Fictional Worlds

PodCastle 553: Grounded Women Never Fly

The Tanuki-Kettle by Eugie Foster As she opened the door, Hisa was surprised to see an iron kettle sitting on her step. It had a large, round belly and four stumpy legs. The spout was wide and curved like a fox’s mouth with two round, black eyes above it. And most curious, a pair of …

By Eugie Foster. Read by Diane Severson. When we reached the south entrance, Nai-nai stopped. “An-ying, there is great passion in you,” she said. “A blessing and a curse, I have always maintained, that you were born in both the year and the hour of the rabbit but also beneath the auspice of fire. Fire …

Honored Guest by Ellen Kushner I have met very few evil people in my life, but my grandmother is one of them. When my mother died, Omama told my father that she would support him and my brother and me, but only if he gave up all his and my mother’s friends, her family and …

Black Swan, White Swan by Eugie Foster Concentric circles lap beneath the dock’s wooden planks. A swan floats out, its shining plumage driving the water’s void back. “There’s a man across the way.” The swan fixes Delia with polished onyx eyes. “Sometimes he’s a lighthouse and sometimes he’s a train, but silence doesn’t scare him.” …

When Shakko Did Not Lie by Eugie Foster The maiden’s amber eyes glowed in the moonlight. A single tear glistened and rained down her moon-white face. “Don’t cry, lovely one,” Shakko barked, alarmed. The maiden lifted the sleeve of her jasmine-yellow kimono and dabbed at her eyes. “Why should I not cry?” she asked. “My champion says …

The Cruelest Team Will Win by Mike Allen A spider with a leg span wider than my outstretched hand squeezed out from the space behind the light switch, and spread its wings. I froze, my finger still on the toggle. Behind me the dust-draped ceiling fan hummed to life, the light bulb beneath it flicking on …

Telling Stories by Sandra M. Odell Sam knew there would be trouble the night the saguaro came to call. “Evening,” she said, and stepped aside for her unexpected guest. The cactus scrunched down as far as it could and skittered through the door on its roots, bringing with it the breath of rocks, sage brush, and …

Their Changing Bodies by Alaya Dawn Johnson Judy had been painfully aware of him since her arrival two weeks ago, when she had seen him across the mess hall. They talked a little, but Judy hadn’t been prepared for his appearance or his popularity. She hadn’t expected him to change quite so much. Judy had …

The Great Zeppelin Heist of Oz by Rae Carson and C.C. Finlay Scraps, the patchwork girl, witnessed the wizard’s arrival. She sat beneath a tree watching the most spectacular show ever performed by a summer sky. White clouds swirled above an emerald colored sky like whipped marshmallow topping on a glass bowl full of lime …

Stay by K.C. Ball An almost-bass voice said something I didn’t catch. Higher voices giggled, then five kids moved out of the shadows into the hard light of the parking lot. Two boys, three girls; none a day beyond eighteen. Bumping against each other. Laughing for no reason. At ease and full of life, the …

An Invitation via Email by Mike Allen Some of the asides in your article made me realize (Gods, can I be dense sometimes) that when you spoke of concerns about “arcane rites” in response to the invite to my Halloween party the next evening, that you possibly weren’t kidding and perhaps had some genuine anxieties. …

Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed I do not know how he brought us to this land of blood and iron masks. I know only that I am a real man trapped in a mad landscape of living lessons. My brothers and I were spirited here from my home in…Damascus? Yes, praise be …

My Heart the Bullet in the Chamber by Stephanie Charette They said I wouldn’t feel anything from the waist down but that was a lie from the first contraction. Yet when the good doctor took away the baby — healthy, crying — and offered that blood-christened Spencer Repeater in her place, I cradled its stock …

Scar Clan by Carrow Narby Sage doesn’t ask me to go with her when the call comes in. She doesn’t say anything at all except, “It’s Thunderhead again.” She ducks into coveralls, tosses some shovels into the bucket truck, and speeds away. We call it the “bucket” because of how we use it. It’s not …

Ulykke crouched in the darkness, just beyond the sunray’s reach. Before her, along the forest path, an entourage of huntresses passed on horseback, armed with arrows and blades of finest silver and armor too strong for even Ulykke’s teeth to pierce. Among them, on a dappled-gray mare, rode the princess Dania herself: beloved ruler of …

One More Song By Eliza Chan After Mira closed the door the selkie shed her skin, leaving the mottled grey fur in a heap like stepped-out-of work clothes. Mira handed her one of the many robes hanging on the hat stand and kept her eyes on her blue and green rug, only catching glimpses of …

The Satyr of Brandenburg By Charlotte Ashley By the inebriated light of dawn, October the 23rd, 1700, a swarthy figure skulked in the rosebushes lining the Villa del Sulcis, outside the Sardinian town…