The Worker in the Count
On the Mob Factory's late shift, an exhausted worker finds one finished unit too many and a production tally that insists there is no surplus.
Weekly world fiction
Lore of MadROM
The Season Under the Ivy
In the Holy Grove, an old Hierophant tending its remembered spring, summer, and harvest finds a fourth season hiding under the ivy.
The Honest Course
Before the Royal Eagle sails on the next high tide, her sleepless navigator plots the safest route to an unlawful raid.
A Place for Every Flaw
In Gnome Village, a scientist learns that making one thing perfect only gives its damage somewhere else to live.
The Chain That Went Light
Above Midgaard, the Grand Knight feels Redferne's flying citadel lose the weight that keeps it honest.
One of Everything
At Granite Head's Bakery, a miner's order of pot pie, beer, firebreather, and light means the mountain has asked too much.
The Silence That Came Due
In Old Thalos, the librarian finds a returned book that has begun checking out the city's sounds.
The Pawn He Couldn't Sweep
On the Chessboard, the only man without an army finds one piece the war refuses to claim.
The Cave That Kept Breathing
In Haon Dor, an elder druid finds that the forest's worst tenant has gone missing without taking her presence with her.
The Key That Checked In
At the Dancing Daemon Inn, the receptionist finds a palace key on her mahogany desk and no guest willing to admit leaving it there.
The Footnote That Arrived Early
In Newtonia, a doctoral candidate discovers her half-finished dissertation has begun citing work no one has written yet.
The Words Under Thera
In the Great Tomb of Ancient Knights, a historian keeps saying the same wrong sentence until the stones begin to answer.
Gale's Paper Stack
In the Dragon Cult offices, the neatest desk in the temple starts tracking what no one wants counted.
The Beat Cafe
A bad poem in Midgaard catches the first ash of a larger story.