Aboard the ghost ship Nine Lives there are the living, the dead, and a great many cats.

Aboard the ghost ship Nine Lives there are the living, the dead, and a great many cats. And Jourdain, who likes to sleep in the observation nest, body caught somewhere between ship and stars—between everything. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - The Sloppy Mathematics of Half-Ghosts By Charles Payseur via Instapaper https://ift.tt/30RPfDu

When that summer ended, Brazilians felt nothing but joy.

When that summer ended, Brazilians felt nothing but joy. Flying cars were finally here, and as nobody could afford one, they happily rented them, in the colours of their favourite brands. The flying cars drove themselves; pedestrians now had the str… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

As a noun, ajé meant energy, sorcery, power. But to its adepts, it had always meant me, we, us, a way of wishing others well.

On a scalding morning of 1983, father and son walked side by side. They were similar in many ways—light olive skin, mousy hair, a thin nose—but only the father wore glasses, carrying a heavy binder under his arm. “If there’s something your old man c… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

There goes another neguinho from Glicério messing with drugs, babbled a neighbor to anyone who wanted to listen, at any square in Baixada. Kids playing soccer, drunkards inebriated with beer and laughter, guys in flatbills getting high in unseen cor…

He promised he’d keep his heart, but circumstances have changed.

He promised he’d keep his heart, but circumstances have changed. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

It was during the time the Angel lived with us. I could no longer bear sweeping the feathers.

It was during the time the Angel lived with us. I could no longer bear sweeping the feathers. I didn’t mind the intoxicating celestial scent his nesty-nasty room exhaled. It only started to bother me when I took a guy home to spend the night and a f… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

I keep asking myself why didn’t I stop them. I was there. I was the only sane one, right? Personally unaffected by the tragedy. That’s what the judge said, anyway, even though I was never prosecute…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io CONTENT WARNING: “There is the past and the not-past,” Heron said, blood dripping from their arm onto the nightingale floor. “Which is this?” “The not-past, you idiot.” Dog grunted as he peeled back Heron’s sleeve. via Pocket

"Before Dog, Heron had never seen someone remove their own heart."

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “It makes it hard to give good advice, you know?” The air in the occult store is close, dim. Patchouli coats Cassandra’s lungs, familiar as disdain. via Pocket

“People don’t want to know the future,” the tarot reader goes on. She pulls off her headscarf, grimaces, reties it over hair tacky with sweat. “They want to talk through their troubles. They want y…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io 1.  The first time you meet a murderer, you are in kindergarten. via Pocket

Most people don’t encounter their first murderer so young. Most people won’t meet the Fermi estimation of the national per-person lifetime average of thirty-six murderers, either.

Her right hand undulates in front of her like a rippling wave. She raises the other hand above her head and with fluttering fingers, circles her wrist down to her waist. Outside a gentle wind stirs…

Amaya sits among empty armchairs and fading curtains in a room brightened by plastic flowers. On each wall there’s a still life, and a grey carpet covers the floor. She stares at her yellowing copy of Bleak House until the words become black insects… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - The Weather Dancer By Aisha Phoenix via Instapaper https://ift.tt/33d7NAr

“We don’t know each other now. But we’re going to meet, and one day, we’ll be together. Actually, maybe that’s the real beginning.”

I woke up that morning in the mood for curry, so I ended up at the supermarket. I was pushing a shopping cart down the ethnic aisle, scanning the shelves of spices, when you appeared beside me. I didn’t have to turn to know you were staring. The sid… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - Someday We'll Embrace This Distance By Niyah Morris, Art by Em Allen via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2KwwAYQ

It still came as a surprise when, yesterday, Yumi suggested they go to Ishiyama-dera Temple to ask advice from Murasaki Shikibu.

It’s no secret that Carrie’s been having trouble starting her thesis. And, okay, maybe she has been complaining for weeks, and maybe Professor Kawamura has started breathing down her neck, and maybe Yumi and Kazu have been bearing the brunt of it al… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - Invisible and Dreadful By S. R. Mandel via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2TRH2NK

He’s still dancing away happily even as the doll kicks its feet in perfect unison with his. Apa watches them both, her heart now sowing fields without a thought for the reaping.

When the first breeze of the morning whistles over the green tips of the paddy-stalks to kiss the tawny jute thatching of the bungalow roof, Apa is already out on the verandah. It’s still dark but that doesn’t matter, it’s been more than twoscore ye… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - And Now His Lordship Is Laughing By Shiv Ramdas via Instapaper https://ift.tt/301dTB7

A child falls. A raven feeds. A valravn flies away.

I heard about the story from the friend of a friend of an acquaintance, and didn’t put any stock in it at first. In my profession, you hear things like this with some frequency. You’d be a fool if you went running every time you heard someone cry fi… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - Notes on a Resurrection By Natalia Theodoridou via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2J24rId

Static. Startle. Wait. You’re—wait. You? via Pocket

It was a nice enough cabin, if Zanna ignored the dead wasps. Their bodies were in the bedroom, all over the quilt and the floor, so she’d sleep in the living room until they ascertained whether there was a live wasp problem as well as a dead one. If…