Metaphorosis magazine - beautifully written science fiction and fantasy

A Siren is in search of a very-precious thing. The mysterious death of a beloved inventor leaves his apprentice, Rosa, alone in the world and in possession of the very thing the Siren seeks. And she is charged with protecting it at all costs… Narrated by the author. Published in Metaphorosis on 06 December 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In an ever-changing and ever-accelerating world, is there a part of us that needs to stay unchanged? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 01 November 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

An older woman dressed like a cowboy is struck by lightning and looks down to find two broncos manifesting in the crooks of her elbows. The broncos bear the name destiny and together they race to the city to take on a monster of industry. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 04 October 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

A young boy goes to the fairgrounds one night to find a gift for a girl he likes, but he discovers strange things await him beneath the bright lights and excitement of that unusual place. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 06 September 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Carollene Jonaitis, senior (and only) technology specialist aboard a rattletrap spaceship, has a bad feeling about their latest salvage assignment, and the sketchy behavior of the abandoned research station's AI doesn't reassure her. But Carollene prioritized her bank balance over the preaching of her conscience a long time ago...didn't she? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 02 August 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In an off-world colony, Alexi works maintenance on apartments built into the flesh of a mummified giant. Under assault from a rare storm, the jobs pile up, and it soon becomes clear to Alexi that the residents are no longer safe in their homes. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 05 July 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

No one ever told her the sea monsters could sing. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 07 June 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Julie receives an unwanted gift of teeth, and she knows she will have to sow them. But what will they become, and what stories will they tell her? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 04 May 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

From the dusty roads of a future divided by civil war, a hero emerges. Clad in a silver suit, this lone rider wants to bring life to your party and wow to your wedding. He is Dancin' Hank, the Last Deejay. Narrated by the author. Published in Metaphorosis on 05 April 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Anna is grieving her husband's death, and has fled to the vacation home she once shared with him, on the shores of Lake Michigan. There in the lonely woods, she meets a local legend: a ghost girl dressed all in white. Anna is initially frightened by the ghost, but she also feels a strong connection, with consequences that she can't foresee... Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 01 March 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

With only twenty minutes until the guillotine falls, a military scientist must race against time to learn how her estranged student became the world's most feared war criminal. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 02 February 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In a world, years after mysterious aliens devastated the planet by stealing the bodies of one percent of the world's population, a lonely survivor needs to come to terms with loss, friendship and his own bizarre disembodied condition. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 05 January 2024. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

A Consul cries and cries every full moon, but can't remember why. She pulls up a picture of a forest on a cell phone, and stares into it every night. The forest reminds her of the part of her that's missing, and what she needs, to once again become whole… Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 29 December 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

At a routine house clearance, a weird object has come to light. Is it dangerous? Time to call for Frankie, an antiquarian who specialises in bizarre side-effects. Narrated by the author. Published in Metaphorosis on 22 December 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Upon the death of her mentor, young apprentice witch Gavina finds herself Edinburgh's only defense against an imminent attack by followers of dark magic, who would open the veil between the real and ethereal worlds to allow the spirits to return to the earth. With untested skills, will Gavina be able to close the veil and keep the evil spirits in their rightful place? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 15 December 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Dia, a robot custodian, is tasked with collecting the last remaining colonists from the planet Rija. Her commission almost complete, she's dreading the return home, and worse: a colonist is being difficult. Dia needs Alma to leave, but convincing her is going to be difficult—and Alma has good reason to stay. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 08 December 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In a futuristic New York, a young girl gains attention for her unique drawings. She is given the opportunity to rise above her station when she is offered the chance to study at a prestigious art academy, but must reconcile her new life amidst the wealthy and powerful with the one she leaves behind. Narrated by the author. Published in Metaphorosis on 01 December 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Oceanographer and whale researcher Niemi discovers the disappearances of great whale species are linked to secret extraterrestrial visitations. Her search for answers intensifies when this loss of cetaceans threatens not just the biological balance in the oceans, but the survival of the human race. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 24 November 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

We are the architects of many worlds in our minds. Are those worlds merely built on the foundation of thoughts, or are there imaginary lands existing somewhere out in the immense universe? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 17 November 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Lena is an ice child, a wraithlike being who dwells in the depths beneath a frozen pond with others like herself. She doesn't remember a time before she lived there; she really doesn't remember much at all. But when Lena meets a child of the surface, some of her memories begin coming back, though not all of these newly unburied recollections are welcome. Narrated by the author. Published in Metaphorosis on 10 November 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

At the next light, I pull over and hyperventilate in a Rite Aid parking lot, because I saw it as soon as the song started. Tomorrow, he's going to die. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 03 November 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Laura's father has left her with a partially translated manuscript that will either save the world from climate disaster or speed up the coming apocalypse. She holes up in a seaside cabin to finish the work, but each night, creatures emerge from the sea and attempt to stop her. Will she finish the text in time to save the world, or will the creatures break through her cabin walls? Only time will tell. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 27 October 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

How do you make peace with the inevitable end of everything? As the knowledge of an entire civilisation hangs on the edge of oblivion, the last Curator hums a jolly tune and accidentally loses a foot. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 20 October 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Few in the Empire of Oun know of the salaatu, mysterious sea-dwelling folk from somewhere beyond the Empire's eastern northeastern shores, and fewer still know of their magic. But when the dying Emperor learns that the salaatu may have cured a member of his own court, an obscure underlibrarian, of her terrible injuries years ago, he orders her to take him to them, no matter the cost. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 13 October 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Not everyone is thrilled by the prospect of houseguests. But what if these particular guests were coming a long way? Say, a few thousand light years? Well, they did try to warn us. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 06 October 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

When Lars Bjornsen learns the young Empress Anna is finally pregnant after years of trying, it confirms his suspicions that the Emperor Gustavus was inadvertently poisoned by an overdose of the aphrodisiac Sweet Agony. Lars provides an antidote, but before he can petition the emperor for his freedom, he is taken prisoner. Now, Lars faces a choice: does he join the spymaster's conspiracy and return to the splendors of the imperial court, or denounce her actions and put his own life—and that of his friend Fredrik–in jeopardy? Narrated by Thomas Baxter. Published in Metaphorosis on 29 September 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

It's Thursday night in a Reykjavík bar. Arni, coming down from a recent loss, is hoping for a good thing. He takes a chance on a bartender's smile, just as a series of strange, bright objects enter the solar system from interstellar space. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 22 September 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

One summer day, on the shore of an island in the Pacific Northwest where the wild and the otherworldly are intimately entwined, Sigun falls asleep, leaving her son playing alone by the cusp of a deep channel of water. What they encounter there shakes Sigun, awakening her grief and challenging her to reclaim her own fierce nature. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 15 September 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Yvonne is living her dream career: tending to clients at an arborification facility, where people can choose to turn themselves into trees. When the program is threatened by an act of vandalism, Yvonne must face her own fear and anger at the prospect of arborification being shut down for good. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 08 September 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Bettina has always been the explorer, the collector; Madhup the homemaker and tinkerer. But now Madhup is gone, and all that's left to Bettina is memory and the alien artifacts she brought home and Madhup made sense of. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 01 September 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Lars Bjornsen, the exiled imperial poisoner, has reunited with his old friend, Fredrik Magnusson, who now serves as physik to the imperial family. Together they race to unravel two mysteries: the sudden illness of Emperor Gustavus and the death of the newest imperial poisoner, Lord Anders. While the clues point to a possible coup attempt, Lars begins to suspect that Spymaster Maja Viklund and Lord Anders were dosing the emperor with an aphrodisiac known as Sweet Agony to ensure a new heir. While Sweet Agony is not part of the Society of Poisoner's arsenal, its side effects could be fatal for an old man like Emperor Gustavus. Narrated by Thomas Baxter. Published in Metaphorosis on 25 August 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In the wake of Earth's apocalypse, a hardened group of survivors has settled on Mars. Melanie lives on the fringes of this violent new society, her little sanctuary visited only by settlers coming to request rewrites of their favorite books from Earth. Until, two young boys show up one day, and she is forced to choose between her comfortable life and helping them face a looming threat. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 18 August 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Laura's job with the Department of Magical Resources has left her no time or desire for human connection but when a mysterious magical infant is thrust into her care, she is forced to confront elements of her painful past. As she tries to help the child, the integrity of herself and those around her will be tested. But no matter how the assignment is finished, Laura will never be the same. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 11 August 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

You settle in beside the child. Her pulse is rapid and weak beneath your fingers as you bring your thoughts to the focal point of the girl's origin. You set yourself like a fulcrum in the space between what is yet to come and what has passed, and stretch. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 04 August 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Lars Bjornsen was once an influential member of the Society of Poisoners, serving as imperial poisoner to Emperor Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, but Lars has been in exile for the past three years because he failed to assassinate the son of the Russian tsar. When an imperial messenger brings word that Emperor Gustavus has taken ill and the current imperial poisoner is dead, Lars realizes his oath of fealty requires he assist. He must be careful, however, because Lars' former lover, Spymaster Maja Viklund, has eyes everywhere, and he faces imprisonment or execution should he be discovered. Narrated by Thomas Baxter. Published in Metaphorosis on 28 July 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

The story of Miranda Southbrook has been told and retold with all manner of embellishment and fancy. But this recovered journal is the story told in her own words, the story of a young woman given a terrible choice and tested with an impossible circumstance. It is the account of an extraordinary person wrestling with the most ordinary of questions: what is my place in the world? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 21 July 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

In the halls of the House of Hassam, a prince meets an oracle. The prince seeks to master his fate and bend fortune to his will. The oracle sits and watches. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 14 July 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

All Derek wants is to survive his shifts as an antibacterialist at the Museum of Anthropological Findings and bask in the projection light of infomercial titans like Vince Offer and Joe Gray. But when someone decides to desecrate a display he's responsible for, Derek finds himself thinking about the Old World, the New, and who he is in all of it. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 07 July 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

The animals of the Rainriver Zoological Gardens experience the backlash of Oliver the tortoise's escape and the zoo's sudden popularity. Overstressed and driven to the edge of desperation, the animal and human inhabitants of the zoo race toward an unintended intersection that is bound to end in tragedy. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 30 June 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

A young refugee living out of a tenement becomes the unwitting avatar of her lost country's god. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 23 June 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

When the snow falls, everyone hides inside, afraid. But what if the snow had something to tell us? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 16 June 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Born in a mall, raised in the food court, lured by otherworldy music to the mall's forbidden region, allured by a strange woman, enticed by a wide world only glimpsed in ads and music videos. What, if anything, exists beyond the mall's walls? To find out, a budding young musician must pay with his life. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 09 June 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

What if universities were massive machines, and the only way to gain admittance were to chase them down and catch them…or die trying? Every kid in Hilltown wants to catch Parbrier College when it rumbles towards town, and Kai is no exception. But faced with a tracked behemoth big enough to crush several city blocks, she must reckon with the reality of her dreams, and whether the risk is worth it. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 02 June 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Oliver the tortoise escapes his cage and stirs the inhabitants of the Rainriver Zoological Gardens into a frenzy of addiction, obsession, and discontent. A growing mob of overeager zoo visitors leaves a wake of damage and detritus behind, and the animals in the zoo are left careening toward disaster. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 26 May 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

A hyperspace accident leaves the survivors stranded, among them a young woman disturbed by strange visions, and a man desperate to return home before his daughter wakes up to the reality they find themselves in. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 19 May 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Mira knew the shell in her hand held the secret to her storied past. But with her mind slipping away more every day — and her daughter doubting her ability to care for herself and live independently — how could she possibly uncover the truth? Only the conch shell held the answer, and only Mira's rapidly fading memory held the power to unlock it. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 12 May 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Along with the rest of humanity, Laila is struggling to survive Earth's Nuclear Winter, when her boss hands her an assignment she can't refuse. To help the Angels, and keep the job she desperately needs, she has to swallow her many resentments and grievances and set out on a journey through humanity's writhing underbelly. Along the way she is forced to reassess her views of Earth's overlords, humanity's destiny, and ultimately her own. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 05 May 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

One tortoise is obsessed with finding his lost cage mate. His escape, and his journey to locate Miranda, is fraught with betrayal, deceit, and an increase in stress on every animal in the zoo. When the tension comes to a head, will Oliver find what he seeks, or will he lead them all toward a precipice which can only spell doom for the zoo and its captive inhabitants? Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 28 April 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

The old pop song says it's in his kiss, but of course that's nonsense. The only way to know if your man's love is true is to cut out his heart and eat it—that is, if you have the nerve. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 21 April 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Born to follow the all-knowing Regulation, Seyra, a crewmember of the generational spaceship Last Train, manages to cast off her shackles and throw into question all they have ever known. Kehvan, one of the ship's pilots, is now forced to find the answers before it is too late for both of them. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 14 April 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.

Daniel is a hopeless romantic who uses time travel to find love. Whenever he meets someone new, he jumps to the future to see if their relationship lasts and if it doesn't, he returns to the present to cancel the first date before anyone gets hurt. But when his dating strategy starts ruining the fabric of time, Daniel has to go back and live through every relationship he skipped, discovering what he missed the first time around. Narrated by host Matt Gomez. Published in Metaphorosis on 07 April 2023. Find the original at magazine.metaphorosis.com.