Short stories I enjoyed in January

A very late post considering, but my notes are frowning at me and I have to oblige. January was a great month reading wise and I read a lot and very good short stories. As always, here you’ll find both old and new pieces in no particular order. Just the way I put them down on my notes. (You can also see that when I like a magazine or an author I kind of … don’t let go.)

 

Short Fiction

We are not phoenixes by John Wiswell in Fireside: A small and heartfelt piece about hospitals, patients and how to keep their hopes up.

For Lack of a Bed by John Wiswell in Diabolical Plots: What do you do when you have chronic pain and your couch offers you relief but is also killing you slowly? The story of a possessed couch and the perpetual search for sleep and relief.

The Day Fair for Guys Becoming Middle Managers by Rachel K. Jones in Diabolical Plots: A fun and bloody (literally) commentary about how corporate life sucks the life out of people. It was scary and scarily accurate.

Regarding the Robot Raccoons Attached to the Hull of My Ship by Rachel K. Jones and Khalidah Muhammad in Diabolical Plots: The tale of two sisters in perpetual antagonism with each other. Sibling disputes in space with raccoons!

We Need to Talk About the Unicorn in Your Back Yard by Mari Ness in Daily Science Fiction: That’s brilliant! I kept laughing while reading this. I probably shouldn’t but I couldn’t help it. ?

Delivery for 3C at Song View by Marie Croke in Diabolical Plots: Djinn story! What happens when you’re descendant from a djinn and have accidentally find someone that keeps wishing for you to you? An entertaining story about wishes and boundaries.

Flocks of Words and Wonder by Marie Croke in Apparition Lit: A story beautiful and wondrous story about taking your life in your hands, finding what you want to to and achieving your goals. Sometimes things can be overwhelming at first but if you keep on going, everything it will make sense in the end. I really like library stories ?

Tony Roomba’s Last Day on Earth by Maria Haskins in Escape Pod:  A funny story about an alien disguised as a Roomba who makes a run for it with the family cat!

Monologue of a Wishing Well by Anjali Patel in Translunar Travelers Lounge: Such a lovely piece about a very lonely wishing well. It’s heartwarming and cute.

 

Poetry

Inextricable by Venne Hrzaan in Apparition Lit

How the Big Bang Ended by Colleen Anderson in Utopia Science Fiction

Confessions of a Spaceport AI by Mary Soon Lee in Uncanny

The First Perpetual Motion Machine by Natasha King in Strange Horizons