In the Luck Factory by Lorraine Schein 1. Fortuna’s eco-​​​​correct, green canvas cornucopia spills perfect black dots onto conveyor belts of naked red ladybugs. 2. The elephant-​​​​god forges silver horseshoes, flings one with his trunk to test on Buddha’s head— 3. Clank. Around Gautama’s neck! He grins, and spins his karmic wheel. 4. The dolphins and fu bats
[continue reading…]

The King Must Have a Son by David Pilling It is a fact acknowledged nowhere else that the Tudors, who supplied England with five of her nastiest monarchs, had fairy blood in their veins. Their elfin features and delight in cruelty may have provided a clue, but physical abnormality and viciousness were common traits in royal families and caused
[continue reading…]

Bluebeard Contented by B. Gordon After the débâcle of his latest marriage  –  never again would he wed a woman with brothers  –  Bluebeard fled the country. The duplicity of his wife had wounded his spirit worse than the swords of her brothers had wounded his body: no sooner out of his sight than she had taken the golden key and
[continue reading…]

The Death of Koshchei the Deathless by John Patrick Pazdziora Now and then, when I look round on my books, they seem to waver as if a wind rippled their solid mass, and another world were about to break through.George MacDonald, Lilith (1895), ch. 47. The scribe has told us the tale of Prince Ivan, who married off
[continue reading…]

Sunshine and Apples by Lisa Tenzin-​​​​Dolma Once there was a husband and wife who were simple people, born of the soil. Their cottage smelled of fresh baked bread infused with the fragrance of rich loam and vetiver. Moss grew in the gutters, housing mice who nibbled at the cheese which the wife (a sympathetic soul) left
[continue reading…]

CinderladorThe Ugly Stepbrother’s Revengeby Robert Borski Legally, despite what the papers claim, he’s little more than a houseboy tasked with a mountain of chores each and every day; and even though that morning he spends long hours in the scullery up to his elbows in pot water, he still smells of char and cabbage, has bootblack on his ears,
[continue reading…]

Frog Prince by Robert Borski Perhaps he merely lacks in self-​​​​confidence. Perhaps she will not mind the webbed toes and jade skin. Perhaps she’s too modern a girl to believe the old canard about the prop– agation of warts from a single caress. Perhaps she prefers her consorts small. To be sure, glimpsed from his palace of mud,
[continue reading…]

Ambrosia and the Beast by Bruce Woods Even the most well-​​​​meaning of laws can have unfortunate consequences; and few would argue the intent of legislation designed to feed the needy. In fact, the law itself was probably unnecessary; with so many hungry, throwing away food was more than illegal, it was just bad public relations. This
[continue reading…]

Mrs. Mud’s brush with Death by Troy Morash One day while the sun was beaming with all its might, Mrs. Mud was in her beloved kitchen peeling apples for an apple pie. After finishing she decided to taste one and because she had such a big mouth she threw it in whole. Naturally after a few seconds she began
[continue reading…]

On Marble Threshing Floors by Christine Lucas “… and then I saw a barefoot man in splendid garments, bejeweled like a grouse, lightning in his gaze. He challenges me to a fight on marble threshing floors, and whoever wins takes the other’s soul.” — The death of Digenis Acritas, Byzantine folk song. The Antioch region, circa 990 AD. The boy’s hair smelled of
[continue reading…]

Though the Moon Be Still as Bright by Athena Andreadis The island was beautiful but stark. What it had been given in loveliness it lacked in means of livelihood. It could only sustain scraggly vines, fava beans, the occasional goat. Even the wells were few. So the islanders ventured onto the beguiling, the unpredictable sea…
[continue reading…]