Fiction

Centuries of war, conquest, and foreign invasion have drawn and redrawn the map of Argia countless times, leaving the country’s boundaries ambiguous and ill-defined. It was in the summer of his fortieth year that Franz Sieber found himself in that contested region, escorted by a small team of mercenaries, guides, and translators. He had come in search of flowers. According to local legend, the outskirts of Argia were home to the Hyacinthus mercedes—a rare breed whose pollen plays a crucial role in the manufacture of certain microchips.

In June 2023 (Issue 129)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration:
  
  14:34
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Fiction

The Seconds Between Light and Sound

by Ozzie M. Gartrell

Author spotlight

The drums sound at first light but you are already awake. Today is the day you will finally meet the Goddess. She’ll either embrace you, ripping you apart and reforming you into a being of magic and flame, as mercurial as the sea, or She’ll withhold her blessing and never again will you walk upon land. You take a breath and hold the humid, tropical air deep in your lungs before releasing it and dressing in your ceremonial leathers. You knot the leather straps around your chest, replicating the geometric patterns favored by your beloved cousin, Sindr. The one who disappeared.

In June 2023 (Issue 129)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration:
  
  44:03
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Fiction

Goodnight, Virginia Bluebells

by Elena Sichrovsky

Author spotlight

The call comes when Kaitlyn is at Little Star—the cafe on the corner of Third and Main—picking up lunch for the marketing team: two Caesar salads and a cream cheese avocado bagel sandwich. She answers her phone as it’s her turn to step up to the counter. The voice on the other end of the line says, This is Father Lawrence, chaplain from the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. She already knows what he’s going to say next.

In May 2023 (Issue 128)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Justine Eyre
- Duration:
  
  20:31
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Fiction

9 Lies You Tell Yourself About Ghost Hunting

by Aimee Picchi

This started with a prompt in a weekend flash writing contest: “True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.” That weekend, my teenage daughter and a couple of her friends were talking about sidekicks in books that are more interesting than the main “chosen” one character—and it brought up my own conflicted feelings about the show Supernatural, which is littered with the bodies of the Winchester brothers’ female sidekicks.

In May 2023 (Issue 128)

Fiction

Primal Slap

by Keith Rosson

Author spotlight

Jeffrey, chin glazed in grease, leans his head over my cubicle wall and asks me what I’m working on. He slurps something from his bento box—the one with his name supposedly written in kanji on the side—and noodles hang trembling from his lips. Jeffrey’s the senior sales associate, which technically makes him my superior. He’s wildly unsavory for a number of reasons; the fact that he insists on eating at his desk every day is pretty high on the list.

In May 2023 (Issue 128)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Susan Hanfield
- Duration:
  
  58:59
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Fiction

Jumper

by James Tatam

Author spotlight

The Rampart Hotel towered into the sky. It was hard to believe the building was once considered the flagship symbol for a new boom in southeast tourism—a boom that lasted as long as these things usually do. Now it was a distastefully modern thing with a square, flat roof somewhere in the grey clouds and a car park that was mostly empty. As Penrick made his way into the lobby and ordered an old fashioned, he wondered if the flagging status of the hotel was the reason it had begun hosting the jumping competition in the first place.

In Apr. 2023 (Issue 127)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration:
  
  37:17
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Fiction

Delicate Webbing

by Beatrice Winifred Iker

My writing explores the darkness within myself and my past. In this case, I wanted to write about a frighteningly unhealthy relationship. I hope readers experience the uncomfortableness the narrator feels for participating in something profane and yet falling head-first into it.

In Apr. 2023 (Issue 127)

Fiction

Root Canticle

by Natasha King

Author spotlight

Be honest, now. What did you think you would find? You have ventured all the way to this cellar, meaning you must have first braved the porch balustrade of milk teeth, skirting the welcome mat that parts down the center like a grin. Perhaps you chanced up to the second floor where the beds are heavy beneath the weight of fungal networks spun as fine as silk thread, or into the dining room set for two: plates flexing concave and convex like the thudding of ventricles.

In Apr. 2023 (Issue 127)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Justine Eyre
- Duration:
  
  17:10
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Fiction

Laura Lau Will Drain You Dry

by Wen-yi Lee

Author spotlight

The day after the picture of your boobs gets sent around the school, a mosquito lands on your tongue and bursts like a ripe cherry. You are crying in the disabled stall of the girls’ bathroom where you took the photo to begin with. You hate that you’re back here, but it’s where you were that day four months ago because it’s the only private mirror in the whole school. It’s exactly the same. Paint-stained, clogged-up sink, graffiti all over the door that you’ve contributed to, no toilet paper on the roll.

In Mar. 2023 (Issue 126)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Judy Young
- Duration:
  
  20:27
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Fiction

Terms of Service

by Dominica Phetteplace

Many EULAs take seventeen (or more!) hours to get through. I always feel like I’ve signed away a piece of my soul after agreeing to a super long one. Perhaps I have.

In Mar. 2023 (Issue 126)