2022 General Imprint Bundle

Description

Duck Prints Press started regularly releasing short stories in 2022. Now, you can get all our earliest titles together in one convenient bundle that includes:

• The Offered Ones by A. L. Heard
  
• The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch
  
• Got You Covered by D. V. Morse
  
• Let the Solstice Come by D. V. Morse
  
• Campfire Stories by Nicola Kapron
  
• Widow’s Black by Nina Waters
  
• A Shield for the People by Puck Malamud
  
• Meet C(omm)ute by Violet J. Hayes
  

These titles, bought individually, would run you $11.92, but in this bundle they can all be yours for only $9.50! So grab a bundle and get your fill of awesome short fiction!

Read the teasers for each story!

The Offered Ones by A. L. Heard

There was a girl sleeping in Forest.

Fox didn’t know the girl. She was a human, that much was clear, though he hadn’t seen her kind in ages. They traveled this way and that like they owned the whole world—he had seen many before—but most stayed away from Forest. They were blind, deaf, dumb creatures, unable to perceive what was in front of them. Still, they sensed the magic of Forest, so they stayed away. If they did wander into the dense line of oak and pine, they spoke in hushed voices and didn’t linger.

They certainly didn’t sleep in Forest.

The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch

It’s a day like every other at The Enchanted Cafae—a home-away-from-home and place of safety for the magical and mythological creatures of New York City—until a mortal walks in. Now Kade, part-owner and barista, has to figure out how to handle the intrusion.

Got You Covered by D. V. Morse

As an undine, Kayleigh usually found early spring rainstorms refreshing, but today she was exhausted and surrounded by humans. Kayleigh had had a long week at Hartford’s Office of Legislative Research, and she couldn’t wait to get home and literally melt into her bathtub. The last thing she needed was to have raindrops encouraging her to join them in the nearest puddle She had to hold herself together long enough to manage the bus ride home to her empty apartment.

She didn’t have an umbrella

Let the Solstice Come by D. V. Morse

Eithne released her bipedal form as soon as she reached the center of the field of sprouting emmer, dispersing her mass through the soil. It should have been a relief to do so. She should have been soaking in her home element, savoring the smell and taste of it, drifting off for a much-needed rest as the ground cooled for the winter.

None of those things were the case.

Campfire Stories by Nicola Kapron

When Hydrangea reached the campsite, the fire was roaring. Five logs had been dragged into a tight circle around it, and Oleander was already seated and waiting. Pale hair, pale skin, and pale clothes made a ghost of him in the dark. Sparks played in the reflection off his perfectly white teeth.

Hydra shook his head and quickened his pace. He vaulted over the back of his log and landed on top with a thump, tucking his hands into the pockets of a hoodie three sizes too big. “Really? I broke like nine traffic laws getting here. How do you keep beating me?”

Widow’s Black by Nina Waters

The well dryin up saved my life. The bang-bang of gunshots didn’t draw me back; nothin unusual ’bout that. I knew somethin was wrong when I saw brother Billy flat on his back in the wheat field starin up at the sky. So much plowin to do, and he was never no slacker. I set the buckets I’d filled at the crik down and crept through the windbreak til I saw the cabin. Papa was sittin out front, but he wasn’t honin his knife no more. ’stead he was slumped, his arms and legs danglin and limp. The back of his head was wet and shaped weird. I knew what that meant. I’d seen the like when Papa and Billy and Jake came back with a deer after huntin.

Papa’s head been shot clean through.

A Shield for the People by Puck Malamud

Sha’ul walked through the empty streets of the shtetl, listening to the sounds made by the residents as they settled in for the night—banking fires, salting doorways, barring shutters. It was a clear evening; the waning moon and the stars lit his steps sufficiently. The cool breeze of early autumn brought fear-scent to his nostrils.

The whole village stank of it.

Meet C(omm)ute by Violet J. Hayes

Priya locked her apartment door and started down the three flights of stairs to the street. Her mornings were calm and predictable: wake up, shower, breakfast, and pray the bus wasn’t late. Lately, though? Lately she’d been wishing for something slightly less predictable, something that would leave her waking up each morning with a sense of anticipation.

Changing things up was completely within her abilities. She could put herself out there, ask the few college friends she still kept in touch with if they knew anybody to fix her up with, maybe join a dating site. The thought alone had her shuddering. While Priya was extremely popular with the five-and-under set at work, talking to other adults-particularly women-felt less natural than playing dragons in a wooden block castle.