Theresa Anne has spent years watching her mother tell fortunes and work magical spells. But when she asks to protect the girl she loves, she learns the true cost and sacrifice involved in magical requests.

Find more from the author at www.clpolk.com.

Content advisory: Violence

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In a post-pandemic future where scientists have made great strides in eliminating disease, a young boy faces his fears and ventures out to his grandfather's island to give him an important vaccine.

This story appears in the anthology Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future, edited by Gideon Lichfield and available for pre-order from The MIT Press.Content advisory: Discussion of pandemics, near-drowning

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A getaway driver and her crew are hired to steal a mysterious artifact, and inadvertently get locked into a time loop. Find more from Nicole Kornher-Stace at www.nicolekornherstace.com or on Twitter @wirewalking.

Content advisory: Gun violence, gore, death

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A teenage girl is exiled to a penal colony on an icy, inhospitable island. 

But the island contains secrets, and so does the girl. 

Content Advisory: Death

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Hoping to make their fortune (or at least climb out of debt), a trio of space traders travel on a dangerous hunt for a space whale.

"An Equal Share of the Bone" was originally published at Escape Pod. Find more of Karen Osborne's work at www.karenosborne.com.

Content Advisory: Animal death

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Guided by an angel, a writer pens his greatest -- and perhaps most dangerous -- work.

"Killer of Kings" appears in Anjali Sachdeva's collection ALL THE NAMES THEY USED FOR GOD.

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Adolescent boys are faced with the reality of friendships, old and new, as they work on plans to build their own airplane.

"Flyboys" appears in Tobias Wolff's collection OUR STORY BEGINS, published by Vintage Books, and is available in audio from Blackstone Audio. 

Content advisory: discussion of death

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A woman helps to test the artificial intelligence based on the mind of her mother, a brilliant thinker. "The Regression Test" appears in Wole Talabi's collection INCOMPLETE SOLUTIONS from Luna Press.

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A government contractor deals with everyday frustrations in a small town. "Alluvial Deposits" appears in Percival Everett's collection DAMNED IF I DO. Check out other titles from Graywolf Press, including WILD SWIMS and BRING ME THE HEAD OF QUENTIN TARANTINO, at graywolfpress.org.

Content advisory: racial slur, hateful language

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A woman struggles to understand why her elderly father has begun to spontaneously teleport. 

Content advisory: drug addiction, illness, death

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