The Complete LOST CAUSE Quarterly edited by Joshua Goudreau Compilation Copyright © 2007 by Lost Cause Publishing Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. All submitted works remain the sole property of their creator. Published May, 2007 Table Of Contents Foreword Issue #1 – October/November/December 2005 The Ghosts Of Sulir by A. S. Pritchard 3 Brother No More by Demi 9 Mercury Tours by Rose Owens 14 400 Words by Rhea Walker 16 Alone At Night by Richard Beserra 18 Unforeseen Consequences by Scott Snell 24 Murder. by Rebecca Allen 29 Early September, 1883 by Meredeth Beckett 31 Lost Ambition by Jonathan Lin 37 A Wizard’s Advice... by Tara Taylor 44 Issue #2 – January/February/March 2006 Jane by Megan Reilly 51 packet loss by Kathy Kachelries 53 Welcome Back by Jeff Fraser 55 I Was Wrong by David Lynch 63 For Now... by Weihui Lu 65 Jennifer by Rebecca Allen 71 Willow Wand by Colin Steele 75 The Price Of Love by Richard Beserra 86 Checkmate by skiein 91 Soft Boiled by Jacob Caffey 94 Memoirs Of An Afflicted Demigod by Rose Owens 97 A Flavor I Could Never Define by Leah Angelo 104 Shatter by Ora N. Jeffreys 107 Blood is Red by David Henderson 113 Issue #3 – April/May/June 2006 A Wolf at the Door by Stephen Bush 119 Mixed Signals by E.J. Wesslén 127 March by Kat 133 Jane and John by Sha Hwang 138 Laurent Kabila by Thomas Wright 141 The Voices In His Toe by Weihui Lu 144 Lawrence 1: Torture by Lena Melyakova 147 Any Other Sunday by Claire Askew 150 Wolves Of Mars by Neco 155 The Bop by Megan Reilly 166 Enter the Hunters by Tim Derr 168 Loyalty In Question, Part I by Ricky Lee McCullough 184 Perception by Christian Sarkis Graham 196 Doctor Stevens by Rebecca Allen 199 A Single Scream by Valerie 202 Your Best Sunday Dress by girlchildAGLOW 205 This Poor Youngling by Rose Owens 207 The Alien Child by Jenny Treherne 216 Tori Kaiga by Heather Webb 219 Swing by Robin Wilke 222 Awaiting Dawn by Reji 224 Crazy by Deana Rustin 228 Issue #4 – July/August/September 2006 What Will Be, Will Be by Rose Owens 235 “Myth” by Julia Stryker 244 Bully by Marc Bartkowiak 247 Love Always, Love Always by Megan Reilly 253 Closer To God by Vicki Goodwin 255 Deirdre and the Kirin by Lillian Csernica 260 A New Regime by Charlie de la Vega 265 Larry The Dog by Adrian E. Stone 272 Irene For Life by Ora N. Jeffreys 279 A Soundtrack To Armageddon by Mihalis Georgostathis 284 Lawrence 2: Colony by Lena Melyakova 287 High Tea by Alyssa Cormier 290 The Cellar by Tim Derr 302 Dead Time by Neco 308 Loyalty In Question, Part II by Ricky Lee McCullough 325 How Phil Met Lorelei by Teela Brown 338 Sweet Apple Pie by Erik Varela 341 Pink Triangle, Star of David by Michael Lefkowitz 343 The Eyes Of The Beholder by Stephen Bush 346 Issue #5 – October/November/December 2006 Quality Control by Tim Reinhart 355 10,000 VOLT SNAPSHOT by Joel Brown 372 Just A Passenger by Jonathan Asby 377 Hey God. It’s Me, Chelsea by Carolyn Adams 380 What Is Ode by Tim Derr 384 The White Room by Amanda Langdon 407 Laraia’s Lyre by Lone Wolfy 409 Fairydust by Therese Kai Foxx 413 Teddy Fiend by Saffron van Helsdingen Brink 416 Evening Tea With Death by Patricia McEachin 428 In The Dark Hour Of Daylight by Bronagh Feagan 430 Fearless by Jason R. Wallace 440 Rumors by Lisa Bartling 444 Nobody’s Died In The Shower Today by Erik Varela 448 Chocolate by Michael Hossler 452 Vincent Curtis and the Pure Form by Lazy Line Painter John 457 December 23rd by Flutterbies 463 Lawrence 3: Freedom by Lena Melyakova 465 Wanted by Hallucinated Light 470 Young Minds At Play by Robin Wilke 474 Walking In The Dark by Jenny Sloan 477 Broken Toilet by Zach Morway 482 Fragments by A.S. Pritchard 489 Listening To Skinny Puppy by Megan Reilly 496 Three Thieves by Stephen Bush 499 Grandpa’s Story by Rose Owens 504 The Sheppard by Wiebke Pandikow 506 The Last Night On Earth by Joshua Goudreau 510 The Ballad Of Sanctity And Shadow by Richard Beserra 518 Issue #6 – Spring 2007 Euphoria and the Black by Hedwig-Mae Bryant 529 A River Measured In Time by Abhishek Sengupta 536 The Longest Winter by RaenSilim 539 The Angry Troll by Liz Cross 544 Cancers by Stephen Bush 546 Underneath by Ronald Damien Malfi 556 The Determination of Light by Lisa Hascall 560 Relativity by Ryann Wohlgemuth 563 The Funeral by Clayton Hayes 569 Street Talk by Rose Owens 573 The Devil May Take You by Megan Reilly 578 Gladiator by Kailey Mortell 581 Restriction: Color by Ana 583 Under The Rain by Stephanie Braun 588 Anywhere by Dexandré Riley 590 Blinded Love by Dzafirul Haniff 595 One Star Motel by Jonathan Lin 598 Razing The Shadows by Joel Brown 602 An Unhappy Graduation by Andrew 606 Witness To A Murder by Quinn Tyler Jackson 612 The Never-Ending War by Kadie Taggart 624 Author Biographies Foreword SITTING HERE LOOKING AT A YEAR AND A HALF OF effort compiled into one massive volume nearly makes me all dewey eyed. So many people poured forth so much effort and support to see this project through. Lost Cause may no longer be producing Quarterly but the love that went into it is still uplifting. All told Quarterly produced 6 issues containing 115 stories by 84 different authors. That’s 84 authors who found a market for their work who may not have otherwise. To me, that mans that Lost Cause has succeeded in its mission to provide an accessible market to authors who may not have found a home for their stories. We were glad to have them. Many authors returned to us once they were included with many becoming regulars. All were dedicated supporters who did more then just submit fiction. They told their friends, they posted it on weblogs and forums. They got the word out there. It is because of the support of everyone involved that Quarterly was able to achieve so many copies distributed per issue. Of course, credit must be given where it is due. The first two issues were compiled entirely by myself but as I moved on to issue three I enlisted the aid of Richard Beserra and Weibke Pandikow who helped out with hunting down stories for inclusion and editing. Without them this project may have fallen apart long before it did. In October of last year we decided to release a special 1-year anniversary issue and in it we returned to each of the featured authors, some who had become regulars and some who had not been seen since. We also included an editors contributions section containing, for the first time, work by the editors. This anthology contains every single story from each issue presented as it was originally released. Also included here is the previously unreleased Spring 2007 issue, the final issue of Quarterly. This anthology features the following stories: The Ghosts of Sulir by A.S. Pritchard A young mage and her entourage flee from the men that have mortally wounded her. The group struggles to unlock the secrets of Sulir before it is too late in this ethereal and haunting tale of fantasy and magic. Jane by Megan Reilly Jane is a transgressive and surreal individual who is portrayed with such care and devotion. We are shown every flawed and dirty aspect of her personality with a loving, sweat stained gleam. A Wolf at the Door by Stephen Bush Never before has the story of Little Red Riding Hood been portrayed with such gristle and eroticism. Rose, as she is called, is a manipulative and seductive little girl on a journey of discovery though what the wolf teaches is not what she expects. What Will Be, Will Be by Rose Owens In this tale of love in its truest and most pure form we see what can be and what should never be. We are shown with brutal honesty that what is best may not always be what we want. Quality Control by Tim Reinhart Richter is a man haunted and tormented. He plays the part of the flippant and uncaring man but inside he doesn’t know how to truly live. When he begins to learn to cope with his Social Anxiety Disorder he begins to look at the demons of his past and learns to live again. Euphoria and the Black by Headwig-Mae Bryant Sometimes play can go too far. Sometimes play may exist as a means of covering up the sins of the past. Sometimes the blood and the blade are not the answer. But is it even possible to overcome something so tragic and horrible that it drives us to do horrible things. This project has been an enjoyable and enriching experience. I have been glad to be part of it and I cannot say I am not sad to see that it is over. So for one last time, heft up this volume, sit back, kick off your shoes and enjoy. Joshua Goudreau Lewiston, Maine May, 2007 The Complete LOST CAUSE Quarterly 1 Issue #1 October/November/December 2005 edited by Joshua Goudreau 2 The Complete LOST CAUSE Quarterly 3 ~Featured Story~ Ghosts of Sulir by A.