Elephantine Daydream

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Fantasia Divinity Magazine, July 2017

“Jeko’s wide ears blushed, and she wondered if he was offering to be her friend.”

Jeko stared out the window at the asteroids and curled her elephantine trunk.  She didn’t want to be in class with a bunch of dumb Heffen kids and newly sentient robots.  The Heffen kids acted like stereotypical canine aliens and kept to their packs, and the robots weren’t really kids like her…  They showed up one week super-naive and talking all stilted, like computers, and a few weeks later they were smarter than… well… computers, and they graduated out.

Continue reading “Elephantine Daydream”

Xeno-Nativity

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Fantasia Divinity Magazine, November 2017


“The requirement that most mothers find hardest to accept is that you will not get to choose the species of your child.”

Maradia was working on the specs for a free-flying, zero-G maintenance unit when she heard a customer come into her storefront.  She was glad to put the work aside — it was almost entirely a hardware job with barely any creativity to it.  She left the workshop area and entered the storefront to see a tired looking woman with bags under her eyes and a perfect, golden-haired child nestled on her hip.

“You’re back,” Maradia said. Continue reading “Xeno-Nativity”