This summer has passed by so quickly. As we enjoy the last of our beach days and lazy afternoons, we offer you this selection of stories as a refreshing pick-me-up. Peruse our ice cream menu and pick something that appeals to you.
In this issue you’ll find a soup-making seneschal of the dead and a teapot that brings self-enlightenment; gods and heroes finding a second life in the mortal world; a librarian dealing with rowdy patrons and a scribe writing for a demanding audience; two people with very different connections to the ocean; companionship in a wishing well and conflict at the border between water and wood; a trip into the desert and a quest to the bottom of the sea; a troublemaking theme song and a union organizing in hell.
So clear your schedule and pull up a chair in the shade. Consider this your blanket permission to stay home for a while.
[Want this as an ebook? Buy it here!]
Vanilla
familiar, perhaps, but there’s nothing simple about it
Miss 49 Days – Mina Li (4,295 words)
Monologue of a Wishing Well – Anjali Patel (751 words)
The Case of the Teapot of Enlightenment – by Anya Ow (4,935 words)
The Librarian of Babyl – Jared Millet (2,805 words)
Caramel Sea Salt
tastes like the ocean, but there’s enough sweetness to carry you through
Every Next Day – Rebecca Burton (1,317 words)
The Eleventh Hour – Karim Kattan (2,622 words)
The Lake, the Valley, the Border Between Water and Wood, and the End of Things – Watson Neith (4,432 words)
I Am Tasting the Stars – Jennifer Donohue (4,830 words)
Blue Moon
no one knows what it tastes like, exactly, but we do know you’re going to love it
A Recurring Theme (Song) – Mei Davis (3,600 words)
We Made the Maps That Led Us Here – Jessie Ulmer (1,923 words)
One Coin, Under Earth – Jessica Yang (4,861 words)
Lemon Sorbetto
a bright, sharp tang to clear your palate before you go
An Open Letter to Bezoath, Lord of Darkness and Shareholder Value – Brent Baldwin (871 words)
Broken Idols, Guarded Hearts – Elizabeth Loupe (4,684 words)
The Last Scribe of Tazarhal – Jess Hyslop (1,141 words)
Translunar Travelers Lounge 