December 2012

This is it, the end of the world!

Now I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a story about that famous and alleged Mayan prediction. Plus, it’s Christmas time and Santa has to make an appearance, too. Heck, why not toss in a classic fantasy, a superhero story, and a zombie apocalypse novelette for good measure as well? So before it all comes crashing down – or at least before the lights come down – please enjoy this month’s issue.

+ They Come Back by Amberle L. Husbands
+ Zantook the Santa by Francis W. Alexander
+ The Apprentice by Erin M. Kinch
+ Hath No Fury by Stoney M. Setzer
+ A Different Blessing by Milton Davis

Oh, and Merry Christmas. John 1.5 – The Editor

They Come Back

by Amberle L. Husbands

The respectable newspapers, for the most part, carried on as if nothing were out of the ordinary.  And why wouldn’t they, Ambrose wondered. Why risk the embarrassment of having reported the end of the world, when good business sense was to duck your head and go on assuming you’d still have an audience the next morning?

The date in the paper’s corner—December 20th, 2012, Thursday—seemed smaller than normal, if anything, as if they’d tried to slip it in under the radar.

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Zantook the Santa

by Francis W. Alexander

Although something bugged him about the event, Christmas 2011 on earth had been the best ever for Zantook, the Santa. This being his third Noel, multilocating had been a breeze, and delivering presents to the human boys and girls was the greatest joy he could imagine. He giggled at the thought of humans and their attempts to catch this “new” phenomenon mysteriously leaving gifts under their trees. Now, Santa occupied a spot with UFOs as a heated topic of debate. Why, he wondered, couldn’t every day be Christmas?

He pondered the moment, only a few hours ago, when he stopped at the apartment of Phil SmithDNAaNyZ2 and delivered a tricycle. Last Christmas, Phil’s drug addicted mother had accused him of stealing the bike and then sold the vehicle to support her habit. So at 2:45 am, Zantook brought him a new shiny green Schwinn.

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The Apprentice

by Erin M. Kinch

Conversations stopped mid-word when Viola de Luce swept into the ballroom. The more attention she received, the more brightly she shone. Her eyes sparkled like emeralds as she glanced around the room, and the pile of blonde hair atop her head gleamed like molten gold in the light of hundreds of candles.

Unseen to most, her gifts raced around the room, scanning the crowd, searching for any who posed a challenge. To her, the ungifted stood in shadow, while other gifteds glowed with an internal light. Most people in this wretched kingdom had no gifts at all. A few held a tiny ember—enough to be considered intuition or natural charisma, perhaps, but not enough to play.

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Hath No Fury

by Stoney M. Setzer

“Erik! Not tonight!” Pam Mabry shouted in shock and rage. “It’s our anniversary!”

Her husband of two years looked up at her apologetically. He was already in the process of changing into his Mole-Man costume. “I know, babe, but I just got the call from Police Headquarters  as I was pulling into the driveway. Backbreaker just escaped from prison, and….”

“Can’t the regular cops handle it just this once? Or maybe another superhero?” Pam retorted, her anger burning hotter by the second. I’ve spent all day getting ready, and he’s going to leave? He hasn’t even said a word about how I look!

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A Different Blessing

by Milton Davis

The approach was critical.  Too close and they would be attacked. Too far and they would be ignored.  In the end it was a subjective decision, one that took not only skill but experience. Edward was the only one of their group that possessed both. He’d been to Atlanta and was familiar with which highways and roads were passable.  It helped that Edward possessed the Gift, but that was an advantage that no one knew, not even the terminally ill donors he considered family.

“Are you sure we’re close enough?” Ginger asked. She coughed through her face cloth, her eyes tight and tearful.

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