Quasar

Keep up with new short speculative fiction. About

B. Pladek

5 free-to-read stories indexed on Quasar

The Spindle of Necessity

B. Pladek Strange Horizons 2024 ShortStory Fantasy 6,142 words

"Andrew was convinced the writer had been trans. By this point his friends were tired of hearing about it, but he had no one else to tell besides the internet, and he was too smart for that. That would be asking for it. Samantha Finnes was a minor...

SlipstreamTrans IdentityMidwest USA

All Us Ghosts

B. Pladek Strange Horizons 2021 ShortStory Science Fiction 6,853 words

"Today’s the day I have to make Emma break up with Cameron. I do it in the morning, to get it over with. As I queue Emma up in the Elaffin interface, Gray texts on our private channel, Good luck, Jude. And remember to follow through, even if he bawls. Of...

Near FutureTrans IdentityRestrained

Tell Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness

B. Pladek Lightspeed 2025 ShortStory Science Fiction 4,146 words

"USER: this is a message for Milwaukee Elementary’s curator Jude Towers, I hope this is the right address. anyway thanks for the story you had RIGHTR generate for my 10th graders’ Empathy Week. it was really great! can you tell me more about it? CURATOR: I...

DystopiaTrans IdentityMidwest USA

Content warnings 3

mental-illnessracismtransphobia

The Punishing Animal

B. Pladek Lightspeed 2026

He hates the birds. There are two, a breeding pair. Their eyes are red as devils’. On land they’re stupid, little feet pushed so far back on their bodies that they can’t escape by running. Yet they glide over the water, glossy mottled boats. Their chicks...

Escape Pod 754: Where They Keep Their Promises

B. Pladek Escape Pod 2020 ♪ audio

Where They Keep Their Promises By B. Pladek I imagine you eating the chocolate bar. It will arrive tomorrow, I hope, though the war has disrupted the medrunners’ routes between Chicago and London. It will arrive, though. I promise. I imagine you unwrapping...

DystopiaClass InequalityEpistolary Adjacent

Content warnings 3

deathillness-and-pandemicwar