Cast of Wonders 491: Little Wonders 33 – Dreams & Identity• Authors:
Xan van Rooyen and
Mark Joslyn• Narrators:
Katherine Inskip and
Serah Eley • Host:
Katherine Inskip• Audio Producer:
Jeremy Carter“Sleep Tight” is a Cast of Wonders original."In the Library of Longing" was originally published in Daily Science Fiction, February 19, 2021.Click here to listen to Episode 491"Sleep Tight" by Mark JoslynYou were right, you know. When you were a child.
I was hiding under your bed.
You knew it, even though you couldn’t prove it. Even after your mother kissed your cheek, and tucked you in, and told you there was nothing to be afraid of. Even after your father knelt and checked and told you there was nothing hiding down there. Even when you summoned up all your courage and looked for yourself, hanging off the edge of your bed, your trembling flashlight shining on nothing but forgotten socks and lost toys. You still knew, that somehow, someway, I was down there.
"In the Library of Longing" by Xan van RooyenEris sterilized her instruments with dabs of a rosemary-blood decoction. It smelled wholesome with only a hint of iron. She prepared a jar too, the glass bright green.
Her client sighed in annoyance as she flipped to the final page of the contract.
“Is this really necessary?” Mrs. Fernsby asked. “She’s only eight.” She glanced at the girl perched on the settee beside her.
“Your daughter is the one undergoing the procedure.”
Mrs. Fernsby shoved the contract and pen into her daughter’s fingers. “Write your name,” she said. “No heart on the i.”Tags: aspirations, conformity, dreams, fear, gender identity, growing up, identity, Jeremy Carter, Katherine Inskip, Little Wonders, Mark Joslyn, monster under the bed, operations, Serah Eley, transgender, Xan van Rooyen, young adult fiction
