Crossing by A. C. Wise - PodCastle
PodCastle 494: Folk - PodCastle
Folk By Eden Royce In a place beyond far, my braids are woven into the sweetgrass basket encasing me and I am surrounded by the scent of the ocean and its dead. A crack of light breaches my intricate prison and I shift, twist only a fraction, to take advantage of its brightness โ there โฆ
PodCastle 493: The Fall Shall Further the Flight In Me - PodCastle
The Fall Shall Further the Flight In Me By Rachael K. Jones There are things that fly and things that fall. You must remember this distinction, because they are not the same. Devils are flying things that learn to fall. Lovers are falling things that learn to fly. Do not confuse them. Saints do not โฆ
Escape Pod 599: What Glistens Back - Escape Pod
What Glistens Back By Sunny Moraine Come back. You hear the call as the lander breaks up around you. Youโre aware of the entirely arbitrary concepts of up and down before you realize whatโs happening, and then theyโre a lot less arbitrary. Down is not so much a direction as a function of possibility, of what might happen to you, of โฆ
EP584: Your Body, By Default
Your Body, By Default By Alexis Hunter They brought you back because they want something from you. Maybe one day they will bring people back because they can or because itโs the right thing to do โ but for now thereโs you and thereโs them and thereโs the unspoken obligations that lie between you both. [โฆ]
EP585: We All Scream
We All Scream By Marie Vibbert We werenโt, any of us, heroes. Aiden was a downright chicken. Iโm allowed to say that; I love him. My husband doesnโt have to live up to your expectations of masculinity. Iโll beat the crap out of anyone who says otherwise. Me? I donโt stick my neck out. I [โฆ]
Bullets by Joanne Anderton - PodCastle
The Names of the Sky by Matthew Claxton - PodCastle
Emshalurโs Hand Stays by Anaea Lay - PodCastle
The White Fox by L. P. Lee - PodCastle
Escape Pod 598: On the Fringes of the Fractal - Escape Pod
On the Fringes of the Fractal By Greg van Eekhout I was working the squirt station on the breakfast shift at Peevs Burgers when I learned that my best friendโs life was over. The squirt guns were connected by hoses to tanks, each tank containing a different slew formula. Orders appeared in lime-green letters on โฆ
Escape Pod 597: Ms. Figgle-DeBittโs Home for Wayward A.I.s - Escape Pod
Ms. Figgle-DeBittโs Home for Wayward A.I.s By Kurt Pankau I watch with hope as Ms. Figgle-DeBitt samples a slice of caramelized banana upside-down cake. She takes a nibble and seems pleased. She sweeps cybernetic fingers through the shock of gray hair that sits on the human half of her face, a gesture Iโve learned is [โฆ]
EP591: A House of Her Own
A House of Her Own By B. Balder Aoife was only eleven when she caught the little house in the forest. She surprised it as it drank from a puddle, half-hidden under a writhing tree root as large as her own body. Fast as an eel, she snaked her hand around it and held on โฆ
Escape Pod 595: Islands in the Dark : Escape Pod
Islands in the Dark By Sarah Goldman Road out from Kaysee was boring as ever. The kids weโd picked up this time werenโt anything to sneeze at: soft-spoken boy with eyes too teched up to blink, real young bratty kid who kept trying to backseat drive me from the hatch of a goddamn pickup, and a โฆ
Escape Pod 596: The Wind You Touch When You Run : Escape Pod
The Wind You Touch When You Run By James Beamon This pursuit starts as they all start, going after the Underground Railroad. It will end as it always ends, with us feeding the Minotaur. The in-between is where I tell tales. I wipe sweat from my eyes while my son Langston squints under the blue-white โฆ
Escape Pod 594: The Spice Portrait : Escape Pod
The Spice Portrait By J.M. Evenson They said my love for my daughter was excessive, that I made her weak by kissing her and singing in her ear at night. They also said I killed her. My mother did not believe in tenderness. She was gaunt, all teeth and hair, her face hard as a stone โฆ
What the Fires Burn by A. Merc Rustad | PodCastle
In Spring, the Dawn. In Summer, the Night. by Aidan Doyle | PodCastle
Escape Pod 593: Planetbound : Escape Pod
Planetbound By Nancy Fulda Thereโs a moment that comes, the first time you step on the rim of a planet, when you suddenly realize how breakable you are. When you finally understand that despite the bone density treatments, despite the braces cradling your back and legs, despite the half-dozen hands that support your first faltering [โฆ]
EP592: When All the Clocks Are Wrong
When All the Clocks Are Wrong By Beth Goder Jen locks her bike and heads towards the theater. She needs a break from studying, but more importantly, she needs to find Ash, who has her Soil Science notes. Jen promises herself she wonโt try to kiss Ashโtheyโll see the midnight movie, Ash will hand her the โฆ
EP590: Four Seasons in the Forest of Your Mind
Four Seasons in the Forest of Your Mind By Caroline M. Yoachim Spring My tree is a pyramidal cell in the prefrontal cortex of your brain. There are millions of us here, in the forest of your brain, each with our own region to tend. My region is a single tree, for I am newly [โฆ]
Cassandra Writes Out of Order by Andrea Tang | PodCastle
EP588: Rocket Surgery
Rocket Surgery By Effie Seiberg Weโd tested plenty of missiles before, but Teeny was the only one that convulsed when we cut him open. Oh, your viewers need more background? OK, Iโll back up a bit. Lemme tell ya, kids today donโt know their history. Even locked up in here for the past ten years, โฆ
EP589: Seb Dreams of Reincarnation
Seb Dreams of Reincarnation By Aimee Ogden They unplugged Sebโs neurodes at the end of his ten-year tour of duty. Heโd known it was coming, had been told before he ever signed the contract that if they left him in any longer his health would start to deteriorate. What they hadnโt mentioned was that his [โฆ]
EP319: Driving X
By Gwendolyn Clare Read by Mur Lafferty Discuss on our forums. First appeared in Warrior Wisewoman 3 All stories by Gwendolyn Clare All stories read by Mur Lafferty Driving X by Gwendolyn Clare Carmela wouldnโt have stopped if she had known that the kid was still alive. She spotted the body lying under a creosote โฆ
EP361: Ashes on the Water
By Gwendolyn Clare Read by Mur Lafferty Discuss on our forums. Originally appeared in Asimovโs, 2011 All stories by Gwendolyn Clare All stories read by Mur Lafferty Rated 13 and up Ashes on the Water by Gwendolyn Clare I hoped that Ranjeetโs friends were as disreputable as promised. Ranjeet himself was late, of course. Iโd โฆ
Ghost of the Shoals by Sandra M. Odell | PodCastle
EP586: The 1st Annual Lunar Biathlon
The 1st Annual Lunar Biathlon By Rachael K. Jones Raji and I were always designing new torments for ourselves, and then calling them good, and running around the Moon was just the latest idea. We tattooed wedding bands on each otherโs fingers after our courthouse elopement, and for good measure, each otherโs names. Raji ran [โฆ]
EP587: Someday
Someday By James Patrick Kelly Daya had been in no hurry to become a mother. In the two years since sheโd reached childbearing age, sheโd built a modular from parts sheโd fabbed herself, thrown her boots into the volcano, and served as blood judge. The village elders all said she was one of the quickest [โฆ]
The Gold Silkworm by Tony Pi | PodCastle