Space Monkey

Navigation Officer Will Saver arrives for his shift to discover an unexpected new crew member: JimJim, a space monkey won by Captain Lentesco in a poker game. Will is less than thrilled about working alongside a simian helmsman and makes his displeasure known. However, when their routine patrol is disrupted by an unusual threat, Will and JimJim must find a way to work together. This bizarro space adventure blends humor with heart, exploring themes of prejudice, teamwork, and the surprising places heroism can come from-even when covered in fur. David J. Avila writes bizarre and emotionally exhausting short stories and novelettes that defy easy categorization. His work exists in the uncomfortable spaces between absurdist fiction, dark fantasy, and psychological horror-the kind of stories that didn't have a place in the grade school classrooms where he first fell in love with writing.Avila's fiction takes familiar frameworks-fairy tales, magical realism, everyday objects and twists them until they reveal something raw and unsettling about violence, belief, and human desperation. His characters navigate worlds where toasters perform miracles, unicorns seek revenge, and the line between the mundane and the impossible dissolves completely.With five short stories currently available, Avila continues to explore the darker corners of imagination from his home in California's San Joaquin Valley, crafting tales that linger long after the final page.