Archive for Cast of Wonders Originals

Genres: , ,

Cast of Wonders 603: Three Wishes to Save the World

Cast of Wonders 603: Three Wishes to Save the World is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:49 — 43.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Show Notes

World CleanUp Day

Three Wishes to Save the World

by Rebecca Zahabi

It started, like most of these things do, with a magic lamp.

Eden placed the lamp on the little Ikea table of their student housing and brushed their hand in one swipe from snout to handle. The burnished copper lamp turned to gold under their fingertips, glowing as if newly made, then began to rattle and puff silver-grey smoke.

The genie emerged with a hastily plastered-on smile. Contrary to popular belief, he was grey, not blue. He was wearing pointed shoes and a bright red tunic, through which his skin billowed out.

“Greetings, young…” The genie paused, hovering between ‘sir’ and ‘lady’. He had never had trouble identifying someone’s gender before. In the end, he settled for: “… young master.”

As a matter of fact, the genie was also what people would have called nonbinary, but lacking traditional female attributes, he had been considered male for so long that he now assumed he had to be a man of some sort.

Eden wasn’t awed by the genie’s sudden appearance. After years of witnessing a wilder, weirder, and worse reality on TV, and having also inherited their parents’ stiff upper lip, they greeted the genie with a thumbs-up. “You can call me Eden.” (Continue Reading…)

abstract art of a pale woman hiding her mouth behind an oversized knitted sweater

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 602: All-Consuming

Cast of Wonders 602: All-Consuming is a Cast of Wonders original.

Portrayal of an eating disorder; surrealistic cannibalism; body horror

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:57 — 17.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Show Notes

A broad list of international eating disorder support resources: https://www.worldeatingdisordersday.org/home/find-help/

 

All-Consuming

by Taryn Rose Frazier

My sister walks in on me as I contort myself in bed, trying to take a bite of my inner thigh—the fleshy part that’s rubbed against the other thigh ever since I got curves. I sit up so fast my head hits the underside of the upper bunk.

Avery’s eyes are wide. “Rowan, what are you doing?” she hisses. Avery gets angry when she’s scared, because she hates being scared.

“Nothing,” I say. I tug my jeans up over the offending thighs and fumble with the zipper. Avery’s only two years younger, but I’ve always felt motherly toward her. Mom always lies to me when she doesn’t want me to worry—Dad and I are just having a loud discussion, or of course Grandpa is going to get better, or you’ll be fine—so I do the same for Avery.

Avery crosses her arms and waits. After fourteen years of sharing a room, she knows me well enough to tell when I’m lying. She also knows me well enough to tell when I’m not going to talk, so when an awkward minute passes and I’m still picking lint off my comforter, she throws up her hands and leaves.

That’s where it starts. (Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 600: Double Yellow Lines

Cast of Wonders 600: Double Yellow Lines is a Cast of Wonders original.

death, road traffic accidents

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:27 — 30.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Double Yellow Lines

by J. M. Bueno

Wednesday

We sit on opposite ends of the table, Charles’s beautiful breakfast spread laid out between us. He wears his distinctive ear-to-ear smile, and his eyes, beady, like those of a dead fish, never once stray from mine. I keep my own gaze downturned towards the silver cutlery and the perfect omelet on my plate, slowly cutting it open to reveal the runny inside.

“Why so stiff today, Raleigh?” Charles chirps. “Is the food not to your liking?”

I snort. “Charles, the one thing you’re always good at is cooking.”

“You wound me. I’m certain I have other good qualities.”

Proudly displayed in the table’s centerpiece, all rich mahogany and sharp steel, is a large carving knife. I remember the way it gleamed in Charles’s hand last night. From the head of the table, Charles smiles. (Continue Reading…)

silhouette of two heads in autumn shades, with a foreground fractal

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 594: In this Universe, Jon Flowers is a Story

Cast of Wonders 594: In this Universe, Jon Flowers is a Story is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:54 — 17.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

In This Universe Jon Flowers is a Story

by Nathan Susnik

As Lydia takes his hand, Jon Flowers’ heart skips a beat. No, literally. It skips a beat. He has a premature ventricular contraction. It’s not dangerous, but this is his first experience with it. His knees go all wonky and he jerks his hand away. Sweat forms on his forehead; he is dizzy. His breaths shorten to gasps, and he excuses himself to the bathroom. He is dying, he thinks, having a heart attack at 26 and dying. In a state of panic, he forgets about Lydia, walks out of the restaurant, and flags a cab that takes him to the ER. They take blood, hook him up to beeping machines and tell him that nothing is wrong. They say that he should see a cardiologist for a thorough examination just to be sure. The cardiologist informs Jon that he had an anxiety attack triggered by a premature ventricular contraction. After he has been given a clean bill of health, Jon does not call Lydia. At this point in his life, he is too embarrassed about his anxiety to explain this to someone else. This is not a meet-cute. They never talk again. (Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 587: The Game of Mao

Cast of Wonders 587: The Game of Mao is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:44 — 34.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

The Game of Mao

by Emma Victoria

The Game of Mao has only one rule: don’t explain the rules to the game of Mao.

It’s the only rule we may be told — the rest are clouded in secrecy and it is up to us to figure them out through trial and error. We must follow this set of ambiguous rules exactly, without knowing what they are. There are, in fact, so many rules that many times they go forgotten; it is impossible to memorize them all, so we only remember the common ones, the ones that carry the most serious implications, the ones we’ve decoded after years of experiments.

Today is a Tuesday, which means the rule of Tuesday applies: you cannot walk on sidewalks, all purchases must be made in dimes, and hats must be worn at all times.

(Continue Reading…)

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 586: Little Wonders 44 – Portal Fantasies

Cast of Wonders 586: Little Wonders 44 – Portal Fantasies is a Cast of Wonders original.

Swearing

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:05 — 26.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Show Notes

Craft your own adventure, by Julie Le Blanc, was previously published in Paper Lanterns Literary Journal in March 2021

Craft your own adventure

by Julie Le Blanc

While Marya was usually excellent at imagining the worst, opening a portal to another world while crocheting had never really crossed her mind.

She’d been determined to learn how to crochet once she discovered her muse, gorgeous Rebecca, loved Galway hurling. She still hadn’t gotten up the courage to talk to her (what would Marya say? What could she possibly offer?) Her next thought, then, was to somehow make something for Rebecca, a jumper maybe, even if the internet told her that was a bit ambitious…

While her cat Foxy settled into a square of sun in the kitchen, Marya had curled onto the couch, determined to get a solid ten rows done before lunch.

But it wasn’t turning out that way. (Continue Reading…)

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 585: Haint Blue Sky

Cast of Wonders 585: Haint Blue Sky is a Cast of Wonders original.

Self harm; some scenes tangential to suicidal ideation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:53 — 45.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Haint Blue Sky

by Stephen Granade

Laurel hadn’t had time lately to listen to the stars sing. Sophomore classes had kicked her butt up one side of the holler and back down the other. She’d been okay missing the stars until the school’s combo football coach and part-time counselor had called her in right before Christmas break to talk about what she’d do after graduation. His tests claimed she should be an astronomer. Like Laurel’s mom had money for her to skip off to college or anything.

Starting the break like that put Laurel in a mood, so soon as it got dark, she bundled up and headed out back of the house. At the train tracks she laid down flat on the rough, sloped gravel, feet pointed at the ground, head pointed at the sky.

At least she could listen to the stars for free.

Their songs flickered like their light. Tonight, Sirius sang melody. Castor and Pollux added harmonies. Aldebaran’s deep bass rumbled underneath. And over it all, the Milky Way trilled a faint blue shimmer of high notes, hard to catch. (Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 584: Robot Girl

Cast of Wonders 584: Robot Girl is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:06 — 42.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Robot Girl

by Grace Griego

At age nineteen, Robot Girl had dropped out of the most prestigious university in the country, had no objectives in life, and was now stuck pet sitting for the lovely lesbian couple at her old church. Everything she was programmed not to be and do, Robot Girl had now become.

1 Extra Large Pepperoni Pizza

Robot girl tightened her faded, pink Hello Kitty Hair band then typed her order through a delivery service, rather than actually talk to anyone on the phone. Something deep in her wiring went off at this idea, but she didn’t know why. Robot Girl much preferred not to bother anyone if she could help it. And really, she couldn’t help it, it was in her programming. “Remember, Robot Girl! Be nice and polite!” her mother had always told her before she went to school. “Got it! Polite and nice!” Robot Girl never failed to reply, the words coming out stiff and wrong.

Nice. Robot Girl had grown to hate that word. It was the kind of word a fellow classmate would use to describe you because they didn’t know what else to say. (Continue Reading…)

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 583: The Cat that Worked from Home

Cast of Wonders 583: The Cat that Worked from Home is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:27 — 35.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Show Notes

Image by Aleksandar Cvetanović from Pixabay

The Cat That Worked From Home

by Dan Peacock and Rachel Peacock

Macaroni’s workstation is set up just the way he likes it. He has a little laptop with little buttons for his little golden paws, adjusted to a comfortable height. His scratch post is within easy reach; all he has to do is lean over his mousepad and mouse and

Mouse!

Macaroni tackles the computer mouse and rolls around with it until he is sure it has been sufficiently killed. Satisfied, he returns to his work. It’s a good day to be working from home; the sun is coming through the window just right, and a warm rectangle of light is spreading across the carpet, ready for his lunch break.

Macaroni stops. There’s a noise from outside. He jumps up onto the windowsill and sees Gingerbread, his next-door nemesis, clambering over the garden fence.

Macaroni runs downstairs and out of the cat flap. The orange fur on Gingerbread’s back rises, but he quickly relaxes.

“Clear off,” Macaroni says. “This isn’t your garden. I’m trying to work from home here.” (Continue Reading…)

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 582: Open Skies and Hellfire

Cast of Wonders 582: Open Skies and Hellfire is a Cast of Wonders original.

Bombs, terrorism

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:51 — 29.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Open Skies and Hellfire

by Olivia B. Chan

I liked to think of myself as a morally sound individual. It was easier to do when I wasn’t smuggling gunpowder to a teenager who may or may not have planned to blow up the caverns with it.

The smudgy teenager asked, “How much?”

I said, “An unreasonable amount. What are you going to do with all this, anyway?”

Caver kids had a certain look, and this one exemplified it. In the dark of the cramped tunnel, our two lanterns converging to cast multifaceted shadows, her skin clung to her bones. “How much do I pay?” (Continue Reading…)

sand trickling out of a hand against a dark brown backdrop

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 580: Bodies of Sand and Blood

Cast of Wonders 580: Bodies of Sand and Blood is a Cast of Wonders original.

Transphobia, abusive parents

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:01 — 42.9MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Bodies of Sand and Blood

by Plangdi Neple

Sneaking into your father’s shrine is one of the most stupid things you have ever done, yet you feel entirely at home among the hanging masks and horsetails. Lanterns beside the doorway and at the opposite end of the shrine cast the faces of the other boys around you in an orange glow. The excitement on their dark, ruddy faces can’t match yours though, and your cheeks hurt from smiling too much.

You are seated on the bench furthest from your father’s big bone chair, hoping to be obscured by the shadowy darkness of the corner. The first three benches are crammed with boys jostling for a better seat yet unwilling to move to the empty benches behind. You scoff at their stupidity but pray they don’t stop clamoring for those seats. In your heart of hearts you belong with them, but you know the further away you are from them, the better. (Continue Reading…)

silhouette of horses against a backdrop of the milky way

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 577: Fording the Milky Way

Cast of Wonders 577: Fording the Milky Way is a Cast of Wonders original.

Abusive relationships, dysfunctional families

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:37 — 32.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | RSS

Fording the Milky Way

by Megan Ng

There’s a festival celebrated in China that’s dedicated to young lovers. It is not one celebrated here, but Ma tells me about it all the same. Storytelling is our way of killing time as she makes supper for the ranch hands or patches Pa’s shirts, and whenever she’s sitting comfortably with her hands full I know I’m about to hear something interesting. Ma’s stories aren’t like the ones in books– hers seem more thrilling and real, even though I know she’s making most of them up.

She tells me a story about a beautiful weaver girl who lives among the stars and falls in love with a human cowherd. She tells me about a vengeful mother goddess who rips the sky in two with a hairpin to keep the lovers apart forevermore.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Jade Emperor takes pity on them, Ma says. He allows all the magpies of the world to form a bridge between the heavens, so that the weaver and her cowherd can see each other for a single night. (Continue Reading…)