Bards and Sages Quarterly (July 2020)

By Julie Ann Dawson, Michael Gardner, Mathew Morrison and 5 more

Each issue of the Bards and Sages Quarterly brings fans of speculative fiction a wide range of new and established voices in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. Includes stories by Joshua Novak, Michael Gardner, Christian McCulloch, Alex Zoubine, KT Wagner, Matt Neil Hill, and Mathew Morrison. 

 

A stolen spellbook causes a bored housewife to undergo a strange transformation in North of Horsefly.

 

Rahkaav and the Three Brothers explores a tale of pride, riddles...and time travel.

 

A man-made virus transforms humans and dogs in different ways in Suture-Perfect(tm).

 

These and other tales await.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bards and Sages Publishing
• Release date: Jun 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393266365

Julie Ann Dawson

Julie Ann Dawson is an author, editor, publisher, RPG designer, and advocate for writers who may occasionally require the services of someone with access to Force Lightning (and in case it was not obvious, a bit of a geek). Her work has appeared in a variety of print and digital media, including such diverse publications as the New Jersey Review of Literature, Lucidity, Black Bough, Poetry Magazine, Gareth Blackmore’s Unusual Tales, Demonground, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and others. In 2002 she started her own publishing company, Bards and Sages. The company has gone from having two titles to over one hundred titles between their print and digital products. In 2009, she launched the Bards and Sages Quarterly, a literary journal of speculative fiction. Since 2012, she has served as a judge for the IBPA's Benjamin Franklin Awards.

Book preview

Jolly Jane and the Smiling Boy

By Mathew Morrison

JANE! JANEY, HOLD UP! No fair! How much further?

She turned and smiled. Not far, Benji. We’re almost there. But ya gotta keep up.

Jane paused, her foot resting on a rotting log, and turned to wait for him. Benji caught up with her and put a small, grimy hand on her arm. He was out of breath, and the forest air was thick with the summer heat. Benji was five, and she was nearly thirteen. He whimpered a bit, clearly tired from running through the forest, and looked up at her expecting—what? It was an innocent, sort of precious look Benji always had. His eyes were round and inquisitive, and Jane wondered what it would be like to choke the life out of him and watch the light leave those pretty little orbs.

She smiled.

Almost there, Benji.

Where?

She held her hand out, and he took it. To the Old Place, Benji. That’s where they say the Smiling Boy lives.

She trudged on and helped Benji over the log. He was a bit small for his age, and they were now in the thickest part of Watcher’s Forest, making the hike all the more difficult for him. It was a wild, abandoned growth south of Hayworth, Louisiana, and in its deepest reaches there were few signs of civilization. The forest was bright, though, and the sun filtered through verdant trees, and Jane looked at the light and smiled, and thought of beheading Benji.

No, too violent.

You’re a fun babysitter.

Thanks, Benji.

She had been his sitter for over a year. His family lived on the southern edge of Hayworth closer to the woods. George and Dana Landry didn’t yet trust dear Benji to care for himself on their Friday night dates, and Jane was Dana’s college roommate’s daughter. The perfect match.

Jane wanted to be a babysitter. She wanted to care for the children, to watch them, to snuff the life out of them, and to watch their parents break and know that she had the power to destroy lives with just a little effort. After a month of planning, today would be her first time.

The Landrys were due to be back much later than usual. They were in Alexandria at the Diamond Grill and then to the movies for their anniversary. It gave Jane plenty of time to do what she needed and get back. It would be perfect.

Little boy lost.

That’s what they’d call him.

What’s the Old Place?

Haven’t you ever heard of it?

Benji shook his head. She helped him over another log as they went deeper into the forest. Weak, blue light flickered between the foliage, and the shadows grew as evening came. The wilderness swirled and closed around them, opened up, and constricted again like a living, pulsating thing.

The old Lewis family homestead. They founded Hayworth, you know. Way back in the 1800’s. I know that because I did a report on them in school last year.

And the Old Place is their...their...

Homestead. It means a family home, sort of like a farm. I learned that in school, too.

Benji tripped, and she helped him up. Smiling, she dusted his white shirt off and then wiped a smudge of dirt from his nose. He wrinkled his face in glee. Benji trusted her utterly and looked up to her, almost as a sister. It sent a thrill through her.

You’re smart, Janey.

She blushed. It’s just school. You’ll learn it, too. One day.

If I don’t kill you. Which I will. Today. At the Old Place.

They walked on.

THE AFTERNOON HAD STARTED with popcorn and shows. Benji was in an unusually tractable mood, so Jane had convinced him to watch what she wanted. He sat in front of the television, munching popcorn and gazing stupidly at the true crime documentary. She suspected it bored him, but he got popcorn out of the deal. Benji and popcorn were like bread and butter, pen and paper, fish and water. It was difficult to imagine one without the other.

Watching the show, Jane had thought back to her idol. Earlier in the school year, they’d been assigned to do a report on famous women from history. The other girls—stupid, simple things—had done reports on women like Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Queen Elizabeth, J.K. Rowling, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Laura Bush, and all manner of dull, pointless people who’d never done a damn thing of worth in their lives.

Jane had done her report on Jolly Jane Toppan, the nurse who’d killed at least thirty-one people. All of them friends or patients—people who trusted her. She would make them sick, care for them, and then slowly kill them while they thought she was nursing them to health. It gave Jane a thrill in her spine, and she idolized Jolly Jane, wanted to be Jolly Jane. There was also Elizabeth Bathory, who had murdered and bathed in the blood of so many women, and God how Jane wanted and fantasized about that, but it wouldn’t be possible today. No. She wanted to do it right. While Jolly Jane and the Bloody Countess had inspired her, she wanted to one-up them.

Benji was the start.

She knew, there on the sofa with him resting his head against her pink unicorn t-shirt, that it had to be today. She had plenty of time. But it had to be done in a way that avoided suspicion. And it had to be done today, or else she might chicken out and never try it again. She must push herself to her limit and see if she could murder Benji.

So, after the show had ended, she’d told him that she had something to show him. A special place. Benji liked special places, and she had the perfect one. 

"It’s in the woods though, and we’ll have to walk. I’m not sure if you’re