Home Posts tagged "serial" (Page 2)

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Curiosity Killed the Cat–Part 8

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Wrapped in a net, carried by jeweled crabs, Srivasi and his companion traveled through dark passageways. They angled down for a ways—then up, in what felt like tight spirals. Once, the whole bunch swayed like seagrass in the tide, clicking loudly, then the journey resumed—back the way they’d come. No turning, just walking the other way. “Can we just get this over with?” Dasid groaned. “Be careful what you wish for,” Srivasi said, as the crabs picked up speed in their new direction, though the longer they went unharmed the more he was inclined to believe the creatures meant no harm. Why else capture them in a net, after all? “To feed us to their crablings,” Dasid said when Srivasi pointed that out. He was so young to be so cynical! A few crabs brought out glowing rocks, and Srivasi and Dasid were carried through a corridor that caught and split the light, refracting and multiplying, until the colors danced and swam about them and even Dasid gasped in wonder. Then they passed through a grey stone arch into a tunnel so low that Srivasi’s whiskers brushed the roof. It was remarkably uncomfortable until he turned his head. His nose, luckily, was not as long as the whiskers. From the close tunnel, they passed into a great chamber of rock and columns and connections, arches and spirals. The crabs headed straight for the edge of the rock, for…

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Second Chance

Part 3: Awakening a serial ghost story by Erin Zarro Part 1 Part 2 “Kristen, wake up.”                 The voice was distant like a dream. I struggled to come to the surface of consciousness, to open my eyes. Hands shook my shoulders. “Come on, I know you’re in there. Wake up.”                 My eyelids released, and the bright light of our office speared into my retinas. I wanted to close them again, because pain, but forced myself to look into Shelley’s eyes. “I am…here. What…happened?” I yawned, suddenly exhausted.                 I was at work. No one was around except Shelley. The clock said six-thirty.                 The notebook.                   What was my last memory? The notebook.Hi, sweetheart. “You passed out after seeing—”                 “No, he…that isn’t possible,” I said.                 “I didn’t write it,” Shelley said. “And no one else is here. Look, I know you don’t believe in ghosts, but spirits can sometimes manipulate things if they want to communicate. I’ve never heard of it being so…overt…like this. He must really want to talk to you.”                 It couldn’t be. Adam was gone. In the ground. There was no spirit to manipulate anything. Someone was playing a joke. A terrible, nasty joke. That was all. “It’s not him.” I tried to stand, but dizziness stopped me. “Can you help me up? I think I want to go home.” And then I remembered that I’d be going to an empty home, and Shelley’s offer to stay with her. “Or, uh,…

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Second Chance

Part 2: Disbelief a serial ghost story by Erin Zarro Part 1 “It can’t be,” I said, turning away from the closet and the radio. “I don’t believe in poltergeists. Or ghosts, for that matter.”                 Shelley’s eyes narrowed. “Really? I-I didn’t realize. Well, how else can you explain this, then?” She pointed to the closet, one eyebrow arched in question. “It’s not plugged in, so there’s no power.”                 “I know.” I turned back to the closet. I had no explanation that wasn’t a poltergeist or ghost…or Adam visiting me. But did I just want it to be? Maybe it was just a glitch?                 Shelley’s hand touched my shoulder, and I tensed. “Look, um, I don’t talk about this stuff to anybody because they’d think I’m mentally unstable, but I am, uh, sensitive to this type of energy —”                 “What type of energy?” Nausea churned my insides. What was she saying?                 “Ghosts and stuff,” Shelley said. “And I’m willing to bet that poltergeist — or whatever it is — is someone you know. Am I right?” Her gaze met mine, and I suddenly wanted to go somewhere and hide.                 She not only believed in ghosts and poltergeists, but was sensitive to energy? What did that mean? Did I dare hope that Adam was actually here?                 No, he couldn’t be.                 “None of this is real,” I said.                 “What if I said it was? And that you could communicate with this person?”                 I…

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Second Chance

Part 1: Poltergeist a serial ghost story by Erin Zarro It started with the radio. I’d been listening to a talk show, not ready for music yet, as I went through my parents’ closet. The house was huge: four bedrooms, a living room, a family room, two bathrooms, and a basement to go through. I was doing it in stages. I needed to sell the house as soon as possible but going through their possessions tore my heart out and burned it for good measure.                 The talk show was some mundane thing about the government. I wasn’t even sure what. My dad had followed that crap. He was a guitarist, and he loved music, which is why I couldn’t bear to listen to it. I couldn’t bear to do a lot of things. In the wake of the plane crash that had killed my family — my parents and my younger sister, Penny — there was so much I had yet to do. So much to remember — do this, do that, fill this out, get that form in, pay these bills, arrange this… It was overwhelming me.                 Yet here I was with the closet open in an empty, now-sterile house with only memories and furniture and clutter to keep me company.                 I caught sight of one of my mother’s old sundresses, one that I remembered her wearing when I was a kid. I took the material between two fingertips. It had little sunflowers on it and…

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Last Chance to Read…

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of staring at all the same stuff in my house, where I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year. (Canada has designated this March 11 as a Day of Observance and reflection. Where I live, most things shut down between March 13 and 17 last year. It’s been both a very long year and a very short one, in different ways.) A mixture of heavy workload and pandemic depression/anxiety have meant slow progress on the decluttering front, but I am getting there, gradually. The most recent success was handing off to a neighbour some unopened condiments that I bought in the Great Shopping Panic of 2020…they hadn’t expired yet, but I knew we wouldn’t get through them before they did, and my neighbour was as happy to take them as I was to get rid of them. Here at TDP, we’re also doing some virtual housecleaning, taking down the oldest of our short works. The short stories and serials that we posted as freebies in 2014, 2015, and 2016 will be unpublished at the end of March. That will allow us to resell them to other markets (as reprints) or reissue them as ebooks as individual authors. That means you have until March 31 to read: my fantasy serial Still Waters Run Deep Erin’s horror story The Contract Kit’s creation myth When the World Was Young and more! If you want to read them all, start from here and…

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Curiosity Killed the Cat–Part 7

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Standing before another puzzle with the standard three answers, Jhi Bo decided she was becoming heartily sick of doors. Gerda muttered behind her, and Jhi Bo added that to the list of things making her want to pull her braids out—the incoherent mutterings of her companion. Though she doubted being able to understand would have been better. The girl was probably not thrilled with the competence on display by the heroes she must have thought would save the day with a quick bit of magic and perhaps a small swordfight. At least after their trek outside the maze, they had a lantern for their second attempt, though the girl still tended to let it droop by her side so that at every door Jhi Bo opened, the interior had a woman-holding-a-sword shaped shadow. And they had food, so when they caught up—Jhi Bo shook her head. When they caught up to that fool Srivasi, she would let Gerda feed her brother, but she would not offer food to that blasted mage. Why hadn’t he just waited for her? Because of the questions, she was sure. Srivasi needed to know and surely no maze could tempt him like one so clearly made by one like him—someone with that quest for any and all knowledge, no matter how useless or obscure. Jhi Bo opened a door, her sword at the ready since she couldn’t read the question, let alone guess the correct…

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Curiosity Killed the Cat–Part 6

by KD Sarge Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 In the dark of a few dim dancing lights, tens of eyes stared from the bottom of the stairs at Srivasi and Dasid. For a moment Srivasi tried to count them, but the eyestalks and the lights both swayed as if to an unheard music, and some of each dropped down as others popped up and—and far more important were the claws, great pincers as thick as his forearm. One for each creature—the opposing pincer was half the size. Wide bodies built low, pincers—crabs. Giant—for crabs, the tallest would come up to Srivasi’s waist, but the leg-span was huge, and they were armored with—or possibly made of—rock? Dasid moved to put the gem in his shirt. The crab-shaped rock creatures swayed forward. “Stop,” Srivasi murmured. “Don’t move.” Dasid froze. “I was just—” “Put your hand down.” Dasid lowered his hand. The creatures swayed back, like sea grass as a wave ran out. “What, do they think it’s a weapon?” Dasid asked, moving the gem slowly behind his back. “It’s—” The creatures leaned forward again, as if a wave pushed them, but a little closer, each wave bringing the tide farther up the beach. “Hold it in front of you,” Srivasi breathed. Was it theirs? Were these the book thieves? That couldn’t be. But what other candidates did he have? “I’m trying to protect it from those things!” Dasid snarled, but he held the gem in front of him. The…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 6

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 True to his word, Niko did not approach Marius for the next three days. The airship gained her distance from the busy skies around the city and settled into what Marius learned was cruising height – below the clouds, yet above the birds. They were high enough that he couldn’t look down without wanting to evacuate the contents of his stomach. It was unjust, he thought; there was insufficient motion to merit seasickness, and yet here he was feeling weak-kneed and queasy regardless. Marius found himself a succession of out-of-the-way corners to curl up in, often with the justacorps coat on his lap for lack of a table. Several of the niches had the advantage of allowing him to watch Niko at work. The captain’s confidence and swagger had dominated Marius’s little shop. Here aboard ship, among his crew, Niko’s airs seemed not only fitting but necessary. Small wonder he had been so anxious for the return of his scarlet coat. Everyone on the ship seemed to have an outsized personality, from Gloriana on down to the little cabin boy who spouted facts about airships – and this one in particular – at every opportunity. Everyone, that is, except Marius, who could not help but wonder what Niko had seen in a plain, unassuming tradesman like him. He had asked for time to settle in; now he began to fear…

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Curiosity Killed the Cat — Part 5

by KD Sarge Read previous installments: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 After a time sitting in the dark by the dripping stone, Srivasi sighed and lit his wand again. “Warn a fellow,” Dasid grumbled. He sat with his head leaned back and his eyes closed. He looked very young and very dirty. No, that wasn’t—well, yes, he was dirty. But his eyes looked bruised from lack of sleep, not dirt. He’d been stuck in that room at least a day before Srivasi dropped in, so he must be hungry too, though he didn’t complain. Srivasi knew well that at Dasid’s age, he himself would have been a whiny, sniveling mess who probably would have demanded to be carried by the poor adult who found him. “Your turn for the water,” Dasid murmured. The curved rock was full. Srivasi drank the water and replaced the rock. The drops were coming a little faster now. Srivasi leaned his head back and wondered why Jhi Bo didn’t come. She was trying, he was sure. She just—had a lot of places to look. And, probably, monsters to fight. She knew many things, but he didn’t think she could read Aduli, or answer a number of other questions he’d seen… Too late, Srivasi knew he should have just stayed in that first room, just pulled up a cushion and waited. She would have come soon…and maybe they’d still be lost and going in circles, but he’d have Jhi Bo with him, and that was worth…

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Curiosity Killed the Cat — Part 4

By KD Sarge Read previous installments: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Jhi Bo slipped through the door and flung herself back, adding her weight to Gerda’s to slam the door. A tentacle thudded against the other side. Maybe two. The door shuddered but held. A few more thuds, then silence. Jhi Bo thumped her head lightly on the door behind her. Idiot! Srivasi wouldn’t have forgotten the proper order for solving an equation. “Inda brofid na?” the girl said, waving at Jhi Bo’s sword. She mimed drawing it and swinging mightily. Jhi Bo scowled at her. Why would she fight the squid if they could escape it? The animal had only defended its lair. Right. So. Solve the equation in the correct order this time, and the door was… Jhi Bo noticed as she stepped forward that the girl stepped back. *** Srivasi hadn’t argued, but Dasid said it again, louder. “It’s a death trap. It’s a stupid lousy—you know what? Sod this.” He plunked down on folded legs, folded his arms in front of his chest. “I’m done. I’m not giving some madman his jollies, watching me run in circles like some trained chicken.” “I thought you wanted to find the gold?” “There is no gold,” Dasid snarled. “There are circles. There are doors, and questions. Answer wrong, and there’s a monster. Answer right, and there’s more doors. Sooner or later you’ll blow it again, and then what if we can’t outrun whatever we find?” “Not saying you’re…

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