by P. K. Tyler
UnCommon Origins
A Collection of Gods, Monsters, Nature, and Science
P.K. Tyler
Brent Meske
Rebecca Poole
Laxmi Hariharan
Deanne Charlton
Daniel Arthur Smith
E.L. Johnson
Jonathan Cromack
Nillu Nasser Stelter
D.L. Orton
Michele Tracy Berger
Rhoads Brazos
Samuel Peralta
Sacha Hope
Robert Allen Lupton
Erica Ruhe
Melanie Lamaga
Holly Heisey
Shebat Legion
J.D. Harpley
Jo West
Zig Zag Claybourne
Contents
Copyright
Story Summaries
The Hanging Gardens of Brooklyn
About the Author
Aplanetary
About the Author
Glass Heart
About the Author
Cultural Gleanings
About the Author
Fringling
About the Author
Poseidon's Tears
About the Author
The Curl of Emma Jean
About the Author
The Price
About the Author
Growing Simon
About the Author
The Terrible Discovery of Professor Charles Cooper
About the Author
The Last Star
About the Author
My Darlings
About the Author
The Tombstone Man and the Coming of the Tigress
About the Author
In the Periphery
About the Author
Exhale: An Ascendants Story
About the Author
interdimensional investigations initiative (iii) - ifrit
About the Author
Swim with the Beavers
About the Author
The Least Child
About the Author
Consciousness
About the Author
Her
About the Author
The Apple
About the Author
Becoming Mage
About the Author
Thank you for reading UnCommon Origins.
UNCOMMON ORIGINS is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people (or their origins); place, or event is purely coincidental and not the intention of this collection.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the proper written permission of the appropriate copyright holder listed below, unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal and international copyright law. Permission must be obtained from the individual copyright owners identified herein.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
UnCommon Origins copyright © 2016 by Fighting Monkey Press
Cover Art Design copyright © 2016 by Rebecca Poole
Ebook Edition: TBD
ISBN: 1-5333-2284-8
ISBN-13: 978-1533322845
Poseidon's Tears by E.L. Johnson copyright © 2016 by E.L. Johnson. Used by permission of the author.
Fringling by Jess Harpley copyright © 2016 by Jess Harpley. Used by permission of the author.
The Terrible Discovery of Professor Charles Cooper by Jonathan Cromack copyright © 2016 by Jon Cromack. Used by permission of the author.
My Darlings by P.K. Tyler copyright © 2016 by P.K. Tyler. Used by permission of the author.
The Tombstone Man and the Coming of the Tigress by Nillu Nasser Stelter copyright © 2016 by Nillu Nasser Stelter. Used by permission of the author.
The Last Star by D.L. Orton copyright © 2016 by D.L. Orton. Used by permission of the author.
The Least Child by Daniel Arthur Smith copyright © 2016 by Daniel Arthur Smith. Used by permission of the author.
Cultural Gleanings by Deanne Charlton copyright © 2016 by Deanne Charlton. Used by permission of the author.
Exhale by Laxmi Hariharan copyright © 2016 by Laxmi Hariharan. Used by permission of the author.
The Curl of Emma Jean by Michele Tracy Berger copyright © 2016 by Michele Tracy Berger. Used by permission of the author.
Her by Rebecca Poole copyright © 2016 by Rebecca Poole. Used by permission of the author.
The Hanging Gardens of Brooklyn by Rhoads Brazos copyright © 2016 by Rhoads Brazos. Used by permission of the author.
The Price by Samuel Peralta copyright © 2016 by Samuel Peralta. Used by permission of the author.
Glass Heart by Sacha Hope copyright © 2016 by Sacha Hope. Used by permission of the author.
Swim with the Beavers by Robert Allen Lupton copyright © 2016 by Robert Allen Lupton. Used by permission of the author.
Consciousness by Zig Zag Claybourne copyright © 2016 by Zig Zag Claybourne. Used by permission of the author.
In the Periphery by Erica Ruhe copyright © 2016 by Erica Ruhe. Used by permission of the author.
Becoming Mage by Melanie Lamaga copyright © 2016 by Melanie Lamaga. Used by permission of the author.
Aplanetary by Holly Heisley copyright © 2016 by Holly Heisley. Used by permission of the author.
The Apple by Shebat Legion copyright © 2016 by Shebat Legion. Used by permission of the author.
Ifrit by Brent Meske copyright © 2016 by Brent Meske. Used by permission of the author.
Growing Simon by Jo West copyright © 2016 by Jo West. Used by permission of the author.
ISBN: 1-5333-2284-8
Story Summaries
The Hanging Gardens of Brooklyn by Rhoads Brazos - In the bustle of the big city, a young girl discovers that the otherworldly can appear in the most mundane of places. Speak peace to all strangers, for we may not know what we are waiting for until it arrives.
Aplanetary by Holly Heisey - Gemina followed eir lover in an experiment to be born on another world and live as an alien species. But on a harsh, unfriendly world, e finds love and loss, hope and self, and a life e never could have imagined.
Glass Heart by Sacha Hope - England, 1850. Wolt's wife is dying from disease. He is desperate to find a cure for her affliction...not knowing that he created a monster instead.
Cultural Gleanings by Deanne Charlton - A woman awakes speaking a foreign language that feels familiar. How well can she and her husband communicate through pantomime? And what are those tiny noises?
Fringling by J.D. Harpley - Slave to the Klekan on a foreign planet far from his race's birthplace, Baylin discovers there's something powerful lurking within him. He fights the desire to slaughter his slavers and as the moral battle rages inside him, a new anomaly threatens to remove his identity and transform him into something entirely different.
Poseidon's Tears by E.L. Johnson - An Atlantian girl witnesses the destruction of Atlantis and discovers what happens to the survivors.
The Curl of Emma Jean by Michele Tracy Berger - Two sisters under stress come to different conclusions about a strange child and what she means for their family.
The Price by Samuel Peralta - In the City’s old quarter, a Visitor to a shop selling wartime memorabilia meets its singular Proprietor, and his uncommon offering.
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p; Growing Simon by Jo West - In a world in which she does not appear to belong, Jane is an ordinary woman driven to extraordinary lengths to achieve her dream.
The Terrible Discovery of Professor Charles Cooper by Jonathan Cromack - An English club style story set in the late 1800's whereby an academic stumbles upon an abandoned laboratory in the isolated country and horrifically discovers the nature of the scientist's research face to face.
The Last Star by D.L. Orton - Two beings watch the last star in our universe wink out and discover the answer to how it all ends. And, perhaps, how it all begins.
My Darlings by P.K. Tyler - Adaline has a secret growing within her, whether a gift or a curse remains to be seen.
The Tombstone Man and the Coming of the Tigress by Nillu Nasser Stelter - Jermaine Wyoming lives in a cemetery, isolated from the world, obsessed with the idea of replacing the memories of his harrowing childhood with new ones. Seventeen-year-old Lana Norse suffers from a debilitating disease that promises to rob her of her future. When the two meet, the boundaries of their worlds blur and it becomes difficult to tell what’s real from what is not.
In the Periphery by Erica Ruhe - Jayati Dawar is an advanced generation clone and part of a large-scale, deep-space mission to save humankind. But the violent death of her clone sister and surrogate mother, Samidha, raises disturbing questions about The Halcyon mission's true objective. With no one to trust and nowhere to hide, Jaya must rely on her own intuition and the cryptic dreams of her original Source Mother…a woman who died hundreds of years ago.
Exhale by Laxmi Hariharan - Sofia must mate with Kris and birth a race superior to humans, but she cannot accept her fate. Can she create her own destiny?
interdimensional investigations initiative (iii) - ifrit by Briant Meske - Previously, Dr. Inman of the Tessera University Institute of Science and Technology (TUIST) opened a portal to another dimensional and what flowed through was… everything ever conceived. Every ghost and ghoul, every mad scientist and robot and dinosaur ever given fictional form fled the fractured containment field. Sealing the rift required the herculean efforts of a fourteen-year-old boy, but now the doctor has become infatuated with the interdimensional incision, and his lust for knowledge cannot be undone…
Swim with the Beavers by Robert Allen Lupton - A raging river washes a young boy from of his pioneer family's wagon and the waters carry him downstream to be rescued by an unusual foster family. Do they save him or does he save them? Perhaps, they save each other.
The Least Child by Daniel Arthur Smith - After a two-month dry spell, a writer finds inspiration in the form of a small, plant-dwelling creature.
Consciousness by Zig Zag Claybourne - When even gods, holy men, and fantastical beings have existential crises of hope, love, and friendship, there is always the bearable brightness of tea.
Her by Rebecca Poole - A lifetime of toil. Believe when no one else does. Remain steadfast, stay the course. The last of his kind, he’s waiting. He who serves his goddess understands when others do not. He welcomes the final act, but devotion has a price.
The Apple by Shebat Legion - The Apple is a post-apocalyptic love story about survival and hope. It illustrates the strength of character needed to make a personal sacrifice to ensure a better future or any future at all.
Becoming Mage by Melanie Lamaga - A recovering alcoholic taps uncanny new skills as she matches wits with her former friends at the country club.
The Hanging Gardens of Brooklyn
by Rhoads Brazos
Summary: In the bustle of the big city, a young girl discovers that the otherworldly can appear in the most mundane of places. Speak peace to all strangers, for we may not know what we are waiting for until it arrives.
Sometimes Kizzie pretended she was trapped inside a high tower. The rusty bars over her bedroom window were to lock her in, not to keep others out. Her Aunt Yanine served as jailor. There she went again, stomping outside the door to Kizzie's cell.
"That whore," Yanine raved, "needs a good choking!"
Kizzie leaned her elbows on the windowsill and tried not to listen.
She gazed three stories down at the grit and grease of a conquered kingdom. Down there, over the patchwork asphalt, last decade's cars rolled by on this year's rims. Storefronts hid behind palisades of steel mesh and painted plywood; only the brim of each window showed glass. Between the shops and directly across from her own apartment stretched an urban wilderness: dust and weeds and old mattresses and twisted frames of metal that may have once been something. Folks called it an empty lot though it would take a week to clear.
A familiar cluster of teens stood before it. Front and center was the angry gumdrop-shape of Stubs. His Lakers jersey hung off his body like a sleeveless muumuu. Next to him, Easy G strutted and flexed with a physique that was impressive, but not anything a girl with a brain would desire. Tyreese slouched beside them both. He liked giving Kizzie sideways glances. She always pretended not to notice his leers but made sure to never turn her back to him. Last and rounding out the bunch was her brother, J'waun.
The boys had boxed in an older fellow putting up a fence before the lot. Kizzie had seen him yesterday at the corner mart. With his mossy gray beard and thick turban, he'd been hard to miss. She thought he might be a Sikh cabby stopping for lunch. J'waun called him a Paki, right to his face, but the man had only smiled and given her a flower. It shamed her to know it was her first. She had it in a jar by her bed.
Stubs shoved the old man out into the street. The fellow sprawled to the asphalt and a passing car honked. The other boys, her brother included, tore at the old man's stack of fence slats and kicked loose the work he'd already done.
Kizzie stood quickly and marched into the hall. Aunt Yanine seemed to slide right out of the air to block her way. Her eyes bulged like a toad's.
"He call?" she asked.
"Who?"
"You know 'zactly who! You pick up, know what I want you to say?"
Kizzie listened to a colorful stream of obscenities.
"Then you slam it down! Say it back."
Kizzie did. Aunt Yanine made her repeat it twice more.
"And slam it down."
"I know." Kizzie hurried out of the apartment and downstairs.
When she reached the street, J'waun and his crew were rounding the distant corner amid posing and bluster. The old man had since picked himself up and gone back to work. Kizzie approached his back. She stepped lightly, her former determination flitting away. Something wasn't right.
The old man set down his brush and turned to her. He gave that same grin. It showed through a perfectly groomed beard, not the drunken lumberjack style the white boys were so smitten with, but one which showed class and care.
"Ruzbeh," he said.
"Hello," Kizzie said. "Saw you having trouble."
"Those gentlemen?"
"Not the word I'd use."
"Ah, well, in my time I've dealt with worse."
Kizzie studied the fence, at least a hundred feet wide and all in place. The old man looked at her expectantly, waiting for the obvious question—she'd been watching his progress, after all.
"The stupid looking one with the crooked teeth?" Kizzie said. "That's my brother."
The old man nodded.
"You tell him," she continued, "that you know Kizzie. And that his aunt will crack him aside the head if she catches him rolling with those boys."
"Kizzie." He said the name slowly with a faraway look. "You came to my rescue?"
"Someone's got to."
"You are a most charming cataphract, shirdokht." He bowed low. "I am Shahbostan."
"Well, Shah, hope you're ‘bout finished, cause they'll be back."
"There is still much to do."
He offered her his brush. She eyed him warily. When he saw that she wasn't budging, he went back to work on the fence, tracing the bristles up and down in long wet swaths.
Kizzie shuffled from foot to foot. She should go back inside, but didn't rel
ish listening to Yanine's drama. Besides, something else held her attention, a familiar way in which Shahbostan's robes rustled in the wind.
"That's some paint," Kizzie said. It dried a peculiar sheen, an iris-speckled blue that shifted like opal. "What's in it?"
"Indigo and turquoise, a bit of sky."
"You're a funny guy."
"Perhaps I am."
He continued his work and spoke of the lands he'd seen, of palaces where alabaster aqueducts poured water colder than ice, of rolling hills covered with parrot-green feathers that preened themselves each morning, of jungles that reached so deep down through the earth and stretched so inconceivably high into the clouds that angels and djinn felt the rustle of each other's motions.
"A thousand generations ago, there was a man," Shahbostan said, moving to the next slat, "for that's what he fancied himself to be. He was a vain creature and walked the earth alone."
"Adam?" Kizzie asked.
"No, not a-Dahm." Shahbostan gave the second syllable a curious accent. "This was so much earlier. This man could create anything, anywhere, with little effort. Whatever he wished, he had. He simply spun it into creation. How arrogant he was! How pompous! And yet he knew, when trapped alone, even the purest soul festers. Being already so selfish, his demise was certain. Now how, I ask, does such a man avoid fate?"