"Creatures of the Dark Oasis" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam — published in Apex Magazine, issue 132, July 2022.

Read it here: https://apex-magazine.com/short-fiction/creatures-of-the-dark-oasis/

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s fiction and poetry has appeared in over 90 publications such as Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Lightspeed, and LeVar Burton Reads, as well as in six languages. By night, she has been a finalist for the Nebula Award. By day, she works as a Narrative Designer writing romance games for the mobile app Chapters. She lives in Texas with her partner and a mysterious number of cats.

Laura Jewell is an English teacher in Evanston, IL. She holds a BA in Theater from Miami University and a Master of Science in Education from Northwestern. In her free time she’s a Level 7 Enchantress and a full-time mom to an orange cat named Orange Cat. This is her first narration.

This Apex Magazine podcast was produced by Alyson Grauer. Theme music by Alex White. Sounds used in this episode are licensed from Soundstripe.com. Music in this episode includes “Ghosts” by Enoch Yang, licensed from Soundstripe.com.

Apex Magazine podcast, copyright Apex Publications.

Apex Magazine is a bimonthly short fiction zine focused on dark science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find us at http://www.apex-magazine.com.