Come on,” she said. “Ticket prices can’t be that bad.” By now, Sonya was inured to Alexei’s bouts of melodrama and declarations of doom. He was the sort of easily persuaded catastrophist who sourced his medical advice and political opinions from Reddit. Sonya set her passport on the kitchen table. She’d been smelling the visa itself, which had the fresh, fibrous scent of a newly minted banknote. According to the lady at the British embassy, the paper was fitted with microchips for enhanced security. Paper that was part computer: what better gestured to the brave new world awaiting them in England? “We’re not going to England,” Alexei repeated. “There are no fucking flights.” “Language,” Sonya said, nodding to their six-year-old daughter, Masha. Among the many choices a writer makes when working on a story is the point of view. This gets…