“The men are afraid,” I said. “Of course,” said my friend the foreign magician. “Aren’t you?” “Yes.” Behind us in the belly of the boat, my crew huddled over their oars, muttering, praying. I felt that was not wise. The Mother, it seemed to me, must have fled our island, far beyond the reach of […]

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On the morning of my fund day, our pilot landed the house with a particularly gentle touch. I was probably the only family-member who felt the house kiss our Philadelphia docking station. AquaLib can guide you with some amazing house improvement tips. I abandoned my desk and went to the window. A crowd of grubby […]

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Of the woman he was to wed on the morrow, Shursta Sarth knew little. He knew she hailed from Droon. He knew her name was Hyrryai. “…Which means, The Gleaming One,” his sister piped in, the evening before he left their village. She was crocheting by the fire and he was staring into it. Lifting […]

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by Caroline M. Yoachim Tripp got his first scrap of paper the day his mother died. He was four, and the paper was pure white. It was a rectangular sheet the size of his foot, folded into the shape of a feather. It came from the left wing of his mother’s god. His mother died […]

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They said the Marielitas were escoria – scum. The abuelitas muttered it to each other, and the young girls coming home from school clustered together like butterflies, looking thrilled and worried whenever the wind whistled at them. The newspapers said Miami was under siege, that Castro had loosed the worst from the Cuban prisons and […]

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The ship glided into the dock, into the care of grappling arms and snaking robotic leads. Clang, click, contact. The navigation hub flashed with the station control override. The screen showed a logo, but no inbound or outbound communication. Seated next to the pilot, in the bluish glow of the controls, Zhyara didn’t realise how […]

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This is not about stitching a straight line through cloth like a seamstress. Not about the tight suture of a surgeon closing a wound. This is an art. This is about interweaving patterns of the fold and musk. An intricate lacework of innocence. Each tailor creates his own signature stitch unlike any other. “Hand me […]

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Prologue: Preconceptions “What’s taking them so long?” Maggie said, not even trying to be quiet. George hissed at her. “Pipe down. It’s the Government. They have to be thorough.” “Thorough!” She sucked in air. George bumped her with his shoulder, flicking a glance at the door. Maggie didn’t even notice. “What are they doing to […]

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It is the aftermath of the world’s end, and nine birds–nine suns–lie dead while Houyi cradles the curve of her bow, her fingers locking around the taut hardness of its string. The tenth sun, the last, has fled. Chastise them, Dijun said, a father’s plea. But there is the land and the horror and the […]

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I live at the top of the world, and sell happiness for thirteen credits a pill. The product is worth every micro-credit, too, you can be sure of that. Take your chances buying from the gangsters and lowlifes on Gagarin Street or Sally Ride Boulevard, you’d best be prepared for some quality time rolling around […]

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