Category: Fantasy

All Stories, Fantasy, Short Fiction

The Pelanconi Flower by Jon Krampner

literallystories2014

The Italian Renaissance is one of the crowning glories of western civilization. In Florence, Venice and other cities, men like Leonardo da Vinci shook off the centuries-old slumber following the collapse of the Roman Empire and blazed new trails through the intellectual firmament, sparking a fire in the minds of men and women that continues to this day. But even as they did so, village life continued much as it had for centuries. Our story concerns the remarkable events that took place in one of these villages.

Continue reading “The Pelanconi Flower by Jon Krampner” →
All Stories, Fantasy

Apsaras’ Dance by Kelly Matsuura

literallystories2014

Time wastes the paint on our faces and ornaments. It roughens the once-smooth stone we were carved from. Yet behind the crumbling stone, we shine.

Our voices blend as we step from the wall, magic infusing our limbs and lighting our smiles. We sing the songs of ancient apsaras before us.

Continue reading “Apsaras’ Dance by Kelly Matsuura” →
All Stories, Fantasy

Time Capsule by Leland Neville

literallystories2014

I was recently involved in the death of a man right here inside the Free Library.

He began making bird sounds near me. The cawing and trilling made it impossible to concentrate on my writing. When I moved, he followed. The bird songs grew louder and more long-winded.

My father, a Marine, told me that bird noises reminded him of a battle he fought inside a dark nameless jungle. Birds, he learned the hard way, unintentionally telegraph your location to the enemy. I am now older than my father was when he died inside our garage.

Continue reading “Time Capsule by Leland Neville” →
All Stories, Fantasy

The Universal Absorbent by Phoebe Reeves

literallystories2014

The City found itself with a problem: what began as a natural hole in the earth where Its citizens had thrown away their evil had helter-skeltered into a voracious toxic Abyss. The City thought it could wash it away by pouring water down the hole, but that only made the evil float to the surface. It had heard about an Angel that was sent to another place to deal with the problem of evil and that that place had finally (and stupidly, so thought The City proudly as It would never be as stupid as that Other Place) destroyed The Angel and that microscopic pieces of The Angel drifted about the land wreaking vengeance.

Continue reading “The Universal Absorbent by Phoebe Reeves” →
All Stories, Fantasy, General Fiction

Birds by Sarah Macallister

literallystories2014

We all worried. Ever since he came back from Glasgow, Uncle Neil seemed different, jauntier. And it wasn’t just the new hat. He strutted around the village, singing in an uneven baritone. Whistling. To be honest, we thought he’d bagged someone and felt sorry for Auntie Sandy. But it wasn’t that.

Continue reading “Birds by Sarah Macallister” →
All Stories, Fantasy

Project Nüwa by Wanying Zhang

literallystories2014

Palms slick with sweat, Daji paced around her penthouse waiting for Goddess Nüwa’s arrival. She hiccupped and noticed writhing shadows behind her. She drew in her eight fox tails that had kept slipping from her human figure since she summoned Nüwa about an hour ago. Today marked the hundredth anniversary of the creation of Project Nüwa. She sipped from a glass of a thousand-year-old baijiu and cast her gaze over Beijing’s city lights, a dense kaleidoscope of blue and white LEDs juxtaposed against flashing neon billboards. The World Trade Center, a sleek curtain of glass walls reaching upward, stood as a commanding presence against the city’s skyline. Rain splattered against the floor-to-ceiling windows, blurring the urban sprawl below into an impressionist painting.

Continue reading “Project Nüwa by Wanying Zhang” →
Fantasy, Humour, Short Fiction

It Had to Be Ewe by Leila Allison

ireneallison12

-1-

Beezer and Barkevious claim to be brothers. That’s unlikely in the physical sense–Beezer is a British Bulldog and Barkevious is a Scottish Terrier; but nowadays you can be anything you want to be until you try to buy life insurance. Then again, since they are talking Dogs who live in the make-believe realm of Saragun Springs, such a claim remains possible. Regardless, the boys were wandering the realm’s countryside sniffing for rancid stuff to roll in when they saw Conrad the Blackface Ram headed their way.

Continue reading “It Had to Be Ewe by Leila Allison” →
All Stories, Fantasy

Flesh and Feathers by L.S. Engler

literallystories2014

The fog was descending, creeping in from the mountains and cloaking the lake in a heavy mist.  Pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders, Birgitte looked up to the darkening sky and smiled.  “We should probably be heading in soon,” she said, though her voice held no hint of actually believing it.  “It will be night before we know it, and there’s sure to be some talk or trouble if we’re too late.”

Continue reading “Flesh and Feathers by L.S. Engler” →