Rhea Rose

In This Issue: It's summertime, and the water's fine ... or is it? 'Collector' by cover artist Akem beckons us beneath the surface and between the pages. But in 'A Collection of Secrets' by feature author Rhea Rose and 'The Island' by M Denise Beaton, we discover that some treasures are better left hidden. Back on shore, summer brings around friends both new and old in 'Audrey and the Crow' by Cadence Mandybura, 'The Two Oh Four Six' by Dustin Moon, 'Floaters' by Kevin Sandefur, and 'Whispers in Between My Shoulder Blades' by Christine Breede. Shapeshifers in 'Shadow Work' by Soramimi Hanarejima and 'Gwannyn's Song' by JM Landels show us the secret to sacrifice. And families come together, reshaped, in Kaile Shilling's SiWC honourable mention, 'Death and Laughter'. Allison Bannister in 'The Play's the Thing' and Mel Anastasiou in 'Pretty Lies: Hold On' draw inspiration from the classics. And poetry from Dawn Macdonald and Yuan Changming reminds us that love is classic too.

Before The Hunger Games came "Chronos' Christmas." If you loved Orson Scott Card's - "Ender's Game" - and William Gibson's - "Burning Chrome," and hid under the covers with the lights on while reading Stephen King's homegrown horror, or couldn't put down an Ann Rice vampire novel; if you find aliens romantic and terrifying then there are stories in this collection for you In this horror story, fourteen year old Jing and her brother, fifteen year old Gyp Crawler, do whatever they must to survive in a place that is like "Vegas for Children." A place where the nice people in town want to buy children's glands and organs to stay young. In a cyberpunk Christmas tale genetically selected children compete and kill for the chance to win Christmas. Only the strongest survive, or do they? When Chronos, the leader of his gang, discovers his love for one of the most detested members of his group is stronger than his love for his creator, he can't help but try to save her from ultimate destruction. In this mythological fantasy, a sixteen year old skateboarder calls himself Squatch after the mythological forest creature he worships. He agrees to go on a family camping trip to the San Diego zoo to see a captured Bigfoot. In this vampire tale, newly undead Angel can't understand her need to return over and over to the abandoned child called Alia, the little girl who feeds Angel small cups of blood. From two forsaken children Angel learns that monsters come in many colors. In this science fiction story, old man Kayden, an alien species trapper, and his secret client, make their way aboard the aging space station Habitat. A special item sold in the duty free shop brings Kayden across the galaxy. In this science fiction story, tall, grassy fields of the northern flatlands hide a mysterious lemonade stand waylays lost travelers when strange children offer to quench a thirst. In this horror tale, Halloween comes early to Jason, Milo and Tannis who live on a hobby pumpkin farm run by their parents. Harvest time arrives in a few weeks, but dad has disappeared, and mom behaves strangely. It's the end of the summer holidays.