Illustration by Tomasz Wieja
Stalks of corn sprang up from the earth and shed mounds of silk, which threaded together with spider webs into a shimmering translucent sheath. It clung to her body in a way that left little to the imagination, showing off her curves in all their glory. The strands of gold and silver also worked their way into her flaxen hair, surrounding her face with a majestic halo of luminescent tresses. Her footwear flowed up from the ground, a splash of water that adhered to her skin and froze there, looking like shoes of glass. […] The dust from moth wings powdered Ella’s skin and crushed rosehips coloured her cyanotic lips and cheeks, disguising their bluish cast. Adornments of ice pellets, shining like diamonds, encircled her neck and clung to her ears. […] Frosted morsels of rotting pumpkin from the garden’s pumpkin patch, silvery-orange chunks of ice, assembled themselves into a formidable carriage. White horses in ivory harnesses sprang up from the snow, formed only from the bitter white, standing at the ready to draw Ella’s carriage. Tara sighed in satisfaction.
From “The Godmother’s Curse,” by Chantal Boudreau
Here’s what you’ll find in Volume 5, coming this summer:
Chantal Boudreau (ill. Tomasz Wieja)
Evelyn Deshane (ill. Derek Newman-Stille)
Mitchell Edgeworth (ill. Sebyth)
Andrew Hook (ill. Luke Spooner)
Wol-vriey Jesuto (ill. Rob Thompson)
Emily Glossner Johnson (ill. Mark Slater)
Jason Lairamore (ill. Luke Spooner)
Matt Moore (ill. Gregory St. John)
Alexander Polkki (ill. Joel Grunerud)
Shannon Robinson (ill. Mariel Kelly)
Patricia Russo (ill. MANDEM)
Lorina Stephens (ill. Mark Slater)
Graham Tugwell (ill. Gregory St. John)
This issue also features poetry by Rhysling winner and Nebula nominee Mike Allen, cover art by Cherry Valance, and a masterful excerpt from our featured author, Michael Cisco, as well as an interview with same. (“It’s very important that the emotions not belong to me or to anyone, but that they take shape in the wrong place. It’s sort of like synesthesia, but instead of displacing sensations, I get emotions to express themselves in images I can transcribe.”)
Postscripts to Darkness 