It's been a while but we're back to sharing stories from fellow magazines that you might have missed, including a bittersweet last story from Metaphorosis.
- This Is My City and I Am Her Song - Suzanne J. Willis
A Siren is in search of a very-precious thing. The mysterious death of a beloved inventor leaves his apprentice, Rosa, alone in the world and in possession of the very thing the Siren seeks. And she is charged with protecting it at all costs… - Ties That Bind - Mark English
Awakening from surgery, a man discovers the shocking ability to see the emotional traumas of others as physical manifestations. Struggling to understand his newfound ability, he unintentionally unleashes profound changes on those around him, including his attending physician, a doctor desperate to bury his past. Mark’s story masterfully explores the burdens of guilt, the transformative power of empathy, and the delicate balance of using one's gifts for good. - Everything I Hate About the Ninety-Two Foot Woman Next Door -TK Rex
At night, when the gates are closed and she is private art and her astroturf dais is peppered with the shit of the dogs who live in the apartments with a view of her face, she keens and writhes against her twisted form, and thrashes against the windows and walls of the buildings that surround her, straining at the iron that tethers her core to the underground parking garage. She scrapes the warped, armless stumps of her shoulders against the cold granite facade, and glares through the widows of the citadel as it grinds its concrete teeth through fitful dreams. - Collaborators - Michael H. Payne
Hasdrubal’s fanged grin split his semi-feline face like a machete slash across a honeydew, and I filed that image away for my next book.
“Once again, Jane Armstrong,” he purred, tucking his light-brown wings into place along his tawny flanks, “it comes down to you and to me.” He tapped a claw on a stack of papers. “And my cease and desist order.” - The Calendar Of Babel - Richard Lau
Despite geopolitical tensions, the world at least agrees on the date and time. Until it doesn't!