Some fantastic free fiction to start the day. There are a pair of stories by genre great Nina Kiriki Hoffman, a pair of stories at Lightspeed, and many more free fiction stories. There are also great audio stories, including a classic Robert Bloch story from Weird Tales. And flas fiction for a bit of icing on the cake. Special thanks to Old Miser for a pair of links.
If you happen to use Google Chrome (why???) you might be curious as to why QD is sometimes listed as potentially dangerous. QD is not now, nor has it ever been a dangerous site. Because a perfectly legitimate, at the time, site that QD linked to years ago has since then apparently become "listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer," QD still sometimes gets a red flag. And even though the QD no longer even links to that site (all old links were deleted), you may still get a warning - don't fear, QD will never host, nor knowingly link to, any dangerous, illegal, or immoral* sites. [Thanks to John D for the heads up about this issue]
* Immoral is subjective but QD will not link to porn, politics, or real hate speech.
More later - I hope (I have at least one link to steal from Regan)
Fiction
At AE: "The Mugger's Hymn" by Julian Mortimer Smith.
"John Gunn crept down Fumblers Alley all jagged nerves and awkward stealth. He hadn’t slept a wink in a week. He had kept himself awake with hits of pirate nicotine and splintery, shivery adrenaline. He knew that if he slept he would lose the tune, that better-than-certainty, that unthinking faith in the world."
At The Colored Lens: "Diffusion – Part 1" by Andrew Tisbert. Urban Fantasy. Slipstream.
"No, these images were from the inside, through his clones’ eyes, evoking a different kind of terror. Some hit suddenly—a bright flash of light, a burst of pain shearing mercifully off into nothing. Others took time. His heart thumping out blood like a cavitating oil pump."
At Daily Science Fiction: "The Key to Everything" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
"My special talent was pissing people off. That wasn't the technical term for it, but that was what I was good at. You would think there wouldn't be much demand for this talent. That would be you, wrong again."
At Eclipse Online: "Firebugs" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
“Esta, can you explain why you set that bush on fire?” Creche Mother Makis asked us. Two of her sibs flanked her on the judgment bench. All three stared at us, their faces expressionless, identical. Hawk noses, narrow mouths, deep-set eyes under heavy brows, their hair hidden under the white hoods of their judgment robes."
At Electric Velocipede: "The Night We Drank Cold Wine" by Megan Kurashig.
"I don’t ask anymore, but Rhodes always explains. If I decide to pick up the phone, he will tell me a story of unexpected coincidences to make me laugh; and I will hardly believe it, even though I know his stories always turn out to be true."
At Lightspeed: "A Game of Rats and Dragon" by Tobias S. Buckell. Science Fiction.
"Moonlighting as a non-player character was a hell of a way to earn a living. Never made much sense to spend all that time garbing up in a virtual uniform that matched gamespace, but Overton took pride in the details."
At Lightspeed: "Seven Smiles and Seven Frowns" by Richard Bowes.Fantasy.
"Each time I find a new apprentice in these times of trouble, I remember being a girl of twelve, getting close to thirteen. The other lads and maidens my age were already starting to pair off."
At Mindflights: "Asperges Me, Domine" by Ashley Bobo. Fantasy.
"She first noticed him when he tripped over a log, and she caught sight of the symbol of St. Bramwell, a silver cross with sharp points, on the hem of his robe. He was too young to be a full monk, but if he knew where the saint’s burial place was…"
At Weird Fiction Review: "The White" by Berit Ellingsen.
"Last year one of the professor’s PhD students froze to death just fifty meters from the base. In a blizzard, he failed to find his way from the infrared observatory to the housing unit. It must have been difficult for the professor to notify the student’s parents."
Flash Fiction
- At Author's Site: "The Taste of Miracles" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Science Fiction.
- At Enchanted Conversation: "A Queen's Discontent" by Marcia Sherman. Fairy Tale Poem.
- At 365 Tomorrows: "The Lady Is Not" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.
Audio Fiction
At Cast of Wonders: "The Great Game, Part 6 – When Stars Fall" by James Vachowski. YA.
"What? A meteor? Don’t be a dunce, child, there’s no such thing. That was a star falling from the heavens, as sure as I’m alive. But draw the curtains now, if you please. A single shooting star is an omen of luck, but seeing several foretells death."
At Dunesteef: "Todd Elrin And The Forever Reset" by Jonathan C. Gillespie.
"It’s the last day of the year, and it’s time for Todd Elrin to leave his current location, and start the year over somewhere else, as he has done many times this particular calendar year. But an angry visitor from the future has other plans."
At Lightspeed: "A Game of Rats and Dragon" by Tobias S. Buckell. Science Fiction.
see above.
At Protection Project Pulp: "Fane of the Black Pharaoh" by Robert Bloch. Weird.
"Captain Carteret bent forward and peered at the queer, metallic thing. His thin, usually pale face now glowed with unconcealed excitement. He grasped the black object with twitching fingers."
Other Genres
Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "A Blessing for Brothers" by Craig Fishbane.
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