The Absent Willow Review — Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Anhedonia

by Chris Deal
It stood there for hours, not swaying with the beat of a heart, with no aching muscles, no pain, nothing. It just stood there, giving no mind to the cold, no thoughts to the ruined apartment, the soiled carpet or the obscene streaks and handprints on the walls. It watched the [...]

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Interview: Jane Yolen

January 15, 2010

If you haven’t heard of Jane Yolen you should have. To say that she is prolific would be the understatement of the century. The recipient of numerous awards (including the Nebula Award and the Caldecott Medal) Jane has also been referred to as the Hans Christian Andersen of America by Newsweek. It would be easy [...]

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Position Wanted

January 15, 2010

by Marilyn Evans
“Do you need a pencil?” The woman at the desk of the employment agency held the writing implement out to me.
“Yes, please.”
“Fill out this form, give it back to me, then wait over there until you’re called.”
I sat at the end of the row in a metal chair. One of my wings rested [...]

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Tinni and the Chain

January 15, 2010

by Jeff Miller
“Tinni, bring me my tea,” the old man said, one hand poised over the leather-bound tome on the desk before him.
Tinni rose from his place in the corner, grunting as a great thundering pain pierced him in the back. The chain hurt today, more than usual. Some days it felt like little more [...]

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To Dance With the Bogeyman

January 15, 2010

by Nancy Widrew
“Good morning, sweetheart. How’s our birthday girl?”
I scamper down the stairs of the farmhouse, eager for the day to begin. My mother stands at the bottom landing, arms open, waiting for my hug. My father, directly behind her, smiles. We had taken the train to Liberty, New York the day before, just as [...]

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Becoming

January 15, 2010

by Lynette Mejía
Elinor wanted to be human, and there was nothing I could say or do to convince her otherwise. I told her that I loved her, that she was beautiful and special; unique in ways that I could only dream about. I held her hand, caressing the soft, flawless white skin while [...]

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And Would Suffice

January 15, 2010

by Sunny Moraine
The problem wasn’t the air.
They had expected it to be the air, until the first atmospheric analysis had revealed a breathable atmosphere, much to everyone’s surprise and eventual delight. No, the air wasn’t a problem. The cold wasn’t the problem; they expected it and came well-equipped for it, with thermal suits, and each [...]

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A Day Better Spent

January 15, 2010

by Kat Heckenbach
It started as a tingling in my hand.
I looked at the clock. Nearly midnight. No wonder. I’d been working since eight a.m. I was exhausted. Four hours of meetings, followed by lunch—which of course is just another word for a meeting with food. My ear actually started ringing from being on the phone [...]

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The Manny Prior Halloween Show

January 15, 2010

by Steven J Dines
If you believe in something hard enough you can make it happen. Every parent tells their kids that one, right? Mine did, and my twin brother, Owen, was far along the road to achieving great things when the accident killed him. Me, I never followed any road anywhere, but [...]

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Normal

January 15, 2010

by A.W. Sullivan
“She’s a troubled child…malcontent…since the accident…”
Eleven year old Tatyana tried to tune out the hurtful words as she played with a plain little doll that she had found in the doctor’s waiting room. Her twin sister, Sofia, sat reading in the chair opposite.
“Talks to herself…disturbed…crazy?”
Tatyana hated the sympathetic smile Sofia offered as Mother’s [...]

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A Dream of You

January 15, 2010

by Jason Rolfe
In the dream I knelt at the far back corner of the garden. My sister Alice stood beside me, toying with her shoestring necklace. The block letters spelled out her name. Behind us, through the trees and beyond the fieldstone fence Blackwood Manor lurked in the pre-dawn mist. I was digging at the [...]

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Triangles

January 15, 2010

by Marc Colten
Do you have a cat? Do you hear him at night, howling at the stars as he weaves in and out of the shadows? Does he stare up at the walls, leaping up as if to grab something that isn’t there? It isn’t as cute as it sounds. Not [...]

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Edge

January 15, 2010

by Michael David Gibb
“Nearly there,” he gasped to himself, his eyes set on the deserted beach. There was no way he was turning back now. He would see this through, seasick or not.
All he had to do was wiggle his toes in that white sand and all would be better.
“And you said you don’t get [...]

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Martian Dawn

January 15, 2010

by Pamela J. Jessen
Our ship will touch down at Martian dawn,
exhaust throwing gales of organ sand
into the thin atmosphere. We’ll cheer
once, briefly, then bend to our tasks
of securing the craft, transmitting data and images
twenty light minutes to an Earth hungry for Mars.
-
Month after boring month we’ve watched as Mars
grows closer, more substantial and realization [...]

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