Home Is Where the Heart Is (Flash on the Borderlands VIII)

Flash Fiction by Bint Arab
Narrated for Pseudopod by Marshal Latham

The third and final love-related flash fiction: this time it's familial. Starts just after 13 minutes in.

Mothers can be such a hassle. Teddy brings his back from beyond the grave, but like many mothers, she isn't easily satisfied. The ending is the best part of this story, so it's good that it doesn't waste any time getting there. A bit light, but a suitably creepy finish.

3 empty nests out of 5.

Pieces (Flash on the Borderlands VIII)

Flash Fiction by M.C. Funk
Narrated for Pseudopod by Donna Lynch

The second piece of love-themed flash fiction starts about 7 minutes into the podcast.

A brilliant analogy for an abusive relationship. Absolutely horrifying; I love the way the narrator still loves him, and the way he says he loves her as he takes our narrator apart. The genius here is that both the supernatural foreground story and the real-world relationships it represents are great horror stories in their own right, and they are combined into a tight little 5-minute story. I never knew "I love you" could be such a horrifying last line.

5 not-so-inner demons out of 5.

In Memoriam (Flash on the Borderlands VIII)

Flash Fiction by Matthew Chrulew
Narrated for Pseudopod by Philippa Ballantine

The first piece of love-themed flash this month, this is a mean little revenge fantasy about a widow's vengeful way of remembering her husband and his killer. It's almost too simplistic and straightforward. It is creepy, but not surprising or unusual. The woman's dedication is impressive, but seems a little over-the-top to me.

2.5 bad drivers out of 5.

Semiramis

Short Story by Genevieve Valentine

Published free in Text & Audio at Clarkesworld

Valentine opens and closes this story with a with something between a thesis statement and a rallying cry.

Inevitably, eventually, you started to care.

The story follows two thieves embedded in deep cover at the Seed Bank in Svalbard. They work for some sort of idealistic underground organization in a dystopian future where the seas have risen so high they're swallowing up cities and a Global Coalition works to keep member states isolated and subjugated. The Global Coalition moves in to take over new countries when flooding gets too bad and when it does, it sells seed banks, coal mines, and anything else to big companies. (I like that the biggest corporate threat in this world is called MediaVox rather than an oil or engineering type company.) Anyway, it seems seed banks get mishandled and shut down by these companies and the Coalition and the protagonist is there to steal some of the seeds before it's too late.

But his partner isn't a true believer, she likes birds, but is just in the seed business for the money. The story is really her story, observed by her partner as he frets about seeds and the state of international politics, he watches her decide what principles she really supports.

Valentine is urging readers to wake up and give a damn, but the message comes quietly, against an evocatively described background of a very hot future. I would have liked to see more detail, ideology of their organization, but it's a thoughtful story.

4 bird of paradise seeds out of 5.