This year's theme cycle is another round of mythical creatures. We've already had unicorns, and now we're going to the strange soft places between here and there, between dreams and the place they call IRL, more specifically to the folk that live there. The new theme is: fairies.
Fairy (or faerie or fair folk or fey), little folk or no, covers a broad spectrum of folklore, myth, and legend. And we're happy to hear of them all, as long as they identifiably fit the spectrum, through form or act.
Your story could be the gardener, breaking through the topsoil into a network of tunnels, and the tiny winged folk that swarm him, knives of flint slashing. The woman who follows strange music and finds an odd folk feasting and dancing; who joins the revelry and leaves the next day, to find her friends all long gone and her daughter grown old, great spires of steel and glass where she remembers only town houses. Perhaps the cyborcops of Futurciti bust a drugs lab where the workers are distilling an addictive pearly powder from song and lost children. Or as the king holds his firstborn in his arms, slender figures gather in the shadows to remind him of the pact he once swore, that kept him on the throne, and the price he must pay, as they offer one of their own in exchange.
We're primarily looking for fantasy, horror and science fiction, with a little surreal and crime thrown in for good measure, but ultimately we'll accept the best fiction we see, regardless of genre. If it excites and ensorcels us, it's in.
The story must be exactly 100 words long, with a one word title. The title cannot be fairy, or any variation thereof. Please check out the full guidelines and submissions information here.
Imagine. Create. Have fun!
