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August Short Stories
Revs
By Chris Bailey
Linda is disturbed by her daughter’s new friends.
Best Short Stories from Our First Twenty Years: 2009-2010
Best of 2009:
The
Glass Cage
By James Lecky
Ulphia's beauty was legendary. No man could resist it. To
preserve it, she would pay any price...
Faux
Pair
By Patrick Welch
Apprentice thief Brendell was elated to be given an important
assignment the moment he arrived in Perlenz. There was, of course, a
catch -- no one who had attempted the job in the past had returned.
One
With the Stars
By Steele Tyler Filipek
Cowrie's people wandered the stars at will in their
"planetoids", sentient machines that could cross interstellar distances
in an instant. But for her, the prospect of her grandfather's imminent
demise outweighed all the wonders her world could offer.
Best of 2010:
In
a Time Past
By J. E. Deegan
Cleo and her beloved dog, Joe -- or at least their spirits --
visited their graves every year, remembering the lives they had led and
the events that had ended their brief lives. But this year would be
different...
Is
There Something in the Attic?
By Belinda Rees
The storm brought a blackout, and something else: something
that moved around in the attic, frightening the woman and her two small
children. She had to see what it was, and deal with it -- that was part
of the job of being a mother.
Basilisks
and Brian (and a Very Bad First Day)
By Stuart Sharp
Brian Northington had stumbled into a world he had never
suspected right in the heart of modern London, a world where magical –
and sometimes dangerous -- creatures really existed. As new jobs went,
dealing with them on behalf of P. Edgeborough and Co. was --
interesting.
 Best Mare
Inebrium Tales from Our First Twenty Years
Sociology
Experiment
By Wishbone
"I was only trying to get an idea for my thesis on Non-terran
sociology...' A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."
Where
Angels Fear to Tread
By Bill Wolfe
When a gathering of Gods found that they needed advice, they
knew to ask a bartender. They usurped the bodies of a handy group of
Abvarnan farmers and marched them purposefully into the Mare Inebrium
on the busiest holiday of the Bethdish year. Fortunately for the
Devine, Larrye was the one who took Their order...
Sheffield’s
Eleventh
By Jeff Williams
"Mr. Grym... gives you this challenge. Virtually all of City
of Lights is...'open'...shall we say. To the enterprising entrepreneur,
there is an entree into virtually every business, every bank, every
shop, if the cards are played right and if the man or woman is quick,
smart, and intelligent. Every building is transparent to your skills
and talents under the right circumstances. Every building, that is,
except one... The Tower, my friends- The one building that has never
been burglarized beyond petty drunks stealing petty bags of petty
peanuts. Nothing more than the occasional ashtray or shot glass.
Nothing of any consequence besides bathroom towels. No one in this
room, indeed, no one in the history of Bethdish has ever broken into
the Mare Inebrium Tower and stolen anything of value."
Liar’s Bar
by Iain Muir
"From the dizzying height of her full 5’2", the waitress
looked down at the heap of lace and embroidery on the floor, an earth
mother figure in a peasant blouse and gypsy skirts. Hooped gold
earrings peered out from under her dark curled hair. She was carrying
four two-litre beer steins easily in each hand. She nudged his head
with one slippered foot."
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