Children of a Different Sky
Page 17
~*~
It’s over, Tsula told herself.
She wasn’t sure she believed it. The rain was still coming down, heavy as hell, and the sky was still dark, but the lightning had stopped and the thunder along with it. Everything, now, was wet and quiet.
She disentangled herself from the boy and stepped back. Was he taller now?
“I don’t even know your name,” she said.
“Dustu.”
The little green tree frog? A boy’s name, she thought. Not a man’s. And then, as she remembered the stories Uncle Adahy used to tell, she felt her jaw drop. “You…you’re the Forever Boy?”
~*~
He didn’t know how to answer that. To most people it meant the boy who refused to grow up. Peter Pan. Not the boy whose home and family and childhood were stolen.
Uncle stepped in. “No, Dustu. You’re not a boy. Not anymore. You are neither one children, not after this.” He waved a hand at the half-gutted stadium.
Hundreds of bodies lay scattered amidst the filth and the wreckage. Yet thousands more huddled together against the rain, supporting each other and swallowing what they could as it ran down their faces and washed them clean. Not exactly his people, thought Dustu, but close enough. For one thing, there wasn’t a single soldier still upright among them.
“Go,” Uncle said.
“But…where?” Dustu asked him.
“Go north. Take your people and find a new place where there’s still water. Rebuild the world so we all have a place in it.”
“I’m afraid,” Dustu admitted.
“Of course,” said Uncle. “You’re not a fool.” Then he looked at the girl. “And you’re not alone.”
She shot a dark questioning look his way. Dustu shrugged.
That’s when she told him, “My name is Tsula.”
“Frog and Fox!” Uncle laughed. “Now that is a strong combination.”
I curse the wall.
Jane Yolen
This Desert Is the Place
Jane Yolen
This desert is the place
where once my heart lived,
then a prairie, a meadow,
a sanctuary for bees.
Children played in the shadows
of trees. Otters poked
their grey curious noses
out of the river.
A solitary fox often trotted by.
If we shiver—though once
it was only in the cold
of January—now January
is all the years.
My grandchildren are warriors,
or in warrens, being re-educated,
with flowing tears. I am not
near enough to hold them.
The only spectrum now is that of color.
I lift the hijab of longing,
Place it on my shoulders,
not my head. The lectern
of learning is in shards.
What is there to do but die
a little at a time, for guns,
knives are forbidden us.
It will be a long hard death.
I curse the wall.
About the Contributors
Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy of Aztec noir fantasies, as well as numerous short stories which have garnered her two Nebula Awards, a Locus Award and two British Science Fiction Association Awards. Her space opera books include The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, a book set in the same universe as her Vietnamese science fiction On a Red Station Drifting. Recent works include the Dominion of the Fallen series, set in a turn-of-the-century Paris devastated by a magical war, which comprises The House of Shattered Wings (Roc/Gollancz, 2015 British Science Fiction Association Award, Locus Award finalist), and its standalone sequel The House of Binding Thorns (Ace, Gollancz).
Seanan McGuire lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest, where she shares her home with her enormous fluffy cats, large collection of creepy dolls, and more books than she can read in her estimated remaining lifetime. This does not stop her from obtaining more.
Seanan can be found on Twitter at @seananmcguire, or at www.seananmcguire.com.
Irene Radford has been writing stories ever since she figured out what a pencil was for. Editing grew out of her love of the craft of writing. Mostly Irene writes fantasy and historical fantasy including the best-selling Dragon Nimbus Series and the masterwork Merlin’s Descendants series. In other lifetimes she writes urban fantasy as P.R. Frost or Phyllis Ames, and space opera as C.F. Bentley. Lately she ventured into Steampunk as Julia Verne St. John. If you wish information on the latest releases from Ms. Radford, under any of her pen names, you can subscribe to her newsletter: www.ireneradford.net of subscribe to her Patreon Account https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5806073
Gregory L. Norris is a full-time professional writer, with work appearing in numerous short story anthologies, national magazines, novels, the occasional TV episode, and, so far, one produced feature film (Brutal Colors, which debuted on Amazon Prime January 2016). A former feature writer and columnist at Sci Fi, the official magazine of the Sci Fi Channel (before all those ridiculous Ys invaded), he once worked as a screenwriter on two episodes of Paramount’s modern classic, Star Trek: Voyager. Two of his paranormal novels (written under his rom-de-plume, Jo Atkinson, were published by Home Shopping Network as part of their “Escape With Romance” line— the first time HSN has offered novels to their global customer base. He judged the 2012 Lambda Awards in the SF/F/H category. Three times now, his stories have notcheHonorable Mentions in Ellen Datlow’s Best-of books. In May 2016, he traveled to Hollywood to accept HM in the Roswell Awards in Short SF Writing. Follow his literary adventures at www.gregorylnorris.blogspot.com.
Brenda Cooper’s recent novels include Wilders (Pyr, 2017) POST (*Espec Books, 2016*), Edge of Dark (*Pyr, 2015*), and Spear of Light* (Pyr, 2016).* Brenda blogs frequently on environmental and futurist topics, and her non-fiction has appeared in *Slate* and *Crosscut*.
She is the winner of the 2007 and 2016 Endeavor Awards for “a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors.” Her work has also been nominated for the Phillip K. Dick and Canopus awards.
Learn more or sign up for her mailing list at her website: http://www.brenda-cooper.com.
Joyce Reynolds-Ward is a writer, horsewoman, former middle school learning specialist, and skier splitting her time between Portland and Enterprise, Oregon. Besides earning a SemiFinalist placement in Writers of the Future, she’s had short stories and essays published in Random Realities, M-Brane SF, Zombiefied, River, Gears and Levers 1, How Beer Saved the World, Trust and Treachery, Fantasy Scroll Magazine, and many other venues. She has also written a number of novels - science ficiton in The Netwalk Sequence (Life in the Shadows:Diana and Will, Netwalk: Expanded Edition, Netwalker Uprising,Netwalk’s Children and Netwalking Space) high fantasy (with a non-European setting) in Goddess’s Honor (Beyond Honor (prequel),Pledges of Honor and Challenges to Honor), and standalone Seeking Shelter at the End of the World (a cozy apocalypse). When not teaching, she’s often thundering about on her intrepid reining mare Mocha, living la vida ski bum, and writing.
Follow Joyce’s adventures through her blog, Peak Amygdala, at www.joycereynoldsward.com.
Brooklyn-based author and journalist Randee Dawn published her collection of dark speculative fiction short stories, “Home for the Holidays” in 2014, and in 2009 co-authored “The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion”. Her short fiction has appeared in 3AM Magazine, Well-Told Tales and Fantasia Divinity. Characters from her story in this anthology (“Can’t Find My Way Home”) appear in her first novel, “Leave No Trace”, which is seeking publication and is represented by Dunham Literary. She can be found at randeedawn.com and @randeedawn on Twitter.
Jacey Bedford is a British writer, published by DAW in the USA. She writes both science fiction and fantasy. Her Psi-Tech space ope
ra trilogy consists of Empire of Dust, Crossways, and Nimbus. Her historical fantasy Rowankind trilogy is 2/3 complete with Winterwood and Silverwolf. Expect the third instalment soon.Her short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, and translated into an odd assortment of languages including Estonian, Galician and Polish. She’s been a folk singer with vocal trio, Artisan, and her claim to fame is singing live on BBC Radio4 accompanied by the Doctor (Who?) playing spoons. More at www.jaceybedford.co.uk
Alma Alexander appears here by gracious permission of the other authors gathered here—with a topical reprint story nominated (upon initial publication) for the Pushcart Prize. She also functions as the editor and the anthologist of this collection, one of her proudest accomplishments. She is the author of a number of novels, internationally published in more than 14 languages, and you can learn more about her at her website (www.AlmaAlexander.org).
Nora Saroyan does not have an Internet presence—she doesn’t do social media and so far a professional site has not been required since the story in this anthology is her first actual story sale. She is not, herself, a direct refugee—but she is a first-generation immigrant, and she has family who have been refugees in the past. She wishes to express her gratitude to anyone who purchases and reads this collection—in the name of all those people who stand to be helped through its existence, and in whose multitudes, if circumstances had been just a little different, she could very easily have been counted herself.
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material. She most recently misapplied her professors’ hard work to the Victorian adventure series The Memoirs of Lady Trent; the first book of that series, A Natural History of Dragons, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and won the Prix Imaginales for Best Translated Novel. Cold-Forged Flame, the first novella in the Varekai series, came out in September 2016. She is also the author of the Doppelganger duology of Warrior and Witch, the urban fantasies Lies and Prophecy and Chains and Memory, the Onyx Court historical fantasy series, and nearly fifty short stories. She writes about worldbuilding at:
https://www.patreon.com/swan_tower.
For more information, visit www.swantower.com.
Patricia MacEwen is a physical anthropologist. She works on bones from archaeological sites and does independent research on genocide. She worked on war crimes investigations for the International Criminal Tribunal, after doing CSI work for a decade, and was once a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine & Coastal Studies at USC. Rough Magic, first in a forensic/urban fantasy trilogy, The Fallen, is out from Sky Warrior Publishing. She writes mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Her hobbies include exploring cathedrals, alien-building via nonhuman biology, and trawling through history books for the juicy bits.
New York Times bestseller, Jane Yolen is often called “the Hans Christian Andersen of America.” She is the author of over 360+ published books, including OWLMOON, THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC, and HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOODNIGHT. A graduate of Smith College, with a Masters in Education from the University of Massachusetts, she teaches workshops, encourages new writers, lectures around the world. Her books and stories have won an assortment of awards—two Nebulas, a World Fantasy Award, a Caldecott Medal, the Golden Kite Award, three Mythopoeic awards, two Christopher Medals, a nomination for the National Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award, among many others. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates. If you need to know more about her, visit her website at: www.janeyolen.com
Our Amazing Backers
Alex Jay Berman, Alyksandrei, Andrew Hatchell, Bruce Cohen, C.N. Rowen, Carol Mammano, Curtis & Maryrita Steinhour, D Franklin, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, David Edelstein, David Perlmutter, Debbie S Vasilinda, eSpec Books, Ian Harvey, Jakub Narêbski, John Bowen, John WS Marvin, Joris Meijer, Kerri Regan, Kerry aka Trouble, Kris Smelser, Kristyn Willson, Lace, Linda A. Bruno, Mark Carter, Mark Lukens, Michael M. Jones, Michelle Gamboa, Nathan Turner, Paul R May, Rhel ná DecVandé, Robby Thrasher, Scott Schaper, SorchaRei, Stephanie Lucas, Steven Saus, Sunny and Ben Jackson, Svend Andersen, Tamara Slaten, Tasha Turner, Thomas Bull, Valentine Wheeler, Vespry Family