Speculative Fiction
(Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror mix)
Date Published: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Mictlan Press
There’s magic and mystery around every corner, if you know where to look…
This collection of eleven short stories from fantasy and science fiction author Terri Bruce explores the hidden corners of our world. Blending fantasy, horror, magical realism, and folklore, these tales will delight, mystify, and unsettle. Unicorns roam the New Hampshire countryside disguised as a biker gang. Portals to other worlds hide on commuter train platforms. And be careful of what really lurks at the bottom of those quaint wishing wells that dot the countryside. Strip away the veneer of everyday life and dare to see what lies just below the surface.
from The Lady and the Unicorn
The air in the diner grew thick with worry. Tam’s pulse fluttered. She and the other staff drifted to the window one by one to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to gaze out at the men in the parking lot—diners, burgers, and Fryolators all forgotten.
“What’s wrong?” Tam asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper, first to the waitress on her right and then to the dishwasher to her left. Neither woman answered. “Are they Hell’s Angels or something?” she asked a little more forcefully, though she scoffed at the idea that some outlaw biker gang was roaming the scenic byways of New Hampshire. The men were rough looking, to be sure—beefy and unkempt, the wiry bristles of their bushy beards disappearing into their jackets—but that didn’t make them dangerous. She knew better than to buy into stereotypes. Most bikers were never any trouble, even if they did come pouring out of places with a certain rough, backwoods flavor, like Webster, Loudon, Henniker, and Northwood. They were mostly quiet men who just wanted to be left alone. They drank their coffee quickly and silently and paid their bill with no fuss. The rest were usually weekend warriors—reclaiming freedom and lost youth in the all too short breaks between their nine-to-five days. Heck, Tam’s uncle rode a motorcycle, a bandana tied to his head and aviator shades covering his eyes, like he was Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, and he was an accountant.
Still, a nameless fear prickled at the back of her neck.
“Worse,” Marge ‘The Barge’, who’d marched out from the kitchen, answered in a flat voice, never taking her eyes from the bikers.
What could be worse than Hell’s Angels? Tam wondered.
There was a silence, just long enough to be noticed, and then Marge said, “Unicorns.”
About the Author
TERRI BRUCE is the author of the paranormal / contemporary fantasy Afterlife series, and her short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies and magazines. She produces hard-to-classify fantasy and science fiction stories that explore the supernatural side of everyday things from beautiful Downeast Maine where she lives with her husband and various cats.
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