The Drabblecast

Evil Robot Monkey by Mary Robinette KowalCharacter Flu by Robert ReedToaster of the Gods by Randall CootsOld Lady/Young Lady Optical IllusionChris MunroeThe DribblecastJohn CmarThe Secret LairThe DunesteefCon on the CobNorm Sherman CD 2-for-10!Art by Jan DennisonMusic by Norm Sherman, Bernard Pagnotti, Sara Ayers, Gringo Motel, Brian Taylor

A puppet’s words infect. They taint. They do this without ever sounding like a thing, without the listener realizing they have been spoken. A true ventriloquist, as those who are educated and informed may or may not choose to tell you, is an adept in the art of keeping those mouths shut...No, not the Triceratops!!Douglas F. WarrickMike BorisArt by Caroline Parkinson

While the rest a' the country had turned away from the biorevolution, we Best Virginians had become magicians. We had learned how to use the tiniest creatures to change the world in the biggest, most beautiful ways...Robert JeschonekRead by Lauren SyngerThe DunesteefDelianne ForgetLa FeniceMusic by Edmund Butt, Norm Sherman and Gringo MotelArt by Bo Kaier

You are to imagine, Twigling, the Red Bride to be a human, such as yourself, although she is in truth a creature of the Var...Samantha HendersonRead by Delianne ForgetGbase.comCast MacabreUnited States Disc Golf ChapmionshipMusic by Gringo Motel, Norm Sherman, Bruce Winter, Scott ShannonArt by Skeet Scienski

The note itself simply read, "TUESDAY 7:13 PM".Unsigned, undated, unadorned. Stuck into my door, just above the latch where I'd be sure to find the note immediately upon my return from my errands about the city...The DunesteefJay LakeArt by Elan Trinidad

That's when I saw it. A thing -- no, not even a thing, just an impression of a thing; a momentary imperfection in that seamless blue -- that teased at the edge of my vision. My eye flicked toward it, but it either whipped away faster than the eye could follow or it hadn't really been there to begin with...GanymedeDavid D. LevineSacred Drabblecast Chalice of GloryPendragon Variety PodcastMegabeast Trading Cards!Art by Skeet ScienskiDownload MP3

Dexter crouched beneath the toxic fruit trees in his grassless back yard, turning over black earth with the spade he'd taken from the old man, and every shovelful revealed worse things: clumps of cinders and the dust of ashes; rusting nails, practically dripping tetanus; wickedly-curved shards of brown glass; bullets of various sizes, crusted with dirt; and a foot or so down, fragments of black-stone statuary...MirrorshardsTim PrattJust IcingArt by Chelsea Ragan

Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness. Wretched is he who looks back upon lone hours in vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books. Such a lot the gods gave to me - to me, the dazed, the disappointed; the barren, the broken...Circle of 10DragonconParsec AwardsArt by Bo Kaier

"This is the one I wanted to show you," Rando said to his blind date, Maya, who had an artificial eye that drooped slightly, but was otherwise very cute in a chipmunk sort of way. "Make her blonde," Rando said, while Maya peered over his shoulder. The woman's hair changed from brown to golden blonde...Will McIntoshNaomi MercerArt by Elan Trinidad

I’m a fan of Nirvana.I mean I’m a fan of the band rather than a fan of the concept. Although, hey, what’s not to like about the idea of being no longer subject to torture over the fires of greed, hatred and delusion? Free from all suffering – yes, that sounds pretty good. But if I really wanted to free of everything that makes us human then I probably wouldn’t dig bands like Nirvana any more, and that would be bad. Then I wouldn’t be me any more.Aliya WhiteleyAudio Market ListSquare Two Art by Lizanna HerdDownload MP3

The Apocalypse Hits Moose Fork by Gary CubaSix Drabbles of Seperation by Kenneth SchneyerWaiting for Grim by Bruce GoldenEisenbraunsGary CubaNobilis EroticaKenneth SchneyerBruce GoldenThe Plitone RevisionistPaul S. JenkinsRaptor GalleryMusic by Gringo Motel, Norm ShermanArt by Arron Cambridge

You couldn't describe a rath. You couldn't even look at one for more than a few seconds before you started getting a migraine aura. Rovers were just blots of shadow. The breeder was massive, armored, and had no recognizable features, save for its hideous, drooling, ragged edged maw. Irizarry didn't know if it had eyes, or even needed them...Sarah MonetteElizabeth BearLauren Synger as Colonel SandersonLovecraft UnboundThe Burning Zeppelin ExperienceArt by Skeet Scienski

Izrael Irizarry stepped through a bright-scarred airlock onto Kadath Station, lurching a little as he adjusted to station gravity. On his shoulder, Mongoose extended her neck, her barbels flaring, flicked her tongue out to taste the air, and colored a question. Another few steps, and he smelled what Mongoose smelled, the sharp stink of toves, ammoniac and bitter...Chris MonroeThe DribblecastSarah MonetteElizabeth BearShadow UnitAbby Crayden as Station MasterLauren Synger as Colonel SandersonArt by Jerel Dye

For fourteen years the North Piscataway High School History Department, under my stewardship, has honored the tradition of Duel Day, our annual reenactment of the famous, deadly confrontation of 1804, between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. And for all fourteen of those reenactments, I, Robert Stanley, have taken the role of noble Hamilton, and Paul Vasouvian from the math department has filled the boots of the scurrilous Burr...Nigerian Scam Spam ContestDunesteef Audio FIction MagazineQuirk ClassicsAndroid KareninaArt by Bo Kaier

Two years ago it must've been. Me and Manny and a couple of the other boys -- Carlos and T-Bone -- met up at the last Dairy Queen outside of Lompoc. Manny was going on at me about that shortcut I liked, Route Nine. "I'm telling you that place is God-awful weird, Joe."Ducks are Bastards Part II: Quack BlockedSamantha HendersonArt by Broken Cyborg

If the snowman, whose name was Wink, had known that the meat man would invent such a rotten thing, he never would have built the man in the first place...3rd Annual Nigerian Scam Spam ContestDucks are Bastards: Part I: Dead Duck DayIg Nobel PrizesJustin SlaterRobert JeschonekArt by Skeet Scienski

Thousands of fish -- dead, dying, or flopping in the shallows -- littered the shore. A dozen people in their nightgowns, pajamas, or hastily-thrown-on street clothes moved along the shore, bending, exclaiming, whistling, laughing. Some had flashlights, but most worked by moonlight, scooping up flounder, blue crab, and shrimp. This was a jubilee, as I remembered them, a pre-dawn beach-party to celebrate the mysterious bounty of the bay...Tim Pratt WeekPodcastleNathan LeeMarla Mason WhiskerinoLocallygrown.netArt by Sean Azzopardi

The baby list is not very long. Babies only come in about six colors — we’re getting one that matches Mother and me. Humans are a lot less interesting than Legos or iBots...Ellen KlagesKimi AlexanderGuardiansUrban Fantasy PodcastM.C. EscherMusic by Kerry Muzzey, Norm Sherman, John Scott Trotter, Aaron Derington, Victor StellarArt by Rudolpho Arrendondo

And so we went in.Combat formation, all five of us, me first, face masks on so tight that the edges of our eyes pulled, suits like a second skin. Weapons in both hands, back-ups attached to the wrists and forearms, flash-bangs on our hips.No shielding, no vehicles, no nothing. Just us, dosed, altered, ready to go.Happy Birthday RobotUtah Where da Party IsKristine Kathryn RuschArt by Philip Pomphrey

Once a month, on a Sunday, Mum and me and my little brother Zubby would dress up in our best clothes, Mum would put ribbons in my hair, and we’d all walk into town to go to church...This week’s show was sponsored by Happy Birthday Robot!Pre-order the game!Online Dice RollerIan McHughLizzie NonsenseDreamrockBalticonArt by Caroline ParkinsonMusic by Norm Sherman, Gringo Motel and Thinkmedia

I was poisoning crows the day the aliens arrived. They’re smarter than you might think – crows, not aliens – and they don’t go for any of the easy stuff anymore...This week’s show was sponsored by Happy Birthday Robot!Pre-order the game!Matt MooreArt by Elan Trinidad

"We've got one of them," he told me gleefully."One of what?" I asked, bewildered."One of them," he said, as if that explained it. "Cheeky sod from Accounts came upstairs and tried to get a coffee out of our vending machine. Can you believe it? Out of OUR vending machine!"This week’s show was sponsored by Happy Birthday Robot!Derek PatersonRead by Dan ChambersArt by Bo Kaier

Never Forget Some Things by G.A. SemonesBehindeye: A History by Douglas WarrickSock Heroes by M. ThomasCheyenne WrightLacyJoyPhotographyParsec AwardsArt by Bo KaierMusic Phil Keaggy, Al Petteway, Norm Sherman, Flopsy and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown

God cocked his thumb and aimed his index finger at the firmament.Ka-pow! Pow! Pow! A line of three perfect glowing pinpoints of light appeared in the black void...Ellen KlagesArt by Brent HolmesMusic by Jason Rubero and Heitor Pereira

Overlord always goes on like this when all he really has to do is slap down a dossier with “This Guy Needs His Ass Handed to Him” stamped on the cover. I'm just cutting to the chase.Victimless LeatherNathan Lee's Mirror ShardsDribblecastBalticonArt by Skeet ScienksiMusic by David Gosnell, Gringo Motel and Norm ShermanSpecial thanks for Closing Music help by Sheena Majdan

The children washed up early this year; we raced down to the beach as soon as we heard. There was already a traffic jam coming out of the inland cells.My pockets are always filled with notes, so I left them well-anchored on the beach. Cells may not survive without new children, but without our studies, survival is meaningless...Ruthanna EmrysNarration by Abby CradenAdditional voices by: Julie Hoverson, Liz Mierzejewski, Abbey Hilton, Sarah Tolbert, Monika Vasey, Small Anklevich Artwork by Jan Dennison

Amilee Jo Baker’s day of wedded bliss was the biggest scandal the congregation of Millton County’s First Brotherhood Baptist Church had endured since Ginger Lynn married that Liebowitz boy from the Army, bless her heart...Nathan Lee’s MirrorshardsLauren SyngerNotoften.comJake Bible’s Dead MechArt by Jan Dennison

I barely recall how it used to be, before the Kus slashed open our sky—before their ships descended, battering the clouds with hurricanes and lightning. I remember the thunder and the majesty. And I remember the weeks of fire that followed... Prehistoric Croc vs. Monster SnakeL.J. DalyHairy Mango PromoArt by Chelsea Ragan

All the Single RotifersMirrorshardsTracy PfauArt by Chelsea RaganAlthough she was tired, Wu was careful not to show it. Her pregnancies were progressing nicely. The eldest foetus, Hoo, was about to be born, and she was getting too big for parties, but the Senate elections were only months away and her visible pregnancy gave her an advantage she could not afford to waste...

"Her routine was perfect in its simplicity. She spent her mornings in the kitchen waiting for someone to brush her, her afternoons sprawled on the couch in the warm sunshine, and her evenings on the nearest lap. Sometimes she watched the water droplets in bathtub after her people took showers. Yes. It was a good life.Until they came....Kristine Kathryn RuschAir Out My ShortsApparitionHealthcare is a Human RightArt by Liz MierzejewskiMusic by Helen Long, Aaron Derington, Shostakovitch, Schoenberg