Sunday Freebies

Here are a few free goodies to take your mind off the chaos that is the holiday season.  There a couple good stories and several interesting sounding audio stories.



[Art from Countdown in audio fiction below]







Fiction
• At Hub Magazine: "The Dry Heat, The Dust, the Martinis and the Insects" by RJ Barker.
      "Edwards had sworn when he’d first seen where they had arranged for him to stay. He’d sworn long and fluently in as many different languages as he was conversant in and a few in which a couple of expletives were his only recourse. That done, he’d stood at the entrance to the looming white building and, sweating in the parched desert heat, tried ringing his agent to swear long and hard at him."

• Flash Fiction at 365 Tomorrows:  "Intoki" by Helstrom. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Beam Me Up: "Land of Fire & Ashes - The conclusion" by Colin P. Davies. Science Fiction.
     "A thoroughly entertaining and exciting tale."

• At Dunesteef: "Secret Santa" by Josh Roseman.
     "Wes is tired of being fat. He’s tried everything, diet, exercise, medication, even surgery, but he remains morbidly obese. Nothing works, and he’s about to find out why…"
 
• At Escape Pod: "Marley and Cratchit" by David Steffen.
       "In those days Jacob Marley was full of life and vigor. His smile shone so that anyone who saw him soon smiled widely in return. A moment in his presence would make one’s worst burdens seem lighter. His optimism and generosity brought out the best in others, catching easily as a torch in dry straw."

• At Every Story Tells: "Dusty" by Katharina Maimer Bordet. Fantasy.
     "In the kingdom of Elves, a new king was elected and his future queen gets ready for the wedding. But not everything goes according to plan."

• At LibriVox: "Countdown" by Kurt Becker. YA. Science Fiction.
       "The first flight to outer space became an actual fact – Mars would be the first stop. But before the spaceship took off, two insane enemies almost succeeded in preventing the departure. This science fiction story for teens was written"  in 1958.

• At Lovecraft eZine: Podcast #1. Horror.
      Seven horror stories from the Lovecraft eZine.  Later podcasts will not be free.

Other Genres

• Audio at Every Story Tells: "Together Forever" by Mick Bordet.
• Audio at PRI: Selected Shorts - "A Father's Story" 
• Audio at Tales of Old: "How Santa Claus Came to Simpson’s Bar" by Bret Harte. Historical. 1862.
• Flash Fiction at Every Picture Tells a Story: "A Holly Berry Christmas" by A.M. Buxton. Suspence.