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    Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories
    Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories
    Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories
    Ebook52 pages38 minutes

    Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories

    By Dayle A. Dermatis

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The ten stories in SMALL WONDERS each runs no longer than 1500 words, making each one a perfect little bonbon of speculative fiction. Whether you savor a morsel at a time or gobble up the whole collection, you’ll walk away satisfied. (But unlike a box of chocolate, you can always come back and enjoy this collection again and again.) In SMALL WONDERS you’ll find out why Dayle A. Dermatis’s short fiction has been called “really, really good”!

    Includes the following stories:
    • The Power to Change the Shape of the Land
    • The Pumpkin-Carving Contest
    • Cycles
    • Creative Arsenal
    • The Sultan’s Sons
    • A Matter of Perspective
    • Accidental Victim
    • Return
    • The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip
    • What Dragons Prefer

    DAYLE A. DERMATIS has been called “one of the best writers working today” by USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith. Under various pseudonyms (and sometimes with coauthors), she’s sold several novels and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres. She lives and works in California within scent of the ocean, and in her spare time follows Styx around the country and travels the world, all of which inspires her writing. She loves music, cats, Wales, TV, magic, laughter, and defying expectations. To find out where she is today, check out www.DayleDermatis.com.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSoul's Road Press
    Release dateJan 13, 2015
    ISBN9781311479426
    Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories
    Author

    Dayle A. Dermatis

    Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted and the forthcoming Shaded and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and DAW Books.Called the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, she also guest edits anthologies for Fiction River, and her own short fiction has been lauded in many year's best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror.She lives in a book- and cat-filled historic English-style cottage in the wild greenscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time she follows Styx around the country and travels the world, which inspires her writing.To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com and sign up for her newsletter or support her on Patreon.* * *I value honest feedback, and would love to hear your opinion in a review, if you’re so inclined, on your favorite book retailer’s site.* * *For more information:www.dayledermatis.com

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      Book preview

      Small Wonders - Dayle A. Dermatis

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      Table of Contents

      About the Author

      Copyright Information

      INTRODUCTION

      THIS IS A collection of short-short stories, so I’ve resolved not to let my introduction go longer than a page. Wish me luck.

      It wasn’t until I pulled this together and looked at the list that I realized how these stories span my writing career. The oldest story here, What Dragons Prefer, was published in 1994 (and, incidentally, was my first professionally published story), and the most recent, The Pumpkin-Carving Contest was published in 2014.

      I’m writing this Introduction on the first day of 2015. I’m excited to see what my next twenty years of writing brings.

      I hope you’ll be with me for the journey!

      —Dayle A. Dermatis

      January 1, 2015

      THE POWER TO CHANGE

      THE SHAPE OF THE LAND

      A GEAS BOUND HER; she was bound never to harm the King with her sorceries.

      Not even when he held a knife to her throat.

      The brute force was enough to subdue her. He had left his men at the base of the tower, away from the night’s storm, and entered her study alone, slamming the door back and placing the blade against her skin before she could react.

      His entry had surprised her; his methods had not. This new King had risen to power by slaying everyone in his way. Even innocent children died and simple farms burned under his quest for the throne.

      You are a sorceress—a revered magician. He demanded agreement rather than asking the question.

      I am, your Grace.

      His leather armor, soaked from the rain, stank of cow and days of sweat and the blood of helpless women. There is something I seek, something you can help me gain. If you cannot…

      His sour breath brushed her cheek like a malevolent spirit on the longest night of year.

      What is it you seek, your Grace? Her voice sounded distant. She had to remain composed.

      It is my desire to rule completely, he said. I want the power to do that.

      As he spoke, his hand tightened on the knife. The blade, warm from being carried close to him, scraped against her skin.

      And you believe that I have this power?

      "I know that sorcery is vast. As your King, I command that you use your sorcerous talents to help me."

      She considered what she knew of him. He had used sorceresses in his campaign—in fact, she had known several of the women who had died, their deaths a small percentage of the total slaughter—so he wasn’t ignorant of their existence. But he was ignorant of the extent of their abilities, and he was suspicious of sorcery.

      Then you also know that I cannot—I am unable—to harm you with those sorceries. She spoke with complete honesty; the geas that had been set upon her kind long ago to keep them from rising against the ruler of the land held her, no matter how she felt about him. "Your Grace, I am but a simple woman, and I live

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