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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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At the beginning of each month, we here at Tor.com will post the next two months of our schedule of original short fiction. Check back monthly to get excited for upcoming short stories, novelettes, and novellas on Tor.com! Below the cut you’ll find information on stories in February and March by Tamara Vardomskaya, Jeffrey Ford, Bruce McAllister, and more.

February and March’s fiction contains grief cake, smoked thyme, and puppies.

 

February 3
“The Human Engineer”
Written by Jessica Brody
Illustration by Goñi Montes
Edited by Janine O’Malley

Ever since Diotech Corporation released the first artificial womb—a safe and convenient new way to birth human babies— controversy for the cutting-edge product has risen as swiftly as the demand. For Rickar Hallix, however, the biomedical engineer who invented the womb, life has become steadily worse. When Rickar stumbles upon a possible defect in the latest batch of product, he suddenly finds himself thrust into the center of the endless, cut-throat battle between corporate greed and the security of human life.

 

February 4
“The Language of Knives”
Written by Haralambi Markov
Edited by Ann VanderMeer

“The Language of Knives” by Haralambi Markov is about the death rituals of this secondary world. A strong-willed daughter is guided by her unloved parent in the customs of how to respect the remains of her favorite parent.

 

February 11
“Acrobatic Duality”
Written by Tamara Vardomskaya
Illustration by Ashley Mackenzie
Edited by Ann VanderMeer

At the pinnacle of this demanding sport, artistry and balance is found in two moving as one. Yet the world’s best pair of acrobats dare not reveal that their athletic brilliance has come at the price of their very identities.

 

February 18
“Schrödinger’s Gun”
Written by Ray Wood
Illustration by Richie Pope
Edited by Carl Engle-Laird

Of all the crime scenes in all the timelines in all the multiverse, Detective O’Harren walks into the basement on West 21st. In every possible universe, Johnny Rivers is dead. But the questions that need answering—who killed him and why—are still a matter of uncertainty.

 

February 25
“The Hell of It”
Written by Peter Orullian
Illustration by Tommy Arnold
Edited by Claire Eddy

Some heroes don’t carry blades or go to war. Some heroes are fathers desperately trying not to fail their sons.

 

 

March 4
“The Shape of my Name”
Written by Nino Cipri
Illustration by Anna and Elena Balbusso
Edited by Ann VanderMeer

“The Shape of My Name” by Nino Cipri is a time travel story about what it means to truly claim yourself.

 

 

March 11
“Thyme Fiend”
Written by Jeffrey Ford
Illustration by John Jude Palencar
Edited by Ellen Datlow

“The Thyme Fiend” by Jeffrey Ford is a dark fantasy novelette about a young man who can only prevent seeing visions by eating or smoking thyme. When he finds the skeleton of a missing man the skeleton begins to haunt him. What does it want?

 

March 18
“The Museum and the Music Box”
Written by Noah Keller
Illustration by Victo Ngai
Edited by Ann VanderMeer

A neglected museum gradually succumbs to the elements. A music box rusts beneath a bell of glass. Fragmented texts are pieced together which tell the history of a lost love, the destruction of a civilization, and the origin of the museum.

 

March 25
“Dog”
Written by Bruce McAllister
Illustration by Scott Bakal
Edited by Ellen Datlow

“Dog” by Bruce McAllister is a chilling horror story about a young American couple who encounter dogs in Mexico very unlike any domesticated variety north of the border and what happens.

 

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