PodCastle is the world’s first audio fantasy magazine. Weekly, we broadcast the best in fantasy short stories, running the gammut from heart-pounding sword and sorcery, to strange surrealist tales, to gritty urban fantasy, to the psychological depth of magical realism. Our podcast features authors including N.K. Jemisin, Peter S. Beagle, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Jim C. Hines, and Cat Rambo, among others. Terry Pratchett once wrote, “Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.” Tune in to PodCastle each Tuesday for our weekly tale, and spend the length of a morning commute giving your imagination a work out.
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PodCastle 376: Ink
* Author : Sandra M. Odell
* Narrator : Sean D. Sorrentino
* Host : M.K. Hobson
* Audio Producer : Peter Wood
*
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PodCastle 376: Ink is a PodCastle original.
Rated R.
THE TWELVE WAYS OF CHRISTMAS, her collection of speculative fiction holiday stories, is available from Hydra House Books.
Ink
by Sandra M. Odell
A woman stood at the tattoo parlor’s door. Small, damp from the storm, hair disheveled and slightly askew. Comfortable in her clothes, not her skin. The sight of her made Tiger’s chest itch, and his tattoos tingle. He turned down the stereo. “Can I help you with something?”
The woman looked at the shelves stuffed with pattern books, the posters of half-naked men and women displaying their tattoos and piercings. “Is this Stars And Stripes Ink?”
Her voice had a touch of falsetto.
“That’s what the sign says in the window.”
She brushed aside her bangs, tugging her hair back into place in a way Tiger supposed he wasn’t meant to notice. “I would like a tattoo.”