Stand-alone fantasy short stories
Rei Rosenquist sets the stage with literary fantasy to take you on an exploration of gender, identity, love, and human truths.
In the dark of the night sky, a single nebula blinks out and falls to earth. In falling, the nebula seeks love, partnership, a human to befriend.
Wills, an artist who can’t seem to finish anything, needs inspiration. When the two meet in a fumbling rescue at the glittering blue water’s edge, love seems to charge the air between them.
But can it stand the test of time and the darkness that surrounds them?
The roses in the garden, dead. Nadi left them that way as a reminder.
People’s tentacles are slimey, squicky, ick.
They wrap around your middle and change you.
Is Nadi’s wisdom enough to avoid their grip?
On a Europe trip, every college student’s dream, Binny finds it difficult to get the full experience. Making friends and memories that last forever feels out of reach. Those moments are made for normal people.
Not someone like Binny.
So, when Maggie approaches out of nowhere and suggests they run off together, Binny’s shocked.
So shocked, in fact, that “yes” becomes easier to say.
In the tangled avenues of modern day Venice, secrets unwind. And in the quiet away from tours and chaperons, feelings bloom anew. But what will Binny make of these moments?
Can something so brief mean much?
In this tale of contemporary fantasy, Rei Rosenquist brings you a modern world tinted with magic that feels like it belongs in your back yard. Small magic with big implications. Small moments with big heart.
The biggest festival in Stratford, North Carolina approaches: a Midwinter celebration of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the midst of the excitement, the magical powers around town swell. And Chandra–a transwoman witch in hiding–once again finds it impossible to hide.
“This year will be different,” Chandra says to her tabby, a feral cat who one day appeared out of nowhere. Just then, a friendly stranger by the name of Apple appears at Chandra’s window, reaches out…and offers the ability to travel to a whole new world.
What will Chandra choose?
To pass through the portal, and disappear for good…or might she ever find more to Stratford than meets the eye?
While hunting for rotten firsh, Bon finds a tool with strange inscriptions. Rebel friend, Strayer will know what to do. Bon takes the tool and heads for the local train.
Aboard, the empty train, Bon and tool rattle out beyond the Collapse.
At the last stop, someone else gets on.
No one ever gets on but Bon.
Keeping their secrets to themselves, the two strangers get off at the end of line in search of Strayer and answers.
What will they find? Betrayal? Friendship? Or something far more magical?
Chalu’s coming of age ceremony approaches. Chalu finds it so much easier to stare into a dark cavern pond instead of prepare.
“If you go diving in, the end will come rising up to meet you,” goes the saying. A proverb.
Chalu leans forward, tempted, drawn in.
A voice breaks the silence: “Cha cha! There you are!”
Will Chalu head the call and return to the people? Or is the plunge into the unknown too tempting to say no to?
Amida stares out at the roots of the trees.
“Amida! Hurry! The speakers are about to set the last piece. We need your voice to sing the opening of the ceremony.”
Amida turns from the precipice, and so–
It begins.
But wait! What will this transformation bring?
Seika, alone.
Rain covers an ugly, divided New Tokyo. Gangsters fill the streets, beating in the native inhabitants for fun.
Then, one night, walking home from the factory–Seika reaches a dead end.
There is power in their blood, anger in their veins, a dark magic buried in their bones.
Will this dark magic be enough to take their city back?
At what cost?
Kai means “ocean,” but Kai hates the sea. No one talks about why. But, the mystery floats just below the surface of Kai’s life.
A sneaker wave.
A coast guard’s report.
Years of silence.
When faced with the ocean again, will the truth come floating to the surface? And if so, what form will it take?
Little Red wears her riding hood as she enters the old forest called the Brood. In her basket, she carries meat pies to eat with Grandmother. In her heart she holds Father’s warning of the wolves. But, the pack doesn’t bother her.
Why?
What secrets lie in the shadows of the Brood?
Welcome to the world of Siblings Grimm where the fantastical stories of old Brothers Grimm get retold with dark and unexpected twists.
When tragedy strikes, Luminko takes best friend Argo back to the place they met.
There, in the clearing, some new lesson awaits.
But, has Luminko come to learn it too late?
The day has come for the children of the Seventh Circle to become adults. Only, Mandala doesn’t feel ready. Mentor, the strange voice in Manadala’s head, gives comfort and advice.
The wind does not take those who are not ready.
So, Mandala sits in the Seventh Circle, awaiting the ceremony of transition to begin.
Takai, the ceremonial leader, takes the stage. The ceremony begins. And then…
A shift, a slip, a stumble. And it all goes wrong.
Can Mandala recover before it’s too late, or is adulthood lost?
For the first five fingers of early morning’s red sunlight, Ono stands at the edge of the world. This morning, Adris stands there too.
“Why are you here?” Ono asks, not angry but not pleased either.
Adris tells of a troubling vision. A great struggle is coming. An unknowable enemy, descending.
The people must prepare.
Marble lives within the shell, surrounded by life but no friends. The world outside looks so big, so green, so alive. Marble wants desperately to venture outside!
A break occurs. The shell, no longer perfect.
Marble takes a chance, gathers resources, and ventures outside.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called the City of Cities. A kindly King and Queen presided over it and saw to it that all was good and well in their kingdom. But try as they might, badness crept into their beloved city, poisoning it, alley by alley.
The Queen wishes for two children who might save the City of Cities.
The wish, granted. A trick, played.
Can the City of Cities still be saved?
Turn the pages of this epic retelling of an old favorite tale to find out!
The wolves come every night. Right after dusk. They cannot be defeated, only deterred.
As the sky becomes purple-gray, we gather together in our rustic homes. The Master Lock-Maker seals all the doors with their magical protection. So long as you are behind a Locked door before dusk, you survive.
Anyone who delyas will get Locked out.
Today, foolishly, I’ve delayed.
The blood wolves kill without remorse. The only defense against them is anticipation and a very specific magic. Sigils that works at just the right time.
But today, the unthinkable. The blood wolves come early.
Can Clover act fast enough to save an entire town? Can they even save themself?