Sometimes, as I’m putting together an issue, I realize that the stories I’m publishing are all related somehow. This month it’s not completely true, but only one of the items isn’t number-related. I’ll get to that in a minute. First, the Preditors & Editors Poll numbers. Thanks to all of you who voted for us; […]
Today, the world ends. Tuesday last, Reed grabs his best friend’s shoulders and says, “You’ve got to stop this.” Luke looks at him and wonders why Reed is the only person in the world who hasn’t changed. Three years ago, it starts with Luke covered in blood that is not his own and the life […]
Lydia turned out the light, picked up her backpack, and opened her window. She was expecting the gust of cool night air, the smell of freedom, and the call of the dance floor. She was not expecting the shower of gold. “Ow!” She threw her pack up as a shield from the heavy, glittering hail. […]
Chapter I In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket, and said: “Here are gifts. Take one, leave the others. And be wary, chose wisely; oh, choose wisely! for only one of them is valuable.” The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, Death. The youth said, eagerly: “There is no […]
One My sister Chiru has beautiful, rich, warm brown skin. Mine is like onionskin paper, yellowed and dry and fragile. The few wisps of hair that grow on my scarred scalp mock the thick, black waves that fall past her shoulders and would grow to her waist if she let it. She is poised and […]
This story collection is an exemplar for Short-short Sighted #19, “A Story of n Words: How Low Can You Go?” Story One He left the village of his birth, crossed the mountains, crossed the seas, saw great cities, learned a few words in a dozen tongues, met the high and the low, and returned after […]
I want to address the question of how short a story can be and still be a story, but to get there we have to consider an obvious question: What is a story? Consider the poor writer whose manuscript was just rejected. The editor has been kind enough to provide some specific comment in the […]