Stories Catch Up 4
More short stories and other things I read earlier this year
1. Buoyant by Avra Margariti in Lost Balloon
Our narrator was the city’s 303rd Atlas, the one chosen to hold up the island. They’re on a date. Their date asks them if they ever considered dropping the city, letting it all go.
They reply asking if they know that they carried their date too and their heart was heaviest of all.
Read This: An almost dreamy story, the fantasy unanchored
from reality, the metaphors floating away as you grasp at them
Don’t Read This: I’ve had dates like this and they turn out
badly
2. In The Belly Of The Wolf by Gwendolyn Kiste in Kaleidotrope
You stab the wolf, cutting the bond between you, taking the child the two of you share. You can supress the wolf in your daughter, perhaps, for a while.
You cannot supress the wolf in your daughter. You cannot sever the bond. The wolf is always waiting.
Read This: A bloody, violent tale about hiding from the
truth
Don’t Read This: A bloody, violent tale about hiding from
the truth
3. Rescue Mission by Josh Denslow in Pithead Chapel
Our narrator is about to be dumped by his girlfriend when she is snatched by a harpy, taken out of their apartment through the window, flown away to their nest on the 20th floor of a local building. The harpies have been there for years, it’s one reason they can afford the apartment, but they haven’t snatched anyone for a while.
He wants to know if she’s okay. Everyone’s asking if he’s on a rescue mission. That was something that used to happen, back when people were snatched. But if she’s his ex-girlfriend what does he owe her? Should he go into the harpy’s nest to see if she’s okay?
Who is the rescue mission for?
Read This: Because you need to know what the harpy has to
say
Don’t Read This: Because our narrator doesn’t know, for
sure, anything, even what he’s doing
4. All The Ways To Hollow Out A Girl by Gwendolyn Kiste in Pseudopod
The first time the boys killed her it was an accident, or so they said. And when she came back they were relieved. But not for long. Now there was a new game. She can’t speak about it. Even to her mother. And since her father left and her mother works all hours, there’s no one else.
The boys go on holiday and give it up. But then they come back and hunt her down again.
This is not the first time she’s been killed. And she doesn’t have to tell the truth to them.
Read This: A dark tale of what we do when we know there
won’t be consequences and the price others pay
Don’t Read This: They keep killing a girl because they can
5. Monster Of The Month Club by Marissa Lingen in Haven Spec
Rae discovers a shadow monster in her back yard while her dog is peeing, disperses it with a rake. It turns out that her cousin Vita has signed her up for a monster of the month club. Every month a monster comes.
Vita thought that Rae wanted adventure, thought she would appreciate it. She was wrong. And when Rae tracks down the supplier she learns that usually people are subscribed for revenge, not fun. And that she has survived longer than anyone else ever.
And still she can’t unsubscribe, but there might be an answer.
Read This: Light-hearted monster fighting fun
Don’t Read This: Several monsters get killed and the ending
falls apart if you think too hard about it
6. Firestorm by Belicia Rhea in Crow And Cross Keys
The girl who breathes fire is a roadside attraction, in a cage in the desert. But she’s stopped breathing fire, though she’s still an attraction.
One day she vanishes, and if anything that’s more of an attraction. But that’s not the last we hear of the girl who breathes fire.
Read This: The girl who breathes fire rises phoenix like to
tell us about being a spectacle
Don't Read This: It’s just cages and burning
7. Tangled by Kim Murdoch in Crow And Cross Keys
Threads appear across the city. They get in the way. They tangle people up. Emergency services are overwhelmed.
People grow used to it.
Read This: A brief look into how strangeness can become
familiar
Don’t Read This: Is this an on the nose allegory or a more
general metaphor?
8. Bari And The Resurrection Flower by Hana Lee in Fantasy
The king and queen of Joseon had six daughters. When the queen was pregnant again they consulted a diviner who told them the child was not a girl. But they were not a boy either. They left the child in the woods.
Bari’s sister comes to her in the woods, a princess. The king and queen have been poisoned and will die. The poison has no antidote. Gaenri tells her of something that might cure them. The Resurrection Flower. It is in the underworld. Bari does not care enough for what will be needed, does not think they are worth the trouble.
Is anyone worth the trouble?
The flower has a guardian, and so there are questions that must be answered. Questions that get to the heart of who Bari is. What Bari is.
Read This: Because Bari’s transformation is despite her
family and because of them, and magical and mythical and deeply personal
Don’t Read This: A dark fairytale that chooses differently
at every story point is still a dark fairytale
9. Sleep Well, My Prince by Lyndsey Croal in Luna Station Quarterly
Captain Prince, out in the Kuiper belt, has discovered the Spindle, a legendary ship. For personal reasons, rather than reporting it they go aboard to find out why it is hibernating.
The ship went missing and EQ Corps is very keen to get it back. But it was EQ Corp’s own actions that caused it to be lost.
There are secrets aboard the Spindle. And Captain Prince’s sister. And a conundrum that carefully places this story within the fairytale it’s referencing.
Read This: The frozen ship, choices on choices, it builds
into a satisfying whole
Don’t Read This: It is another fairytale retelling
10. Captain Courageous In Venice by Janna Layton in Luna Station Quarterly
A classic Commedia del’arte troupe travel around Europe in the 18th century. Classic? Behind the scenes the leaders are Pierrot and Colombina, who play the servants. They are married, and Harlequin is lover to them both. The troupe, as might be expected, is broad-minded, a refuge for those who do not fit in at home.
Flaminia, our narrator, is quietly in love with Isabella, but does not speak of it. Isabella is the daughter of a Venetian nobleman, and Flaminia a farmer’s daughter, and does not know of Isabella’s feelings. Still, she often gets the chance to dress as a boy and, on stage, woo her.
Isabella fled when her family declared she would be sent to a nunnery on a lonely isle. Now they are returning to Venice, the first time for Flaminia. Strange things and unfortunate events occur. When Captain Courageous is sickened by a bad meat pie Flaminia steps into the role. And when Isabella is kidnapped she must play the role for real, no matter how uncanny the stage is this time.
Read This: A fun story of love, the stage, playing roles and
dark magic
Don’t Read This: The only things more tiresome than commedia
del’arte are sacrifices to fish gods
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