Short Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Kourosh
“The villagers think I am going to kill you,” you tell him. He looks at you again, and you can feel his disbelief. “And how will you do that?” he demands. “Oh, I doubt they have thought that through. They probably expect me to give you a poisoned apple, or maybe call down a thunderbolt,…
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The Sacrifice
There is a girl sniveling by the side of the road, huddled against the wall. You prod her sharply with your toe. Without looking up, she sticks out a dirty hand and rattles off her liturgy in a tired chant, “Food, please, food, I have not eaten in days, please, if I do not eat…
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Camarin’s Dragons
You rise from the bed and go to the balcony. Out on the point, the castle is free of the flies and stink that bedevil the town. The sun is just beginning to rise, lighting up the clouds before you in a red filigree. You lean out as far as you can, stretching your arms…
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The Book Collector
“They tell me you want to live forever.” The old man blinks at your directness. He was expecting the customary social pleasantries, a leisurely discussion of the weather and recent events, at least three cups of tea, before either of you addressed the reason for your visit. You are well-versed in those things, though, further…
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The Prisoner
The prisoner is slumped against the post, battered and bruised, his eyes swollen. It takes him a few minutes to see you in the dim light, and then to recognize you. “Witch!” he roars, “You said you would be by my side in my hour of need!” “I am here, my lord, am I not?”…
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The Shadow
A little girl is watching you. “Hello, what’s your name?” you ask her, but she just stares at you mutely. “That’s a nice shadow you have,” you tell her. She looks at it with little interest, but you pick it up in your hands, pulling it this way and that, turning it into a rabbit,…
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Pincus
The bell without a handle chimes, a very tentative tinkling that nevertheless cuts through all the doors and floors and walls of the villa. It rings again, clear and certain, and you realize today will not be the day of lazy nothing you had planned: your demon trap has snared a victim. Two, perhaps, if…
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The Prince
So, let’s talk about Cinderella. Every child wonders how anyone could possibly wear glass slippers without risking serious injury from the ensuing broken glass. But since before Roman times, people have been telling the story of a downtrodden girl whose distinctive slipper matches another and brings her a royal marriage. Over time and distance, the…
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Pomonk—A Love Story
You know I always begin my stories with a man walking—a man walking across a plain, a man walking up to some fishermen, a man walking into a bar—and this one is no different. It begins with a man walking out of the forest. The sun was just beginning to reach over the arbos, the…
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Oh yes, we were witches
You should have seen us soar! High over the trees, high over the hills, up over the mountains, up through the clouds themselves, our hair acrackle with lightning sprites, swooping and swirling, dancing with the fairies of the upper air, chasing the thunder down the long sky! Then down low to steal plump apples from…
Got any book recommendations?