SPEC*U*LA*TIVE 66

66 words. Endless possibilities.

Issue 1
 Table of Contents
Anniversary Present William Gilmer3
At the End, She Waited R.J. Jacobs3
Bovista Dermoxantha Sara Codair 4
Taking Tea Kerry E.B. Black 5
Oh, Brain Adrian George Nicolae5
The Umbrella Tracy Maxwell 6
Deventice Karen Heslop 7
Crown of Wisdom W.S. Moye 7
R.I.P. Tina Guthrie 8
Heat Lorah Jaiyn9
Game Girl Lora Rivera9
POD People Vaughan Stanger10
The Touch Allison Walters Luther11
The Silent Observer J.C. Madison11
Sperm Whale Lora Rivera12
Star Stuff Abigail Ashing 13
Plasma Window Amanda Bergloff 13
On Returning Home Santino Prinzi14
Contributor Bios 15
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 Anniversary Present

William Gilmer

Dear Lizzy,
I fed the maple to the fire today. I can still see you smiling,
reading beneath its branches. My hands are bleeding worse than
when we carved our initials into it, but this is the only way I
could think of to get it to you. When the smoke gets there, I
hope Heaven has dirt you can plant it in.
Miss you.
Xoxo

***
At the End, She Waited

By R.J. Jacobs

To be free, she'd said before walking out, you just gotta

follow what's calling.

A day later, while I could still smell her perfume, the sounds
came from the stones. I followed them.

Three years, through deserts and to the edge of the world where
the gods played with the lonely sky whales, I walked. I found her
at the end of it, where she waited.

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 Bovista Dermoxantha

Sara Codair

Its just fungi, pouted Aster, struggling to kick the puffball.

Its magic Bovista, whispered Leah, pulling Aster closer. Pixies laid
eggs inside it.

Liar. Aster elbowed Leahs gut, eliciting a satisfying squeal. She

lunged, kicking the fungi towards the sky.

Crystalline spores fell like snow. Aster gaped in wonder as they cracked
open. Newborn pixies descended on the garden, devouring foliage and
flowers with wicked teeth.

Photo by Sara Codair

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 Taking Tea

Kerry E.B. Black

The kettle screams, and I steep tea. Taking tea calms me.
It came again, all disruptive energy and evil intentions.

My hand shakes, rattling the cup on its saucer.

The things decay lingers, but the bergamot battles its stench. I
mutter a protection prayer with little hope for
help. Midnight approaches. My stomach drops. It will return soon, so I
sip my tea. Tea calms me.

Photo by Lisa Davies

Oh, Brain...

Adrian George Nicolae

I love a good, old fashioned anxiety attack in the middle of the

night. Moments where I'm sleeping without a proper thing in my head,
then I feel something. I open my eyes and notice a white creature
flowing over my head, like a ghost or a carcass of some sort, shaking,
giving me goosebumps.

I blow at it, making it vanish, along with my sleep.

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 Photo By Jason Palmieri

The Umbrella

Tracy Maxwell

They warned about the sky. She could have brought insurance. But
she was too anxious to go back. She wanted to fly forward toward
the day.

And then, the night. When the sky later opened she cursed her
misfortune. Wringing her skirt and shaking her mane she leapt
into her future.

"You look beautiful," he said. Her lips, salty to her nervous

tongue, curled in surprise.

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 Deventrice

Karen Heslop

The ancient daemon inhales the piquant

aroma of its host's burning nubile
flesh.

Its feeding on the villagers' young had

led to her fiery demise. It peers at the
jeering crowd through the inferno's
shimmering haze. It concentrates.

The preacher's teen daughter jerks and

then relaxes with a measured breath.

Running the girl's tongue along her

canines, it dreams of ripping into its
ex-host's crispy corpse.

Crown of Wisdom

W.S. Moye
"All white-furred animals talk," he
answered.

Drool ran down teeth big as stakes and

dripped on my chest. A deep, guttural
growl escaped between them. I was frozen
by huge blue eyes.

"We're magical too."

"Just, please, let me go. I swear I

won't tell anybody!"

Hot breath smothered me. He laughed--

actually laughed. "Even if I let you
live," he said moving in "who'd believe
you?"
Photo by Jason Palmieri

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 R.I.P.

Tina Guthrie

She clawed her way out of the box, fought the mud to get out of
the hole.

She looked around, realized where she was and started walking
home.

Someone screamed, then another and another. What was wrong with
these people?

She turned to look at them, but caught her reflection in the

window.

Now she knew why they were screaming and she realized she was
hungry.

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(Photo By Jason Palmieri
 Heat

Lorah Jaiyn

Without warning, my inner dragon strikes with volatile waves of

incendiary heat. I claw at my clothes, desperate to relieve the
searing torture. My skin swelters; rivulets of sweat trickle down the
small of my back, between my breasts. Moisture transforms my bra into
sandpaper that rips at the tender skin.

Hot flashes permeate my body; rage manifests.

Abruptly, it stops. The dragon rests, for now.

Game Girl

Lora Rivera

In the night park, monsoons melt the sky to sludge. A red moon sluices
through boiled up clouds. Rain splatters my violet coat. I crush out my
cigarette to catch a purple rat in an empty ball, watch it spin and
struggle.

Boy hollers, "Getcha number, beautiful?

I give him the finger.

Pillars of water stalactite around us: drowned rats on a giant-ass ball,

spinning, spinning.
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 POD People

Vaughan Stanger

A month after terminating his relationship with Deborah, Joe still

didn't feel ready to move on. So why was his bed printing a
replacement now?

Joe pulled back the covers. A man sat up, his features shocking in
their familiarity. That chiseled chin, those hollow cheeks: he
shaved them twice a week.

Printed on her demand Joe realised, as the doppelganger's fingers

closed round his neck.

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 The Touch

Allison Walters Luther

Separated by crumbling concrete, her from the Old and him from
the New. Soldiers watched as words passed through holes in the
wall, but no touching was permitted.

She and he would meet during the magic of twilight, whispering

of love and plans.

One night, he bade her put her face to the wall, so he could,
at last, touch her skin.

Then the guns fired.

The Silent Observer

J.C. Madison

From above, I watch fear and panic push the serenity from her
face.

Shed made her choice, but shes changed her mind.

I scream but no one comes. Im merely the silent observer.

Hands fumble for the phone. Hindered by drugs it falls out of

reach.

The battle is lost and regret shines in her eyes to the end.
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I wake up and know shes gone.
 Sperm Whale

Lora Rivera

Cold at ninety feet, even in a wetsuit. No O2. Just a belly of

breath and an anchorline descent, hand over hand, into a dark
womb of heartbeats. Into a ravaged and abandoned universe.

Whales. Huge as tour busses; alien eyes are magic 8-balls. They
are quiet. Not a click of echolocation. They know I cannot fix
it. Even together, we cannot arrest the crescendoing storm.

Photo by Amy Humphries _ Unsplash _ CC by 2.0 12

 Star Stuff

Abigail Ashing

Refugees evacuate the ship like a jolt of sunlight. Yellow

spacesuits are stamped with flags. I have to find her in this
crowd. What the hell is a flag? I need a name. Amara!

We are all made of earth and star stuff. Having lost the former,
we cling to the latter. At least I know she is here. Most have
perished with our Mother Earth.

Photo by NASA/ESA CC by 2.0

Plasma Window

Amanda Bergloff

He could see the stars through the plasma window. In the cold
void of infinite space, they were dying from the ships
malfunctioning heating system.

He watched his Eve take her last breath, and he thought they must
be more than only physical bodies.

Their wavelengths met and intertwined in the dark matter and they
understood, for a fleeting moment, that they were beings of
forever.

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 On Returning Home

Santino Prinzi

Following the ancient scripture, we returned to planet Earth to

harvest its natural resources. What we found wasn't in our
instructions: parasites. All consuming, polluting, destroying
everything our ancestors had invested in lifetimes ago.

I knew our leader wouldn't happy, would've wanted us to proceed

with our mission, but what else could we do when they were armed?

"Armed?"

"Yes."

"We'll wait; they'll destroy themselves eventually."

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Photo by Gavroche flicker CC by 2.0
 Con*trib*u*tors
Abigail Ashing

Abigail Ashing is a writer and student. Her work can be found at Daily
Science Fiction.

Amanda Bergloff

Amanda Bergloff is a SF/fantasy writer whose short stories have appeared

in various anthologies by World Weaver Press, Darkhouse Books, and
Transmundane Press, among others. She lives in Denver, Colorado,
collects books, toys and comics, and the inside of her mind looks like
1950's sci fi pulp art.
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaBergloff

Kerry E.B. Black

Kerry E.B. Black has long loved words and entices them to create tales
both fanciful and true. Hailing from a small suburb situated along a
fog-enshrouded river outside of a City of Steel and Bridges, Kerry
incorporates Yankee sensibilities and a strong work ethic into every
project. Some of her works have crept into anthologies and she writes
for www.Halloweenforevermore.com , www.GamesOmniverse.com, and is a proud
participant of the www.OneYearofLetters.com project. She recently became
a first reader for "Postcard Poetry and Prose." Kerry welcomes you to
follow her on social media. Twitter @BlackKerryblick
and www.facebook.com/authorKerryE.B.Black

Sara Codair
Sara's brain is overcrowded with stories, and if she doesnt get them
out, her head will explode. Thankfully, her cranium is intact and many
of her stories have found good homes. You can find her and links to her
stories at https://saracodair.com/.

William Gilmer

William Gilmer is a writer with a penchant (attention span) for short

form and abstract styles. He lives in Michigan with his lovingly
acquired family, obligatory cat, and odd curios. Forthcoming works in
Transmundane Press' "After the Happily Ever After" anthology and Paul A.
Hamilton's 200CCs. Follow him @willwritethings.
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 Tina Guthrie

Tina Guthrie is a wife, mom to two beautiful daughters and BamMaw to two
beautiful grandsons. She owns a small antiques and salvage business with
her oldest daughter and spends all the time she can writing.

Karen Heslop

Karen Heslop writes from Kingston, Jamaica.
published or are upcoming in a Devolution Z
Magazine, Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, The
Nine Tales Series, Cemetery Moon, Bloodbond
Quarterly.
Her short stories have been
anthology, 101 Words
Flash Fiction Press, The
Magazine and Bards and Sages

R.J. Jacobs

Remeres Jacobs (pseudonym R.J. Jacobs) is a writer of things

speculative. He lives in Africa.

Lorah Jaiyn

Lorah Jaiyn started to focus on her writing career after a nasty case of
empty nest syndrome. Her fiction has appeared online at 101 Words, Our
Write Side, and Dark Chapter Press, with short stories to appear in at
least two anthologies this fall. Lorah has novels-in-progress
encompassing several genres, each blended with romance. She has a
daytime desk job and spends evenings writing while entertained by her
greatest distraction, her Jack Russell. She enjoys hiking and exploring
the great outdoors and is a total Hallmark Channel addict. Find her
atfacebook.com/writerlorahj and on Twitter @writerlorahj.

Allison Walters Luther

When she's not chasing after her three children, Allison Walters Luther
is busy writing, mainly within the historic, horror, and thriller
genres. She has been honored multiple times by Wow! Women On Writing in
their flash fiction contests. She is currently working on her first
novel, BAD RIVER, set in 1860s Dakota Territory. You can read about
her families journey with autism at simondoesntsay.com or follow her on
Twitter @AllisonLuther.
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 J.C. Madison

J.C. has always enjoyed writing and had her first book published at the
age of 11. Her teacher was so impressed with a story J.C. had written,
she had the library staff type it up into a book for her. It still sits
on her bookshelf today. Until recently, J.C. has been reluctant to share
her stories for fear of rejection and not living up to expectations, but
says stories are merely words on a page until you share them with
someone. So by day she masquerades as an accountant and by night she
struggles to keep up with all the stories that are just waiting to burst
free. Most importantly, J.C. is a proud mother of two and says her
children are a large part of why she writes. A self-confessed hopeless
romantic, J.C. also believes that we all have a little magic inside of
us and you will see all of these things reflected in her writing.

J.C. has been published online at Katherine Press. To date, this is the
only official work she has had published. She is working towards
establishing an online presence. You can find more information
at http://www.jcmadisonwrites.com/ and follow her on twitter
@jcmadisonwrites.

Tracy Maxwell

Tracy Maxwell is a lover of all things short-formespecially her

children. Her poetry, fiction of all lengths and screenplays have been
published and prized in anthology and competition. A California girl who
hates the sun, Tracy recently moved up to rainy Seattle. Adding water
really made things bloom, and she is now working on a novel, Cracks, and
a serialized flash mashup celebrating song lyrics.
Visitwww.tiswrit.com to register for updates on work and other good
stuff.

W.S. Moye

W.S. Moye is a lover of stories and worlds of wonder, of humor and

glory, and of things that go hex in the night. He entertains himself
alone in a room with his writing and hopes one day his stories will
entertain others in a less maniacal, more socially acceptable way. You
can stalk him here: https://www.facebook.com/WSMoye/ 17
 Adrian George Nicolae

Adrian George Nicolae is a writer of dark fiction and comedy.

He had created the now defunct e-zine, Dialogual, where dialogue-only
stories where published.
He enjoys being on stage, doing various things as Adrian N. George, as
much as he likes writing.
You can find him on www.agn-ang.com, @AdrianGeorgeNic or on Facebook
with both those names.

Santino Prinzi

Santino Prinzi is the Flash Fiction Editor of Firefly Magazine, and

helps bring National Flash Fiction Day in the UK to life. He was a
recipient of the TSS Young Writers Award for January 2016, was awarded
the 2014/15 Bath Spa University Flash Fiction Prize. His debut fiction
collection, Dots, and other flashes of perception, will be published by
The Nottingham Review Press in September 2016. Feel free to follow him
on Twitter (@tinoprinzi) of you can find out more on his
website:https://tinoprinzi.wordpress.com

Lora Rivera

Post-MFA from the University of Arizona, Lora worked as a literary

agent, children's biographer, and crepe maker. Today, she develops
online trainings for child welfare professionals and is the Vice
President of a local climbing nonprofit. Her work has recently appeared
in The Voices Project, Blink Ink, FLAPPERHOUSE, The Chattahoochee Review,
and the Eastern Iowa Review. Find her on Twitter and Insta at
@lroseriver.

Vaughan Stange

Formerly an astronomer and more recently a research project manager in

an aerospace company, Vaughan Stanger now writes SF and fantasy fiction
for a living. His stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Abyss
& Apex, Postscripts, Nature Futures and Interzone, amongst others.
Follow his writing adventures at http://www.vaughanstanger.com and
@VaughanStanger.
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*** Unattributed photos in this issue are from Pixabay and are CC0
Public Domain, Free for commercial use
with no attribution required.

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