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)

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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 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)

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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…)

Image of a rural village behind old foliage

Genres: , ,

Cast of Wonders 581: Never Thought He’d Go

First published in the 2016 Bristol Short Story Prize anthology, and Best British Short Stories 2017 from Salt Publishing.

Death of children; one instance of the f-word.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:06 — 37.8MB)

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Never Thought He’d Go

by Francoise Harvey

‘Fell off the church spire,’ said Davy.

‘Gravestone landed on him,’ said Davytoo.

‘Trampled t’death by cows when he cut through the wrong field home,’ said Saz.

‘Not to death,’ said Davy. ‘To death means actually dead. He’s just a bit bashed up, like.’ (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)

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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…)

shells and trinkets

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 579: The Ivory Eagle

Previously published in Wyngraf #2 October 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:21 — 35.1MB)

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The Ivory Eagle

by Jonathan Olfert

Autumn winds chilled the late-harvest gathering, kept everyone huddling by fires or the warmest tidepools. Kerredi’s latest trade brought him down to crouch by the shore where the breeze bit through the seams in his ragged furs. Two traders sloshed in the shallows, waiting on his decision. He clutched a leaf-wrapped packet of elk jerky and eyed the bargain: a shell-bead bracelet dangling from a tentacle. The Curling Hand People did make nice beads, but was this a trade up? Enough of a trade up? (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)

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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…)

ice flower

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 576: Little Wonders 43 – Young Authors

Cast of Wonders 576: Little Wonders 43 – Young Authors is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:17 — 22.4MB)

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At the Edge of Nowhere

by Peter Gooley

It saddens me to look out my window and see the secrets lying sad and broken across the dusty road. The sprays of wind toss them along, scattering the letters among the little, cream-coloured chunks of gravel. I think that sadness was what made me first start collecting them. I gather the tiny, sparkling thoughts from the dew-painted ground each morning as I tend my garden, like manna from heaven. (Continue Reading…)

Genres:

Cast of Wonders 575: Crystal Hexagons on Windowsills (Staff Picks 2023)

Originally published as Cast of Wonders 560, 27th October 2023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:44 — 55.3MB)

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Crystal Hexagons on Windowsills

by Prashanth Srivatsa

I was the only one among my friends who did not get the letter. Which is a real shame, because I was the only one who could snap a finger to conjure a flame. (Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 574: Printed in Ink and Ashes (Staff Picks 2023)

Originally published as Cast of Wonders 557, 14 October 2023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:26 — 55.5MB)

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Printed in Ink and Ashes

by Priya Sridhar

In the basement, scant lightbulbs sputtered in and out. The single torch, propped on a shelf, shone on the pages as I reviewed my copy: The plight of the Hindu laborer must be addressed on a societal level. He is forced to face his burdens alone, often without friends or family.

Typewritten stencils, leaving corpses of plastic letters on the ground. Mildew sprinkled the walls and released a foul odor. When I opened new ink, that stink would mix with the mildew.

Rage filled me as I pressed the keys on the typewriter. When I visited my father, he hadn’t even offered me a cup of coffee or asked how I was. Instead, leaning on his store counter, he told me about his latest backaches and arguments with his tenants. When I hinted that I was parched but wanted to pay for a soda, he offered me a cup of white Ovaltine. Its taste reminded me of how I missed my mother’s chai, how it would always soak the tongue with spices.

Father owned a candy shop in Seattle by a trolley stop; it also sold sodas and tobacco for those interested. He would curate newspapers and magazines for travelers and offer hot coffee to loyal customers. For children, he would boil sweetened Ovaltine powder in milk.

“You have grown too fast,” he’d grumbled in Tamil. “And you are eating too much, Shyama. How much money are we sending for your education?” (Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 571: The Raven Princess (Staff Picks 2023)

Originally published in Cast of Wonders as episode 543 on 5 August 2023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:32 — 35.0MB)

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The Raven Princess

by Dani Atkinson

“Oh no,” Clarinda muttered, fluttering to the body of the fallen prince. His limp form lay sprawled at the base of a willow tree, the fine embroidery on his clothes gleaming in the shifting patches of sunlight cast between the branches. A basket lay near his feet, and an empty wine goblet lay toppled near his hand. Clarinda pecked his fingers. “No no no…”

Notchbeak flapped down to join her. “Who’s this? Are you going to eat him?” He started pecking the other hand. “Dibs on his eyes.”

“No!” Clarinda cried, hopping to the man’s chest.

Notchbeak ruffled his feathers in a shrug. “Well, fine, we can split the eyes. He has two, after all.” (Continue Reading…)

A girl crouched beside a tree, inside of which is a cosy living room

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 569: The Woods in the House (part 2)

Cast of Wonders 569: The Woods in the House (part 2) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:10 — 41.8MB)

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The Woods in the House

by Amanda Cecelia Lang

(part 1)

Finally, I had a decent guess about the cog-works of the witch’s magic. The theory swamped my head until it became my only thought. But how to test it?

Sneaking down 13th without eyes on me became impossible. The beat cops, my kryptonite, manifested whenever I stepped outside. Dad stopped working double-shifts to warden me to-and-from school. On weekends, he locked the apartment and grumbled about sacrificing the overtime. Restless days passed, countless awkward hours cooped up together—watching the boob-tube, fixing meals from cans, pacing grimy ditches into the carpet, back and forth, back and forth, silently missing Tina. Missing our girls. It felt weird not feeling so afraid inside his shadow. But I had other villains to worry about.

How bonkers was it that I felt thankful for that? (Continue Reading…)

A girl crouched beside a tree, inside of which is a cosy living room

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 568: The Woods in the House (part 1)

Cast of Wonders 568: The Woods in the House (part 1) is a Cast of Wonders original.

death of a parent, corporal punishment and neglect

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:13 — 44.6MB)

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The Woods in the House

by Amanda Cecelia Lang

Those magic-duped beat cops warned me not to return to Old Lady Sybil’s brownstone. They ordered me to leave the odd-bird alone, let her totter about her dying years in peace. Said the myths us punks on 13th Avenue spread about her were just that. She didn’t skin alley cats for bubbling potions or hex the afternoons with yellow smog. She didn’t whisper haunted prayers and open portals into other realms. Her house was just a house.

And she didn’t kidnap Tina.

The whole neighborhood agreed—from the bodega owner to the apartment rats to the sidewalk gossips. Something wretched had happened to my little sister. Just another big city statistic. Kids like her go missing every day, run off, tumble through cracks, take ill with sinister luck—same as alley cats and treasured parents. One thing the cops promised me: telling wild lies about lonely spinsters was never gonna bring Tina back.

But I know what I saw on Halloween. (Continue Reading…)