Author
Jamie Lackey
Susurrus and Sapling
Petrichor stirred and pulled up their roots as the first rays of sunshine caressed their leaves. They sorted through their mycelial dreams. Most of the news gathered from the tangled network of roots and hyphae was minor. A fire burned, but it was well over the sunward horizon…
Last Laugh
I have heard no tales about who sealed the gods, or how, or why. No tales about how it happened, how each member of the pantheon, from the greatest to the smallest, was sealed away in a bead of gray stone threaded on a braided leather cord. The tales all begin later, after the…
Growing Up
I didn't realize I was property till my progenitor sold me. The last time I saw zir, ze looked deep into my eyes and said, "All children are assets, little one. Someday, if you are able to earn a place among the adults, you'll understand." Ze patted me on the head with a heavy,…
Her Face from Memory
Imogene was supposed to vanish before my fifth birthday. At 11:30 on what we thought was her last night, we sat together, cross-legged on my standard issue pink unicorn quilt, knees almost touching, waiting for her to pop like a soap bubble or dissolve like cotton candy in a…
Rescuing the Ice Queen
At dawn, the ministers drag the Ice Queen out into the courtyard where I stand in line with all of the other accused criminals. They are rough, and her manacles dig into her scarred wrists, but her face is as blank as a snowdrift in the early morning shade. The new sunlight…
The Spider's Garden
The spider grows invasive plants in her garden. Morning glory crawls up the walls, its leaves green and glossy, its tendrils curling into brick and crumbling it slowly to dust. Mint and lily of the valley choke each other in shady corners. Forsythia hedges stand under the weight…
The Widow Anatolia and the Dragon Lord
The widow Anatolia stands in front of her stovetop, her bare feet cold against the tile floor. She splashes water into a small pot without measuring, then dumps half of it down the drain. She stands over it while it comes slowly to a boil, enjoying the heat that wafts up and…
Smooth Like Glass
The alien curled onto what I could only assume was meant to be a chair and turned on its translator. I lowered myself onto the provided couch. It was soft blue velvet, and I wondered where it came from. Had the aliens stolen it? Created it themselves? Clearly, they'd have no use…
The Taste of the Storm
Clouds gathered on the horizon, even though no wind churned the smooth face of the gray-green ocean. Marlene scowled. "The weather witch is angry again." "This is the third one this week," I said as lightning flickered between the clouds. I looked at the boats docked in the…
For Your Time
The pamphlet arrives in your mailbox, sandwiched between the grocery store ads and the previous tenant's life insurance bill. The shiny, slick paper is thick between your fingers. Simple black letters on a dried-blood background say, "We Will Pay for your Time." Inside the…
To Maintain the Balance
Ellandra followed the unicorn deeper and deeper into the dying wood. She saw it only as flashes of white in the sunlight that filtered through the brown leaves, but it had to be a unicorn. Unicorns maintained the balance in the world, and her land was dying before its time. They…
Offering Solace
She sits in a dusty corner of the glass and chrome spaceport, offering solace to everyone. Beings of all shapes and sizes bustle past. Most are tired, lonely. All have need of what she offers. She holds solace in a delicate porcelain bowl, fine and fragile between her palms. The…