Perfect Flaw
Page 25
I try to smile, but I am overwhelmed. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I turn to my mother at last and she grabs me into her arms, hugs me tight.
“I am so proud of you,” she says.
This is the first time I’ve ever been praised for a lie.
Two Months Later
The grocer hands me two bags of food with a smile. It is the food that expired today, the food he cannot sell tomorrow. I wave goodbye as he turns and climbs down from the porch.
This is my place now, for me and the others. Mother told me the sign on the door reads “Home of the Useless.” I think about that name a lot, about how I tricked the mayor into believing the house was useful even though its inhabitants are still useless. It is strange, and I am surprised everyday that he doesn’t catch on to the lie.
There are eight more of us now. It turns out that there were other useless ones hidden away. Some were born at home and hidden by their mothers, others were found on the streets and squirreled away, protected. They are no one’s burden now. Their families come to see them when they want to and stay away when they’re busy. Of course, they would not be a burden if they were dead either.
Once a month the doctor comes by and draws our blood. He takes it back to the hospital to be used on the useful people, those that contribute to our great nation. The mayor says that this is an added bonus. I am happy for my small contribution.
Inside, the deformed woman is screaming again. I named her Silv so she wouldn’t feel so left out.
“Hush. It’s okay, Silv,” Bay says. She is strong now and healthy. I am glad that I saved her, that I saved all of us, even if it was with a lie.
The sun is starting to set over our great nation and I am proud to be a part of it. People are saying that the next town has created their own home for the useless and it’s all because of me. I hope it keeps spreading farther and farther until all the furnaces are shut down for good.
Perhaps it is bad of me to hope for such a burden on our great nation.
AUTHOR BIOS
Leslie Anderson
Leslie J. Anderson grew up falling off horses, which would probably explain a lot if she thought about it. She now works in marketing and publishes poetry, fiction, and comics. Her work has appeared in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, among others. Find her online at www.lesliejanderson.com.
Shaun Avery
Shaun Avery is a crime and horror fiction fan with numerous publications on the UK small press comic scene, as well as competition wins for his fiction and a recent shortlisting in a screenwriting contest. He spent some time out of work, and has exaggerated a few real-life events in this story. But not by much. More of his work can be found here http://descenttheatre.co.uk/category/playella/ and here http://erewashwriterscompetition.weebly.com/winners-2012.html
H. David Blalock
H. David Blalock has been a writer for print and the internet in speculative fiction for more than 35 years. Inspired by the science fiction and horror writers of the early and middle 20th century, he continues to try to bring that sense of wonder and awe he felt at that reading to his audience through his stories and novels. For more information about David and his work, check out his website at ThranKeep.com
Delphine Boswell
I have numerous short stories accepted for publication in online magazines, print anthologies, and a literary journal, as well as a chapter excerpt from a mystery novel currently under agent consideration. I hold an M.A in English (Rhetoric & Composition) from the University of Nevada, Reno and recently earned my M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. I have been teaching college writing for the past twelve years.
Ellen Brock
Ellen has loved books since the day she learned to read. She also loves animals (especially dogs and rats), hot sauce, paper crafts, and geocaching. She owns an editing company called Keytop, Inc. (www.keytopservices.com), where she edits manuscripts for established and aspiring authors. Ellen enjoys sharing writing and editing advice on her blog (https://thewriteditor.wordpress.com) and is currently finishing a novel.
Cathy Bryant
Cathy Bryant won the 2012 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Prize and is a former blogger for the Huffington Post. Her stories and poems have been published all over the world in such publications as the Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Night to Dawn and Midnight Times. In 2012 Cathy was runner-up in the SFPA Poetry Contest, as well as winning the Bulwer-Lytton, The Sampad ‘Inspired by Tagore’ Contest, the Malahat Review Monostich Contest and the Swanezine Poetry Contest. Her collection, ‘Contains Strong Language and Scenes of a Sexual Nature’ was published recently. To contact her, email cathy@cathybryant.co.uk
Jason Campagna
Jason Campagna is a native of Western Pennsylvania where he made his living in government until he decided to go back to school.
His degree is in Communications from Pikeville College in Eastern Kentucky. He is currently studying for a Masters at Murray State University.
Carolyn M. Chang
Carolyn writes SF&F stories to escape into a world where she can control absolutely everything – kill anyone she feels like, make someone ugly or beautiful, invent any technology she wants, you get the picture. She has had two other short stories published: one in collaboration with Leslie Lee in Novus Creatura: An Anthology of Never-Before Seen Monstrosities and a second in The Temporal Element: Time-Travel Adventures, past, present, & future. Carolyn is also the proud author of two yet unpublished manuscripts, the first a multi-cultural YA/SF and #2 a dark fantasy with SF elements. She lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands with her husband and two children where she’s involved in two writing groups.
Deedee Davies
Deedee is a writer interested mainly in the fantasy, horror and science-fiction genres. Inspired by turn of the century fantasy and science-fiction, she wrote a great deal as a youngster, returning to it in 2012, when she finished her first draft novel. Deedee is also a cover artist, with around 20 published book covers under her belt. She lives in Plymouth, UK with her partner, 3 spiders, 3 snakes and a scorpion.
H.S. Donnelly
H.S. Donnelly lives in Toronto with his supportive wife Anne and two affectionate, though rather demanding, cats. First Head was his first attempt at writing short stories. Along with First Head, he has had several short SF stories published or soon-to-be published in Onspec Magazine #86 (Oh Most Cursed Addition Engine) and Kaleidotrope Magazine (2014) (Stowaway to Mars).
Many thanks to the Burlington Writer’s group (Sylvia, Jim, Rory, Janice, Chelsea, Gesila, Estelle, Cathy, Lynda, Rachael, Elaine) who endured a lot of re-writes to this story and to Sue Williams, in particular, who encouraged me not to give up on the story.
For more information, visit my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/peeringintothefuture
Jay Faulkner
Jay Faulkner resides in Northern Ireland with his wife, Carole, and their two boys, Mackenzie and Nathaniel. He says that while he is a writer, martial artist, sketcher, and dreamer he’s mostly just a husband and father.
His work has been published widely, both online and in print anthologies, and was short-listed in the 2010 Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition. He is currently working on his first novel.
Jay founded, and edits, ‘With Painted Words’ - www.withpaintedwords.com - a creative writing site with inspiration from monthly image prompts, and ‹The WiFiles’ - www.thewifiles.com - an online speculative fiction magazine, published weekly. He can also be found as a regular co-host on the Following The Nerd radio show–www.followingthenerd.com
For more information visit–www.jayfaulkner.com
Tanith Korravai
Tanith Korravai spends much of her time looking for utopia in all the wrong places. She occasionally puts in an appearance at the group blog smalltriumphs.com.
S.C. Langgle
S.C. Langgle is a lifelong lover of words and stories who has never outgrown her preference for children’s and young adult literature. A graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California, S.C. is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She currently lives in Hollywood, California, only a block from Marilyn Monroe’s handprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, though she spends more time at home with her computer than mingling with celebrities. Luckily, she has her two adorable dogs—a Chihuahua, Chin-Mae, and a maltipoo, Sasha—to keep her company, and she’d choose them over a gaggle of Hollywood stars any day. Visit S.C. at http://www.sclanggle.blogspot.com.
Mandi M. Lynch
Mandi M. Lynch started writing stories at the tender age of six, pecking out the words on her mother’s manual typewriter. Although the crayon drawings have improved marginally, the spelling has not. Now, she lives in Nashville, TN, with three cats - none of which write due to lack of thumbs - and spends as much of her time in the industry as she possibly can. You can find her or her small press (Ink Monkey Mag) on facebook.
Michael O’Connor
Michael O’Connor is a writer and freelance editor who lives in Kent in the UK. His short fiction has appeared in numerous UK/North American print and online magazines as well as in one single-author and several multi-author anthologies. He wrote the non-fiction From Chaucer to Childish: Writers and Artists in the Medway Towns in 2006 and the e-novella Cages in 2010.In addition, he has written essays and book reviews for The Baum Bugle (Journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club), and is a long-standing member of The Lewis Carroll Society (LCS), for which he edits their quarterly newsletter as well as being on the editorial board of their academic journal The Carrollian; his most recent work is All in the Golden Afternoon: the Origins of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ which is available from the LCS website http://lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/. His own website is at www.mpoconnor.co.uk
Herika R. Raymer
Herika R. Raymer grew up consuming books - first by eating them, later by reading them. Her mother taught her the value of focus and hard work while her father encouraged her love literature and art; so she has been writing and doodling off and on for over 30 years. After much encouragement, Mrs. Raymer finally published a few short stories and has developed a taste for it. She continues to send submissions, sometimes with success, and currently has a collection of stories in the works. She is the Short Story Editor for a horror magazine. A participant of the voluntary writer/artist/musician cooperative known as Imagicopter, Herika R. Raymer is married with two children and a dog in West Tennessee, USA.
Her website is at: herikarraymer.webs.com
Frank Roger
Frank Roger was born in 1957 in Ghent, Belgium.
His first story appeared in 1975. Since then his stories appear in an increasing number of languages in all sorts of magazines and anthologies, and since 2000, story collections are published, also in various languages. Apart from fiction, he also produces collages and graphic work in a surrealist and satirical tradition. They have appeared in various magazines and books.
By now he has a few hundred short stories to his credit, published in more than 35 languages. In 2012 a story collection in English (“The Burning Woman and Other Stories”) was published by Evertype (www.evertype.com ). Find out more at www.frankroger.be .
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Robin Blankenship
Robin Blankenship, a freelance editor and book reviewer has a background in teaching and social work. When not working or reading or editing she can be found at home in Kentucky with her husband, Andrew and two children, Christian and Beatrix.
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