Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Is Not Free Fiction the Best of All?

More great free fiction from a few of my favorite sites.

[Art from "The Angelus Guns" by Max Gladstone.]






Fiction
• At Baen: "A Thing of Beauty" by Charles E. Gannon. Science Fiction.
"The Indi Group isn't known for its humanitarian principles. They're all about the bottom line, even if that means taking steps that most would find appalling. But the higher-ups are about to find out that when you put human lives on a balance sheet, you may not get the results you're after. And that the intangible things in life-loyalty, compassion, and beauty-sometimes conquer even the most cold-hearted financial equations. An all-new story, set in the Trial By Fire universe"

• At Enchanted Conversations: "Into Gold" by Russ Bickerstaff. Fantasy. 
"The data was impossibly complicated. She saw all of the data. She saw how it could be combined to make something more than it was. Raw numbers and readings and things. And she could spin it all into raw profit. She could turn all of that data into gold. This was what she had discovered she could do"

• At Enchanted Conversations:"The Seven Fated Wishes" by Sarah Hausman. Fantasy.
"When the Princess tired of her castle, she could mount her lovely white steed and ride freely through the villages and countryside, where she was always well-received by all of those she met. Her life was carefree and happy, as were the lives of all the people in her kingdom because there was only Goodness in the world. Evil was not yet known."

• At HiLobrow:  King Goshawk (Parts 1-29 so far) by Eimar O'Duffy. 1926. Science Fiction.
"set in a future world devastated by progress. When King Goshawk, the supreme ruler among a caste of “king capitalists,” buys up all the wildflowers and songbirds, an aghast Dublin philosopher travels via the astral plane to Tír na nÓg. First the mythical Irish hero Cúchulainn, then his son Cuanduine, travel to Earth in order to combat the king capitalists."

• At Nightmare Magazine:  "Death and Death Again" by Mari Ness. Horror.
"That evening, she kills him again. This time, she works slowly, exquisitely slowly, taking frequent stops for food, for wine, for blood. Once or twice she even excuses herself to go to the bathroom, apologizing for leaving him alone." Audio and Text.

• At Tor.com: "The Angelus Guns" by Max Gladstone.
"During a celestial civil war, an angel-like soldier searches for her missing brother in the Crystal City.  . . .  She expected a fight when she confessed her plan. Instead her young mother closed her eyes, and opened them, and asked, “Can you bring him back?” They sat together at their outpost’s small kitchen table, and drank tea, and curled their wings close about themselves, though the late summer night was warm."

Audio Fiction
• At Drabblecast: "Bum's Rush" by Nathan Lee. Comedy. Strange.
"'I was fourteen, maybe fifteen years old, and I was a Aztec or a Mixtec or somethin’,' said the sheriff. “Anyways, I was buck naked, and I was standin’ on one of them ball courts with the little bitty stone rings twenty foot up one wall, and they was presentin’ me to Moctezuma. I was real proud, and the sun was shinin’, but it was real still and cool down there in the Valley of the Mexico." Audio and Text.

• At StarShipSofa: "No 346 Suzanne Palmer and Rachel Swirsky" Science Fiction.

"If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love," by Rachel Swirsky. 
"if you were a dinosaur, my love, then you would be a T-Rex. You’d be a small one, only five feet, ten inches, the same height as human-you. You’d be fragile-boned and you’d walk with as delicate and polite a gait as you could manage on massive talons. Your eyes would gaze gently from beneath your bony brow-ridge."
and “Shatterdown” by Suzanne Palmer.
"Four moons dotted the distant horizon, pale ghosts half-lost in shadow and framed on either side by Cjoi’s heavy black boots propped up against the observation glass. She slouched in her chair, mute earpiece dangling at the base of her neck, her eyes and attention on the gas giant below. Ammonia clouds seethed and spun endless bright rivers of gold across its radiant face, deadly and compelling. Her dive-sphere was rolled toward the oncoming night, engines in stand-by, no interior lights except the tiny blips of critical systems to break the spell."

Above Our Life We Love Free Fiction

Mondays are undeniably bad, but perhaps a bit of good free fiction will lessen the pain.


Fiction:

• At Enchanted Conversations: "The Goblin Players" by Ross Smeltzer. Fantasy.
"A long time—but not so long ago that men still remembered the olden gods—there was a town near here. It is gone now, but you can find its crumbled foundations hidden under orange and brown leaves if you look in the right places. It is a lonely place now, and is rarely visited."

• At Mad Scientist Journal: "Data Crabs" by Deborah Walker, Science Fiction.
"I reached for my handbag. I looked at Dinah and Pete. They’d be okay without me. The house would run smoothly, the food would arrive, the machines would keep the rooms nice and clean. A thought occurred to me, 'Will there be data streams under the sea?'"

• At The WiFiles: "Aces High" by Holly Day. Speculative Fiction.
"Holes had been drilled in her arms, strung through with metal threads. Her veins had been drained of blood, the marrow stripped from her bones and replaced with alloy. Her skin had been removed completely. What remained of her organic form had been dipped in metal lighter and more flexible and infinitely stronger than aluminum foil."

 E-Book:

• At Amazon: The Amazing Morse by James Rozoff. Horror.
 "When Dave Morse was young, magic meant everything to him. But as he grew up, the magic seemed to slip away from his life. Until a chance encounter with a spiritualist changed all that. Then there was magic again, magic and mystery...and terror. Now Dave is just praying it will end."








 Audio Fiction:

• At Cast of Wonders: "Episode 128: Robots Don’t Cry" by George Edwards, Read by Pete Milan. YA SciFi.
"He regarded me skeptically. 'Space Robot, huh? So you came from space, down to earth, to save a girl?'"


 

• At Cthulhu: "Dreams in the Witch House" Parts One and Two. by H. P. Lovecraft. Horror. 
"He was in the changeless, legend-haunted city of Arkham, with its clustering gambrel roofs that sway and sag over attics where witches hid from the King’s men in the dark, olden days of the Province. Nor was any spot in that city more steeped in macabre memory than the gable room which harboured him—for it was this house and this room which had likewise harboured old Keziah Mason, whose flight from Salem Gaol at the last no one was ever able to explain."

• At Toasted Cake: "Second Chance" by Ken Liu. Science Fiction.
“I think they got it right. I don't see how they can stop him from playing. It's not his fault that he's cloned from Babe Ruth, you know? The kid just loves the game. Maybe he'll have a better record than even the original.”

Gaming:

 • Fantastic Heroes & Witchery by Dominique Crouzet.
 A interesting looking, and well illustrated "simulacrum of the well known role-playing game that features fighters, clerics and magic-users prowling mysterious dungeons, and combating dragons to take their treasures. It is not a clone of a particular edition  [. . .] but a combination of several editions from “classic” to “3e,” to which were added a lot of options."  Tis free version lacks only an index of spells.

 • At Rended Press: Two lists of links. "Links to All of Paizo's FreeRPG Day Stuff" and "Scavenging Free d20 Material from Paizo.com"


 
Other
Audio Fiction: At Crime City Central: "Courtesy Call" by Justin Gustainis, read by Summer Brooks. Crime Fiction.

Time and Free Fiction Wait for no One.

A few good free items.

Fiction

• At Online Pulps!: "Spirit of the Keys" by Chester S. Geier. Speculative Fiction.
"Somehow, Kirby knew, Elaine's life and that of the typewriter were one . . .

Kirby heard the rhythmic clatter of a typewriter as he walked down the hall toward his apartment door. He paused with his hand on the knob and listened, smiling, forgetting the anxiety that lay like a dark weight over his mind." First published in Fantastic Adventures, March, 1948.





E-book

At Amazon: Daughter of the High Lords by David K Scholes. Science Fiction.

"Daughter of the High Lords pits the High Lord race and the Brell super power empire against the Coordinator of All Realities as Garthhe an enigmatic entity from an equally enigmatic race seeks to rescue, Raechelle, daughter of the High Lords. In 'The Search for Humanity' the far flung human race disappears without explanation from the upper reaches of time. By law the fearsome Xelk in “Human Hunter” should not be plying their trade on Earth. Should they?"


Free free on Amazon for 2 days - 12 and 13 July (US Pacific Time) and again for 3 days on 18, 19, 20 July


Audio Fiction

• At The Dunesteef: "What Could Be Worse Than Murray’s Chinese Cuisine?" by Void Munashii. Comedy Horror.
"On their way home from what possibly could have been the worst Chinese restaurant of all time, Marty and Liza miss a hairpin turn on an icy road, and get to find out just what exactly could be worse than Murray’s Chinese Cuisine."

• At Pseudopod:  Pseudopod 394: "Summer Girls" by Caspian Gray, read by Robert A.K. Gonyo. Horror.
"Something brushed his leg. For a moment he felt the sensation of fingers closing on his ankle. Dan started, then floundered away, panicked as a little kid at the first touch of seaweed. He composed himself in case Kayla was watching, but she was treading water further out, eyes on the horizon. Dan swam out to her, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of salt water, then splashed water on her back to get her attention. Kayla turned, pulling long strands of hair out of her eyes." first appeared in Black Static #35.

Free Friday Audio Fiction

Some very good free audio fiction this morning, including the Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days, now complete. I'm having some minor formatting issues this morning so if things look a bit off, sorry. 


Audio Fiction

• At Clarkesworld: "Stone Hunger" by N. K. Jemisin, read by Kate Baker.
"Once there was a girl who lived in a beautiful place full of beautiful people who made beautiful things. Then the world broke. 

Now the girl is older, and colder, and hungrier. From the shelter of a dead tree, she watches as a city—a rich one, big, with high strong walls and well-guarded gates—winches its roof into place against the falling chill of night. "






• At The Classic Tales PodCast: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. Adventure.
Now complete: Parts ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, and NINE.
"Phileas Fogg, a gentleman of stringent and inflexible habits, proposes that he can circumvent the globe in 80 days.  He wagers half of his fortune to this effect. But are his motives really as straightforward as he would have you believe?  Jules Verne, today on The Classic Tales Podcast."

• At PodCastle:  "America Thief" by Alter S. Reiss, read by John Michnya. Fantasy.
"I looked around the table. Most of the people there weren’t paying much attention. Lansky looked a little embarrassed, and Siegel shook his head. “You want me to find out if Chaim Goldberg can turn lead into gold, or if he’s running some sort of scam,” I said."







• At Tales to Terrify: Episode No. 139: “His Pale Blue Eyes” by David A. Riley narrated by Antoinette Bergin and “Suicide Chef” by Bill Ferris. Horror.

In "His Pale Blue Eyes," a young girl must save her parents from zombies and in "Suicide Chef," "a chef finds a way to save his struggling restaurant, but with deadly consequences."

More and More I'm Tkinking About Free Fiction

Some more great freebies, including stories by Cat Rambo and Dennis Etchison.  For more free fiction be sure to check out  Regan Wolfrom's free fiction listing at SF Signal, including his free for a time e-book After The Fires Went Out: Coyote.

Fiction

Now Posted:  Beneath Ceaseless Skies #151. Fantasy

 • "Rappaccini’s Crow" by Cat Rambo.
 "Doctor Rappaccini has a pet crow named Jonah. He says he raised it from a chick, but I have trouble imagining Doctor Rappaccini patiently nursing anything, tucking a blanket around it to keep it warm or feeding it mealworms and apple shards. If he has such a faculty for tenderness, he doesn’t exhibit it towards any of the patients here."

 • "Crossroads and Gateways" by Helen Marshall.
 "Dajan faced east, as he did every morning, greeting the Sun with a toothy smile that split the creases of his face. His spear was planted in the sand beside him, gripped by a fist hard and calloused. The wind tugged at the bright red cloth that hung from it. The sand dunes seemed smooth as elephant bones in the morning, limned in a brilliant gold. Brown and gold—the colors of the desert. Dajan’s colors."

• Now Posted: The Jul - Sept '14 Issue of The Lorelei Signal. Fantasy.

• "Almas" by Josie Growler
• "The Children of the Waterworks" by Paul Miller
• "The Cookie Maker" by Tom Howard
• "The Fox" by Nancy O'Toole
• "The Glass Lamp" by Cynthia Fucci
• "Grace" by Maureen Bowden
• "The House in the Desert" by Rose Strickman
• "The Queen Moon on her Throne" by Lawrence Buentello
• "The Queen of Storms" by Robert William Shmigelsky
• "Room 116" by Joyce Frohn

• At Nightmare Magazine: "Talking in the Dark" by Dennis Etchison. Horror.
"In the damp bedroom Victor Ripon sat hunched over his desk, making last-minute corrections on the ninth or tenth draft, he couldn’t remember which, of a letter to the one person in the world who might be able to help. Outside, puppies with the voices of children struggled against their leashes for a chance to be let in from the cold. He ignored them and bore down."



 Audio Fiction
• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "How the Wicker Knight Would Not Move" by Chris Willrich. Fantasy.
"At the Wicker Knight's feet Kverna faced the foe. "I do not hate you," she said to them. "You are as you are. Maybe Perfection has no choices. It is this thing behind me I hate. Leeching our hope, and returning nothing. At least without it we will meet our fates as human beings.""

At Forgotten Classics:

• People of the Mist by H. R. Haggard chapters 1-29. Adventure.
Now up through chapter 29, this is a serialized reading of the classic "lost race" adventure fantasy by the author of King Solomon's Mines and She. Eleven chapters to go, all should be available at the same link. [Warning - there are likely many unenlightened views in the story]
"Nay, I know not. You came out of the folly of your heart, to satisfy the desire of your heart. Listen, that tale I told you is true, and yet I did not tell you all the truth. Beyond that cliff live a people of great stature, and very fierce; a people whose custom it is to offer up strangers to their gods. Enter there, and they will kill you thus."

The e-book is free here and the original illustrations are online here.

• "Warrior Queen of Mars" by Alexander Blade. Science Fiction. Parts One, Two, and Three.

"Iceland was the perfect place for a secret military operation.  We thought of it, but so had the Martians — ages ago . . ."  First published in Fantastic Adventures, Sept. 1950. Text version here.










Gaming

• Now Posted at DriveThruRPG: Pathways #40.
"Avaricious Template" by Steve Russell
“I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice.” So says the avaricious frog
in the treasure room.

"Choose Your Own Adventure" by Liz Theis
The Pathfinder game is a branch of interactive fiction. Liz teaches you
how the RealmWorks tool can help you put more of the interactive in
your game.

"The Relunctant Bandits" by Creighton Broadhurst.
Well, this encounter is with the Relunctant bandits! An encounter
that could be played for laughs as well as screams.

• At DriveThruRPG: Mini Quest Double Feature: Revenge of the Kobold King.
"Mini Quests by Survive RPG offer compelling 2 page adventures that are great for a one-off session, convention play or for use as a side quest to your campaign. Mini-Quests is designed for any D20 fantasy system.This is a special Min-Quest double feature that includes KOBOLD CAPER and REVENGE OF THE KOBOLD KING. The characters are hired to recover missing livestock and end up in the middle of a war...with kobolds. No, this is not a comedy. Will they surive?"

Monday Free Fiction

A few interesting free fiction links to start the week.

'Zine

Now Posted: Issue 43 (July 2014) of Expanded Horizons
• "Glass" by M. M. Pryor
"Rene skims the letters printed on the spotless glass window of the telegram office. The sun behind her blots out most of her reflection in the glass, bleaching her brown skin translucent. She straightens the collar of her sweat-soaked shirt. She has a change of clothes in her satchel, but they are even dirtier than the ones she is wearing. Ever since she arrived in Texaca four days ago, she has been cold and hungry and tired and dirty."
• "Snap" by Jamie Mason"
"The warden speaks through a screen of roses. He is fond of roses – so fond, in fact, that he grows his own in an atmospherically-sealed green-house beside the exercise yard, tending them personally on weekends. His hybrids fetch a pretty penny off-world."
• "The Foster Child" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
"The day Jeff and Rodrigo married was the day they found the baby Finman on their front porch. They’d just returned home from the courthouse where, after waiting in line for five hours, the justice of the peace announced them husband and husband. The Finman was crouched into the corner of the porch, leaning against the house. They wouldn’t even have discerned it from the shadows had it not been for Rodrigo, whose sense of smell was impeccable."
• "Slip Road" by Tade Thompson"
"It’s lost like car keys, like the song on the tip of your tongue. I can’t seem trace my steps, but I write down the few things I do remember."
• "Extinction" by Anne Carly Abad. Poem.

Fiction

• At Tor.com: "The Devil in the Details" by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald. -  contemporary fantasy.   
"A new adventure of Peter Crossman, special agent of the Knights Templar—a man prepared to administer last rites with one hand while wielding a flamethrower with the other. Now an ancient manuscript of peculiar power has surfaced, and Crossman’s assignment is simple: Get it for the Temple at all costs."

• and "Polynia" by China Mieville.  - science fiction | weird fiction.
"They’d started as wisps, anomalies noticed only by dedicated weather-watchers. Slowly they’d grown, started to glint in the early winter afternoon. They solidified, their sides becoming more faceted, more opaquely white. They started to shed shadows."




Audio
• At Escape Pod: "EP453: "The Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by by Clifford Simak - narrated by Norm Sherman. Science Fiction.
"This story won the 1980 Nebula Award for Best Short Story and the 1981 Hugo Award for Best Short Story." . . .  "Luis was playing his pipe when Boyd climbed the steep path that led up to the cave. There was no need to visit the cave again; all the work was done, mapping, measuring, photographing, extracting all possible information from the site."

• At Pseudopod: "Pseudopod 393: West Gate" by Mitchell Edgeworth, read by Ron Jon. Horror.
"A dozen helicopters were hovering around the distant city, all lancing their spotlights down on the same place – by his reckoning, somewhere near the Domain Tunnel or the Arts Centre. He could see no other movement. No explosions, no gunfire, no destruction. Had it been contained?"

Tempus Fugit

All I know is that as the holidays were approaching, I sat down at computer to watch "one or two" videos on YouTube and when  I looked up a different holiday (the fourth of July) was almost here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  However, this is the start of very irregular posting after that long hiatus.  Here are just a few great free genre items to get things started.

Magazines

The July issue of Clarkesworld is out featuring:

• "The Contemporary Foxwife" by Yoon Ha Lee
• "Stone Hunger" by N. K. Jemisin
• "Soul’s Bargain" by Juliette Wade
• "The Halfway House at the Heart of Darkness" by William Browning Spencer
• "Gold Mountain" by Chris Roberson

As well as great non-fiction.

Now Posted: Apex Magazine #62 with fiction:

• “The Food in the Basement” by Laura Davy
• “Blessed are the Hungry” by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
• “Insurrection in Silk” by Gillian Conahan
• “Courtship in the Country of Machine-Gods” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew

as well as great non-fiction and poetry.

The latest issue Abyss and Apex is out featuring:

•  “Asleep in Zandalar” by Rachel Acks
• “The Coin Whisperer” by Sarah Hendrix
• “Affairs of Honor” by Fraser Sherman
• “Hunting Fire” by Lindsey Duncan

as well as great non-fiction and poetry.







Fiction
At Online Pulps: "Carrion Crypt" by Richard Casey.
"It was a crypt where, they said, the dead lay uneasy.But some men are unafraid of death—until they face it." From Fantastic Adventures, July, 1947.  Direct PDF download here.







Gaming

Issue number 21 of the fantastic old school role-playing e-zine Footprints.
Featuring:

• New Character Races (article)
• Combined Combat Chart (article)
• How Much Experience Did We Get For That Dragon? (article)
• Magical Miscellanea (magical items)
• Glarck's Remote Spell Books (article)
• Ride the Lightning! (MU spells)
• Monsters of All Sizes (article)
• The Wizard's Laboratory (article)
• The Conjurer (new class)
• The Lake Of Sorrows (adventure)

And if you feel like some solo adventuring, then be sure to download Fighting Fantazine number 13.

This issue features "Plight of the Lost Children" an Advanced Fighting Fantasy adventure by Jenny Green, "Six-Gun Friday" a western Fighting Fantasy adventure by Gaetano Abbondanza, and much more.

At RPGNow: Issue #39  of Pathways.
"Rite Publishing brings you Pathways, a free 'zine packed with plenty of Open Gaming Content for you to take to the table. You'll find articles by Steven D. Russell (1001 Spells), Liz Winters (Lone Wolf Development), and Crieghton Broadhurst (Raging Swan Press). You will also find reviews of the best 3PP material available, plus an interview with Wolfgang Baur of Kobold Press." RPGNow requires a free membership to download items.

Free Fiction Wednesday

Some very good stuff today!










 Fiction
• At Baen: "Out of True" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
      "The dead things lay there across the small clearing, two or three of the tiny forms sundered into iron-blooded mess, another half-dozen more just lying there still, with shapes that looked broken and wrong even though he'd never seen any of them before, and the wicket monster mostly between him and the dead, holes in its hide leaking dull copper. He could see heat or gas evaporating out of the husk, and dark splinters of structural bone where his third shot had struck home, right at eye edge of the thing."

• At The Colored Lens: "A Canvased Soul" by Mandy Alyss Brown
      "Sariah Williamson was born purple and blue but not because she wasn’t breathing. She leaked colors, warm colors when she was happy and cool when she was sad. The nurses cleaned her up cautiously and handed her to her mother, and Sariah’s skin sweat shades of orange as she nursed at her mother’s breast."

• At Enchanted Conversations: "The Goblin King and the Pig" by Oliver Eade. Fairy Tale. 
     "Jimmy Halliday was an ordinary schoolboy who came from an ordinary home in an ordinary town somewhere in the centre of England. At least he thought he was until one Monday morning when, cycling to school, he was forced to squeeze the break and skid to a halt, almost colliding with an old woman lying in the road. Strangely, he only saw her at the very last moment. Even more strangely, she seemed unharmed when he crouched down beside her and spoke to her, for the traffic was heavy that day."

• At Lightspeed: "Trouble Leaves a Scent Trail" by Constance Cooper. Science Fiction.
      "Peacekeeper Gimel 300254 CitrusPeel was doing routine crowd control down at the shellfish market when a Tav Messenger scuttled up to her. “Urgent, urgent!” the Messenger blasted, enveloping Peel in the scent. “Your boss wants you back at the station right away. Hope you’re not in trouble!”"

• At Lightspeed: "The Master Conjurer" by Charlie Jane Anders. Fantasy.
       "Peter did a magic spell, and it worked fine. With no unintended consequences, and no weird side effects. Two days later, he was on the front page of the local newspaper: “The Miracle Conjurer.” Some blogs picked it up, and soon enough he was getting visits from CNN and MSNBC, and his local NPR station kept wanting to put him on. News crews were standing and talking in front of his house."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "The Crowgirl" by Megan Arkenberg. Horror.
     "From the camp on the hill they could see everything, the river and the barn with its silos of molding grain, the hunting crows, and far to the west, in the square white farmhouse with its padlocked cellar door, the congregation of the Dead."

• At Strange Horizons: "Three on a Match" by Steve Berman
     ""I know a trick," the Antony whispered.  Ewan leaned in closer. "A magic trick?" "There's no other worth knowing." He handed the cigarette over. "Do you want to see it?""

• At Tor.com: "Come Back to the Sea" by Jason Vanhee. Fantasy.
      "“Come Back to the Sea” is the story of Yukio, who hears the sea singing and sees disturbing visions of the water swallowing everything she knows. Is it all in her head? Or is the sea really coming for her?"

• At Weird Fiction Review: "The Divinity Student: Part Ten" by Michael Cisco.
     "The Divinity Student knows this day will be his last. The divining machines verify it. It. The twelve jars that stare at him from all corners of the room tell him, the daylight that ebbs and flows in slow tides of color tells him, and the lightless patches in corners and along the edges of his room — they in particular tell him."

Now Posted: Black Treacle #5. Horror. Dark Fantasy.

• “Chance” by Conor Powers-Smith
     "The noise—the babble and movement of a few dozen people, the laughter and shrieks and running footsteps of children, the crying of at least one baby at any given moment, it seemed—receded, too, when the smell was present, as if Paul’s senses were straining exclusively toward the sharp fragrance of invisible smoke."

• “Lurks a Cruel Bee” by Sam Witt
     "He almost made it. The warm glow of the porch light was reflected in Kevin’s eyes, he imagined rushing up the steps and through the big black door, heading upstairs to gorge himself on trick-or-treat loot. Then someone screamed and Kevin turned his head to look back."

• “Echoes in the Bones” by Mike Rimar
     "Gauls, wearing wooden masks and little else gyrated to a cacophony of fifes and drums by the light of two blazing pyres. Most engaged in blatant seduction and howled like animals into the late autumn night, their shadows stretching across the ground in demonic parody."

• “The Collectors” by Evelyn Deshane
     "As Maggie Sullivan walks to work, kids dressed up as pirates and superheroes pass her by. No one notices her blue and purple scrubs; no one says Happy Halloween or offers her candy. It’s just as well, she figures. As soon as she enters the large waiting room, a sign declares NO MASKS."

Flash Fiction

• At Beware the Hairy Mango: "The Fouling" by Matthew Sanborn Smith. Audio.
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Gather Your Bones" by Jenn Reese. Fantasy.
• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Perfect Coordinates to Raise a Child" by Barbara A. Barnett. Science Fiction.
• At Every Day Fiction: "The Secret" by Joe Zabel. Science Fiction.
• At Strange Horizons: "Slouching Towards the Garden" by Margarita Tenser. Poem.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Silence" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Endless Sun" by Aiza Mohd. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "In the Mind of the Beholder" by Nicholas Slade. 

Audio Fiction
• At Beam Me Up: Episode #381. Science Fiction.
      "Trathh Battleground Earth" by Dave Scholes. and "the conclusion to Dean Giles’ "D.A.V.E."

• At Cast of Wonders: "Camp Myth: Phoenix Watching - Chapter 4" by Chris Lewis Carter.
     "Felix says “Fae aren’t known for their creativity, but Sebastian is able to build Golems that are incredible works of art. For some reason, though, he keeps calling them ‘Marionettes.’ When I asked if he could teach me his secret, he told me to look up some school named ‘Vermilion Academy.’ I’ll have to check it out!”"

• At Lightspeed: "The Master Conjurer" by Charlie Jane Anders, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Fantasy.
       "Peter did a magic spell, and it worked fine. With no unintended consequences, and no weird side effects. Two days later, he was on the front page of the local newspaper: “The Miracle Conjurer.” Some blogs picked it up, and soon enough he was getting visits from CNN and MSNBC, and his local NPR station kept wanting to put him on. News crews were standing and talking in front of his house."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "The Crowgirl" by Megan Arkenberg, read by Gabrielle de Cuir. Horror.
     "From the camp on the hill they could see everything, the river and the barn with its silos of molding grain, the hunting crows, and far to the west, in the square white farmhouse with its padlocked cellar door, the congregation of the Dead."

• At PodCastle: "The Sunshine Baron" by Peadar Ó Guilín, read by Rob Haines. Fantasy.
     "The sun shone on the Northern capital as it did every day. Borquil had seen to that. Had grown rich on it: the famous Sunshine Baron! By night, a gentle rain would patter over the fields and fill a few cisterns before sliding gently seawards on the Farg River, sweet-natured these days, ‘though its name meant “angry” in the old tongue."

• At StarShipSofa: "Possible Monsters" by Will McIntosh
      "Mailboxes whooshed by in the warm night air. Cooper was tempted to stick his hand out the window, to feel the pressure of the wind on his palm, to feel something, but he didn’t trust himself with only one hand on the wheel. Not after four beers. What he didn’t need right now was to plow into a parked car."

• At Strange Horizons: "Three on a Match" by Steve Berman, read by Anaea Lay. 
     ""I know a trick," the Antony whispered.  Ewan leaned in closer. "A magic trick?" "There's no other worth knowing." He handed the cigarette over. "Do you want to see it?""

Back

Back after a very rough week and weekend.  Here are links to some of the great freebies out there.











Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Superhero Art" by Cat Rambo. Superhero.
      "You're wondering: superheroes? Yes. Art was one. Genetically created by evil super-scientist Mondomania. And married to a second superhero, the living embodiment of Gaia. We all called her Maggie."

• At Escape Pod: "Southpaw" by Bruce McAllister. Science Fiction.
      "Fidel stands on the pitcher’s mound, dazed. For an instant he doesn’t know where he is. It is a pitcher’s mound. It is a baseball diamond, and there is a woman—the woman he loves—out there in the stands with her beautiful blonde hair and her very American name waving to him, because she loves him, too. It is July. He is sure of this. It is ’51 or ’52."

 • At Mad Scientist Journal: "Monsters Behind the Scenes" by Kate Elizabeth. Science Fiction.
      "We humans are bombarded on a daily basis from telemarketers, door-to-door sales men, infomercials, advertisements … the list goes on. Tempting us to spend more money, change our electricity providers, get rich quick, and lose weight fast. But behind these companies and charities there is a hidden, supernatural, agenda."

• At Short-Story.me: "Tiffany Blue Sunday" by Matthew Barbour. Horror.
      "There were three maybe four of them. When I saw them sneaking in, I grabbed my rifle from atop the mantle and hurried from my house to a position behind a boulder at the front of the mine. It wouldn’t take them long, maybe a minute or so for them to sort through my tailings or chip off a fragment of the turquoise that still clung to the walls. Then they would come out and slink off to their pueblo with prize in hand."

• At The WiFiles: "Catches Burning" by Robin Dunn.
      "Joe’s flesh crisped, and his soul did something or other, perhaps leaving this universe, perhaps opting to stick around as an angry ghost, perhaps both.  As the people threw more faggots on the fire, a fiddler struck up a tune and some of the couples took up dancing, slowly, holding each other tightly, rotating like human spits."

Flash Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Frog Prince" by Jonathan Vos Post. Fantasy.
At Every Day Fiction:

• "So This Frog Goes Psst!" by Ed Kratz. Fantasy.
• "Hand in Glover" by Shawna Mayer. Horror.

At 365 Tomorrows:

• "Leave Note at the 7-Eleven" by Aiza Mohd. Science Fiction.
• "Sewing The Seeds" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.
• "Beaming Errors" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

• At Toasted Cake: "Zebedee the Giant Man" by Tina Connolly. Audio. Speculative Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Author's Site: "Hunter Hunterson & Sons “Home” Part 1" by Scott Sigler.
      "Your favorite monster-hunting family returns for a new tale of rootin’-tootin’ supernatural mischief. As Hunter and his family settle into their new digs in San Francisco, they find out that their new mansion holds far more surprises than they would like."

• At Drabblecast: "The Revelation of Morgan Stern" by Christie Yant. Horror.
     "It is July 31, your birthday, and I can’t reach you. I’ve been trying all day, but the cell networks are down, the internet is down. I even tried a pay phone–there are two left in town that I know of, and I collected all of my change and walked to the 76 in the village. It was on fire." And "Dear John" by  Rachael K. Jones.

• At Escape Pod: "Southpaw" by Bruce McAllister, read by bdoomed. Science Fiction.
      "Fidel stands on the pitcher’s mound, dazed. For an instant he doesn’t know where he is. It is a pitcher’s mound. It is a baseball diamond, and there is a woman—the woman he loves—out there in the stands with her beautiful blonde hair and her very American name waving to him, because she loves him, too. It is July. He is sure of this. It is ’51 or ’52."

• At PodCastle: "The Wanderer King" by Alisa Alering, read by Amy Robinson. Fantasy.
      "We steer clear of the mines–that’s Fixer territory. The Wanderers are dangerous, too, ever since they came fighting back around Day 30. But there’s always been less of them–less in all, and less because they scatter through the woods on their business instead of fixing to the towns and mines."

• At Pseudopod: "The Chair October" by Leah Thomas, read by Justin Riestra.
      "The spiraling piece of inner ear was almost the exact same shade of beige as the tablecloth his Great Aunt had given them at their wedding; Gwen couldn’t have expected him to spot it when he set down the jar of marmalade. She should have left the cochlea in her earhole where it belonged, but she had taken to removing it while she slept and only jamming it back into the side of her skull again moments before stumbling out the door on her way to the unemployment office."

• At Tales to Terrify: "The Pumpkin Man" by John Everson, read by Stephen Kilpatrick. Horror.
      "After her father’s gruesome murder, Jenn needed a place to get away from it all with some friends, to take her mind off her grief. The empty seaside cottage she inherited seemed perfect."

Free Fiction from Dragons to Celsia 9

Good Free Fiction, 'nuff said.







Fiction
• At The Colored Lens: "Remember New Roanoke" by Sean Patrick Hazlett, Science Fiction.
      "Two roiling suns scorched the desert landscape as the gaunt man stumbled toward the bivouac site. Commodore Tina Morales wiped the sweat off her brow and took another glimpse through her binos. More bone than man, the colonist seemed almost feral. His shredded and grimy olive drab coveralls hung from his skeletal frame like a parachute."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Space Mama" by Karen Heuler. Science Fiction.
     "I joined an exploratory company about ten years ago, and have been traveling ever since. Lately, I met a being on Celsia 9 who exists midway between a corporeal and non-corporeal state. That is, he/she/it (undetermined) feels more like liquid than solid and is somewhat permeable."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "All You Can Do is Breathe" by Kaaron Warren. Horror.
      "Stuart lay trapped underground for five days before the tall man appeared and stared into his eyes. He thought he sensed movement. Flicked on his caplamp. “Barry? Did you make it through the wall?” but there was no one."

• At Strange Horizons: "The Witches of Athens" by Lara Elena Donnelly.
     "There are two diners in Athens, Ohio.  The Court Street Diner serves tuna melts and satin malts in silver mixing cups. The Court Street Diner says it is stuck in the 1960s, but it is too hip to be a throwback. The waitstaff are young and enticing, dressed in gingham and high-waisted jeans."

• At Tor.com: "Slayers: The Making of a Mentor" by C. J. Hill. Fantasy.
      "Before dragon eggs landed on American soil. Before a Slayer camp existed. And before Tori discovered her powers . . . there was an island. Lush forests, jutting peaks, and sloping hills covered St. Helena—the single most remote island in the Atlantic. And it is here where Dr. B grew up, working each summer on the Overdrake plantation alongside his brother. All was well until the day something was discovered on the plantation and things went horribly wrong." 

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Willy" by Deanna Kay Morris. Science Fiction.
• At Every Day Fiction: "Little Fish" by Dani Ripley. Horror.
• At Strange Horizons: "How a Mermaid Spends Her Winters" by Marchell Dyon, Poem. Fantasy.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "Good Weather" by Jerry Guarino. Fantasy.

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Camp Myth: Phoenix Watching - Chapter 3" by Chris Lewis Carter. YA Fantasy.
      "Last week Felix checked in for his journey to summer camp. We saw more of the creatures Felix shares his world with, and we learned about all the types of supernatural contraband the camp keeps an eye out for. I wonder what golem scrolls do…"

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The Jovian Jest" by Lilith Lorraine, read by Julie Hoverson.
  "There came to our pigmy planet a radiant wanderer with a message—and a jest—from the vasty universe." - "A familiar story - a meteorite crashes down, scientists show up, stuff happens, right?  With a twist that might make you think shamalyan - and then say meh." and a super short guest story narrated by Rhys Torres-Miller.

• At Protecting Project Pulp: "The Inn of Treachery" by Guido Rengetti. Adventure.
      "first published in Thrilling Adventures, July 1932.  Narrator: Mandy McCall.  A stirring story of Paduan days of old and the thirst for vengeance."

• At StarShipSofa: "Puss in DC" by Pamela Sargent. Urban Fairy Tale.
      A modern Puss in Boots story. "brings the talking cat to the nation’s capital, where he juggles his CIA association with serving the son of his late master, while trying to make a better life for them both." - Michael M. Jones.

• At Strange Horizons: "The Witches of Athens" by Lara Elena Donnelly, read by Anaea Lay.
     "There are two diners in Athens, Ohio.  The Court Street Diner serves tuna melts and satin malts in silver mixing cups. The Court Street Diner says it is stuck in the 1960s, but it is too hip to be a throwback. The waitstaff are young and enticing, dressed in gingham and high-waisted jeans."

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "A Good Marriage" by Jerry Guarino.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Irresistible Yet Insane" by Paul Tristram.

Sleepy Saturday Free Fiction

A few goodies to start the morning.






Flash Fiction
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Curation" by Cosmo Smith. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Pseudopod: "The Eulogy Of Darien Meek" by Niccolo Skill. Horror.
       "Twin dark wood doors opened up to a high-ceiling-ed main room. The windows were stained half the colors of the rainbow. The room was awash in vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. A splash of green dotted the refreshment table and the faintest lines of blue hung over the altar. A faint musky smell, not quite strong enough to be offensive, wafted out the door."

• At Radio Drama Revival: "Wormwood ‘Revelations’" Dark Fantasy.
     "where Xander Crowe is being tortured by an evil demonic spirit but finds a way to free himself, and start looking into the other weird mysteries in the town of Wormwood.  What exactly IS going down at the library?"

• At Selected Shorts:  "Too Late" Speculative Fiction.
     "Guest host Wyatt Cenac presents a program of stories about drastic solutions and last chances. Master fantasist Steven Millhauser imagines the world covered by a gigantic plastic sphere in “The Dome,” read by Alec Baldwin. Jim Shepard takes us to the greatest recorded natural disaster in history in “Cretan Love Song,” read by Joe Morton, and Mr. Potato Head is not your friend in Nicholson Baker’s “Subsoil,” read by Thomas Gibson."

• At WMG Publishing: "The Scottish Play" written and read by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
    No Description Found

Other Genres

• Fiction at Author's Site: "Discovery" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Mystery.
• Fiction at Online Pulps: "Death on Deposit" by Frank Johnson. 1942, "Duty" by Donald Francis McGrew. 1913, "Murder in Red" by C. S. Montanye. 1948. Pulp. Noir.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "The Aquarium" by Darci Schummer.
• Flash Fiction at Linguistic Erosion: "Type A - The Situation" by Anthony Mullinix. 
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "You Move Me" by Linda M. Crate.

Classic Cover #17 - Soup's On

Mmm Mmm Good!

Full issue, scanned by JVJ-Geo?, is available for free at Digital Comics Museum.

It's Friday, I'm In Love with Free Fiction

A little less on an insane day here today so there will be more posts.  This time there are already some good free fiction items. Back soon with more Free Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror.









Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Marrakech Express" by Milena Benini.
        "Marrakech Express hurdles its great bulk through stringspace. There is no speed in stringspace, but hopping as it does from one planet to the next and trading for a day or two at each, Marrakech Express could be called slow."

• At Drabblecast: "Flying On Hatred of My Neighbor's Dog" by Shaenon Garrity.  Comedy.  Sci-Fi.
     "I know my neighbor’s dog as a bark: a deep, dark, venomous yawp that begins and ends on a snarl. It’s loud, louder than it should be. Earplugs do nothing. It penetrates. Once it starts, it continues, relentlessly, for a period ranging from one to four hours. It can start at any time, day or night, dropping from the veils of morning to where the cricket sings."

• At HiLobrow: "The Man with Six Senses - Part 13" by Muriel Jaeger. Scince Fiction. 1927.
      "I ought, of course, to have warned Hilda of our coming, but it was already late afternoon, and I did not wish to let Plumer’s offer remain unclinched an hour longer than was necessary. Thus it was that we came in upon Michael lying on the couch, his face the colour of lead, while Hilda was bending over him, giving him brandy."

Flash Fiction

• At 365 Tomorrows: "The Indiginous Harvesters Project" by Desmond Hussey. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "Geese" By Lance Manion. Weird Fiction.

Audio Fiction

• At Classic Tales PodCast: "The Furnished Room" by O. Henry. Horror.
      "Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side. Homeless, they have a hundred homes. They flit from furnished room to furnished room, transients forever - transients in abode, transients in heart and mind"

• At Drabblecast: "Flying On Hatred of My Neighbor's Dog" by Shaenon Garrity, read by Nathan Lee.  Comedy.  Sci-Fi.
     "I know my neighbor’s dog as a bark: a deep, dark, venomous yawp that begins and ends on a snarl. It’s loud, louder than it should be. Earplugs do nothing. It penetrates. Once it starts, it continues, relentlessly, for a period ranging from one to four hours. It can start at any time, day or night, dropping from the veils of morning to where the cricket sings." and  Drabble: Crisis of Competence by Travelin' Corpse Feet.

• At LibriVox: Space Platform by Murray Leinster, read by Mark Nelson.

       "SPACE PLATFORM tells the exciting story of a young man helping to build this first station. With scientific accuracy and imagination Murray Leinster, one of the world's top science-fiction writers, describes the building and launching of the platform. Here is a fast-paced story of sabotage and murder directed against a project more secret and valuable than the atom bomb." 1953 Novel.

• At Tales to Terrify: "A Crow Among the Sparrows" by John Dodds, narration and musical bridges by Jonathan Taylor.  Horror.

    No Description Found

Other Genres

• Audio Fiction at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: "The Problem of the Old Gristmill" by Edward D. Hoch
• Fiction at Spinetingler: "Time and Tides" by Zen McCann. 
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "In the Beginning" by William L Stolley.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Now That I Desire" by Michael Lee Johnson.

The Chimes of Doom - Horror Flash

The Chimes of Doom

by Irwin Shapiro

Charles Hanover Didn't Understand the Real Power of  the Clock!

BACK and forth, back and forth, Charles Hanover paced the broad landing on the upper floor of the old mansion. His glance kept shifting from the closed door of his Aunt Agatha's room to the huge, ornately carved grandfather clock that was solemnly ticking in the corner. Back and forth, tick—tock, back and forth . . .

Free Fiction Terrors and More

The terror continues with a new story, in both text and audio formats, at the awesome Nightmare Magazine and two new shorts at the cool Romanian 'zine Revista de Suspans, including one by Bram Stoker award winner Elizabeth Massie.  Not so terrifingly, there's an audio version of  "Cassandra" by C.J. Cherryh (one of my many favorite writers) at the always great StarShipSofa.  And there are other great stories that I know less about.








Fiction
• At Aurora Wolf: "In Absentia Rex" by Traverse Wolverston.
     "Sliding into a chair across from me, the detective leaned forward; his scent was stale cologne and stress-induced sweat. What sort of pieces of work had sat in this chair before me? What hooligans and deviants had he stared down just that morning?"

• At Nightmare Magazine: "10/31: Bloody Mary"  by Norman Partridge. Horror.
     "The boy isn’t very large. The way things are these days, he figures that’s a plus. He is less of a target at night, and for this reason he has come to trust the darkness. Strange to trust darkness in a world overrun with nightmares . . . but that’s the way it is."

At Revista de Suspans:

• "Donald Meets Arnold" by Elizabeth Massie: Horror.
     "He didn’t like to run. He didn’t like to walk. It made him wheeze, and wheezing was uncomfortable. He didn’t like to stand, because it made his hips hurt. He didn’t like the way his puffy feet felt when pressed to the ground, or the way his calves throbbed when asked to hold his body upright."

• "Through Heavy Veils of Dreaming" by Alexandru Dan. Horror.
     "I don’t know about your dreams, but I find comfort mostly in a rather gloomy world, where the evenfall and the night pass their time; and if you ask me about the colors that enliven it, as puzzled as I’d be, I’d be answering: Rather, what’s between color and non-color…"

• At Tor.com: "Wakulla Springs" by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages.   
       "Wakulla Springs. A strange and unknown world, this secret treasure lies hidden in the jungle of northern Florida. In its unfathomable depths, a variety of curious creatures have left a record of their coming, of their struggle to survive, and of their eventual end"

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "The Gifts: Part Two" by Mari Ness. Fantasy.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Snuff Artist" by Carter Lee. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "The Kitchen Table" by Beth J. Whiting. Fantasy. 

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Camp Myth: Phoenix Watching - Chapter 2" by Chris Lewis Carter. YA Fantasy.
     "Last week you met Felix, the protagonist of our story. Felix is obsessed with the human world, and he offered to tell you this story in exchange for learning more about human history. Did you take him up on it? Let’s see what Felix has to tell us this week."

• At Nightmare: "10/31: Bloody Mary"  by Norman Partridge, read by Stefan Rudnicki. Horror.
     "The boy isn’t very large. The way things are these days, he figures that’s a plus. He is less of a target at night, and for this reason he has come to trust the darkness. Strange to trust darkness in a world overrun with nightmares . . . but that’s the way it is."
• At StarShipSofa: "Cassandra" by C.J. Cherryh. Science Fiction.
      "The gift of prescience, rather than a blessing, is a curse for Cassandra that she cannot control. She sees the future all the time and cannot turn it off. She leaves her burning apartment each morning and heads for the bombed-out coffee shop, passing charred corpses on the way. She knows it's going to happen but can do nothing about it." (Wikipedia) 1979 Hugo Award Winner for Best Short Story.

Other Genres

• Fiction at HiLobrow: "The Zayat Kiss - Part 4" by Sax Rohmer. Noir.
• Fiction at the The Western Online: "Jehrico's Tub - Part 1" by Tom Sheehan. Western.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Silent Songs" by Cathie Menon.
• Poem at Leaves of Ink: "Misted Desire" by Ron Koppelberger. 

Are They Asleep Yet?

Do You Wanna Party? It's Free Fiction Time

Even more free fiction! What a good day!  For even more, including e-books, be sure to check out Regan Wolfrom's fantastic free links at SF Signal.  [Art from Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013, linked below]







Fiction
• At Author's Site: "The Voodoo Project" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Urban Fantasy. 2012.
     "Rebekah uses her Sight to fight for good. She works for the Voodoo Project, although her work involves psy ops, not voodoo. She fears retirement and a normal life. So she keeps working, going on missions, never knowing when her next mission will be her last. Because she can see anyone’s future—except her own."

At Short Story.me:

• "The Boy Who Called The Naga" by Michael Schaper. Fantasy.
      "When Vanchay was born, the old village shaman declared him unusual, one to look out for. A boy who could call naga. The boy's mother looked at him, puzzled and a little frightened, but proud as well. She lay on the small birthing bed whilst below them the mighty Mekong rushed by, and for a minute she thought she could hear the water serpent move below."

• "Message in a Rock" by Stewart Mc Kay. Horror.
     "Finally he forces it into my hand and, right enough, it's incredibly light. The colour and the shape remind me of a terracotta bathroom tile, one with irregular, smoothed edges. Is it made of polystyrene? A film prop?"

Now Posted: Quantum Muse - October 2013.

• "The Haunted House " by Harris Tobias- - Alternative.
     "You shouldn't try to do scary on the cheap."

• "Slacker Zombie" by Stephen Hernandez. Alternative.
     "Short horror story for the Halloween edition"

• "Béba Daio's Prayers" by Chris DelGuercio. Alternative.
      "A failing New Orleans store owner calls on a local voodoo priestess to help his business. But at what cost?"

• "The Mortician's Confession" by Michele Dutcher. Science Fiction.
      "The mortician on a small island comes beating frantically on his best friend's door, whispering about cults, and secret books. What could have him so upset?"

• "Grim Park" by Robert Hegwood. Science Fiction.
      "People hear voices in Grim Park, or rather a voice…sometimes when the need is great. It's clearest near the old hanging tree, and if it's in the mood the voice may tell you more than you want to hear."

• "Dr Mephistopheles" by Alex Mair. Alternative.
      "Halloween submission - Sludworth College has a new GCSE chemistry teacher, a man who comes with dark secrets and harbors diabolical intentions. Can the chemistry class stop him before it's too late? Warning - contains weird British acronyms like 'GCSE', 'BBC' and 'A level'."

Now Posted Kaleidotrope Autumn 2013:

• "Mister Bob" by Dan Campbell     
       “It all began with the chicken in the end of the road,” she said.  

• "Lightning Strikes" by Lindsey Duncan     
      "Storm-clouds gathered over the city of Calrhayas, immense hands catching the smoke from fires below. In her training, Diyesari had learned of diviners who could read the future in fallen ash; there was too much here to interpret, and only one possible answer." 

• "Lone White Seagull" by Geoffrey W. Cole     
      "The first officer announced that the plane was lost three hours after they entered the cloud."

• "Camouflage" by Eden Robins     
      "Today, I’m taking the train to the end of the line. Then I’m going to get on another train and another, and eventually I’ll end up in Wisconsin. And then? I’ll keep going north to where the trains stop. Is there a train to Nunavut? To the Arctic Circle? I intend to find out." 

• "Heart-Song" by Danielle Davis.
       "Nycalla shifts on the dusty ground, unnerved by the shouting of the crowd. The voices of the Men rattle the soil beneath her, cluttering her senses with their vibrations and setting her tail to twitching." 

• "Nice"” by Jamie Mason     
       "It is the anniversary of the Overthrow. The execution of Emile Vonnegut, child frightener, has just been broadcast and Michelle Michelle, host of Group Spank (“your liNk’s social equity enforcement program”) is announcing the round-up of four thousand middle-aged Eurasian grandmothers for their collective violations of the Kindarchy’s Social Consideration Code. A festive mood prevails. People are in the streets."

Poetry
At Kaleidotrope. Speculative Poetry.

• "Picking Up Aliens: A Guide" by John Grey.
• "Propelled by Beauty" by Dan Smith. 
• "Musings of a Tower Jockey" by Bruce Golden.
• "Implants" by Noel Sloboda.

 Audio Fiction
• At Apex Magazine: "Becca at the End of the World" by Shira Lipkin
     "She has about an hour, we think. And I have about an hour on this camera, an obsolete Flip mini. I guess all cameras are obsolete now. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a device on which to play this. But she wants to do it. And right now, Becca gets anything she wants. Ice cream or a visit to the zoo, a stolen car or a cliff dive; for the next hour, Becca gets anything and everything she wants."

• At Clarkesworld: "The Symphony of Ice and Dust" by Julie Novakova read by Kate Baker.
     “It’s going to be the greatest symphony anyone has ever composed,” said Jurriaan. “Our best work. Something we’ll be remembered for in the next millennia. A frail melody comprised of ice and dust, of distance and cold. It will be our masterpiece.”