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49 50<body> 51 <div class="site-container"> 52 <header class="site-header"> 53 <a href="/"> 54 <img src="/images/logo.png" alt="Fiction, Haven Spec Magazine" class="site-logo"> 55 </a> 56 </header> 57 58 <nav class="site-nav"> 59 <button class="hamburger" aria-label="Toggle menu"> 60 <span></span> 61 <span></span> 62 <span></span> 63 </button> 64 <ul class="nav-menu"> 65 <li><a href="/about">ABOUT</a></li> 66 <li><a href="/fiction/">FICTION</a></li> 67 <li><a href="/poetry/">POETRY</a></li> 68 <li><a href="/non-fiction/">NON-FICTION</a></li> 69 <li><a href="/issues/">ISSUES</a></li> 70 <li><a href="/authors/">CONTRIBUTORS</a></li> 71 <li><a href="/subscribe/">SUBSCRIBE</a></li> 72 <li><a href="/submit/">SUBMIT</a></li> 73 </ul> 74 </nav> 75 76 <main class="site-main"> 77 78 79 80 81 82 83<div class="two-column-layout"> 84 85<div class="left-column"> 86 <div class="cover-placeholder"> 87 88 <img src="/images/covers/025_COVER.jpg" alt="Cover for Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026" style="width: 100%; height: auto;"> 89 90 </div> 91 <div style="margin-top: 20px;"> 92 <a href="https://ko-fi.com/s/5cb67ad218" class="leftColumnButton"> 93 GET ISSUE â 94 </a> 95 </div> 96 97</div> 98 99 100<div class="right-column"> 101 <article> 102 <h3 class="pageHeader">Fiction</h3> 103 <hr /> 104 105 <div> 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 <div> 164 <h3 class="workTitle"> 165 <a href="/fiction/the-singers-august-2026/">The Singers</a> 166 </h3> 167 168 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 169 by 170 171 <a href="/authors/sydney-sackett/">Sydney Sackett</a> 172 173 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 174 </h3> 175 176 <p><div role="article" aria-label="The Singers by Sydney Sackett"> <p>The anomaly was narrowband, centered at 1.3 gigahertz. Our automated minder had flagged a layered whisper of static from the Goliath system. I yawned and tipped back coffee dregs before I keyed a command to slew the telescope off-axis. If it was interference from our own satellites or aircraft, like always, the signal would remain.</p> <p>Instead, it vanished.</p> <p>I rubbed my eyes. Three AM at the observatory. Every intern had their own Wow! signal moment on too little sleep and too many fantasies of reenacting <i>Contact</i>.</p> <p>Another command returned the discâs focus to the system. The spike came with it. No ...</p></div><a href="/fiction/the-singers-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 177 178 </div> 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 <div> 238 <h3 class="workTitle"> 239 <a href="/fiction/the-forest-the-sea-those-caught-between-august-2026/">The Forest, the Sea, & Those Caught Between</a> 240 </h3> 241 242 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 243 by 244 245 <a href="/authors/c-g-aubrey/">C.G. Aubrey</a> 246 247 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 248 </h3> 249 250 <p><div role="article" aria-label="The Forest, the Sea, & Those Caught Between by C.G. Aubrey"> <p>âOnce, now, and always,â begin all of her Zazaâs tales. Bren knows every one by heart, but she still loves the rise and fall of every sun-drenched, salt-crusted story, Zazaâs rich voice rolling like waves. âThree children drift on a cold, dark sea.â</p> <p>This is Brenâs favorite. Even her brother Walt, who at fourteen sees himself as far too old for such nonsense, stops on his way to bed and leans in the open door of Bren and Aggieâs bedroom.</p> <p>âWere they lost?â Walt asks, lips twitching. He knows they were. Knows in some ways they still are. The sea is in their blood, on Zazaâs side, but the forest ...</p></div><a href="/fiction/the-forest-the-sea-those-caught-between-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 251 252 </div> 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 <div> 312 <h3 class="workTitle"> 313 <a href="/fiction/proliferation-august-2026/">Proliferation</a> 314 </h3> 315 316 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 317 by 318 319 <a href="/authors/j-a-bryson/">J.A. Bryson</a> 320 321 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 322 </h3> 323 324 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Proliferation by J.A. Bryson"> <p>Elizabeth finds the bur in Alexâs bedsheets and somehow manages n
324ot to completely lose her shit. Itâs just a bur. It could have come in with Georgia, their border collie, or on a sock or pantleg. Epizootic dispersion. Plain and simple. It doesnât have to mean anything. It doesnât have to mean the worst thing. Gently, she pinches it loose and holds it to the light.</p> <p>Itâs probably nothing.</p> <p>And yetâ¦</p> <p>Elizabeth isnât in the habit of tidying her twelve-year-oldâs bedroom or stripping his linens while heâs off at his fatherâs for the weekend. Her sprucing up is a ruse, a plot sheâs been hatching for ...</p></div><a href="/fiction/proliferation-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 325 326 </div> 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 <div> 386 <h3 class="workTitle"> 387 <a href="/fiction/like-water-august-2026/">Like Water</a> 388 </h3> 389 390 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 391 by 392 393 <a href="/authors/e-m-linden/">E.M. Linden</a> 394 395 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 396 </h3> 397 398 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Like Water by E.M. Linden"> <p>In exchange for two large cod, the wise-woman extracts Minkeâs first language and wraps it in a piece of sailcloth. Her milk-language, her mother-tongue. Itâs only spoken here, on this chain of islands. Each of them a few acres wide, and each with their own particular accent and god.</p> <p>The parcel shifts in Minkeâs hands like a waterskin, cool and smelling of gutted fish. When she lifts it to her ear it calls back to her: gulls, the lilt of a bone-whistle, and under that, something crying.</p> <p>The old people always say the language of Minkeâs island is like water. Still, Minke expected something blo...</p></div><a href="/fiction/like-water-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 399 400 </div> 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 <div> 460 <h3 class="workTitle"> 461 <a href="/fiction/crown-shyness-august-2026/">Crown Shyness</a> 462 </h3> 463 464 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 465 by 466 467 <a href="/authors/c-m-fields/">C.M. Fields</a> 468 469 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 470 </h3> 471 472 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Crown Shyness by C. M. Fields"> <p>You first arrived in the woods when you chose a new name for yourself: Cindy. Cindy had no past, only a future. You cut yourself from your body like it was a diseased limb and left it to rot. When you opened your eyes, you were here, in the world inside the world.</p> <p>There are many ways to do this, although you did not know them then. All involve a choice, a decision. A grasp for a place that hasnât been born yet.</p> <p>You ended up here because you no longer felt like a person, but a fungal sprout of tombstones. You left your body behind because it was not really a body but a graveyard, a sallow fiel...</p></div><a href="/fiction/crown-shyness-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 473 474 </div> 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 <div> 534 <h3 class="workTitle"> 535 <a href="/fiction/between-tides-and-bones-august-2026/">Between Tides and Bones</a> 536 </h3> 537 538 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 539 by 540 541 <a href="/authors/carol-scheina/">Carol Scheina</a> 542 543 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-five/">Issue Twenty-Five, August 2026</a> 544 </h3> 545 546 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Between Tides and Bones by Carol Scheina"> <p>Fresh bones failed to sing for me, despite having six generations of necromancers in my family. I could only hear the song after the bones had transformed, over millions of years, into fossils.</p> <p>Mom helped me discover this when I was 9. At every family gathering, the cousins would be given chicken bone
546s, white and glistening. Theyâd focus until a single bone multiplied, forming additional skeleton pieces. A cross-hatching of flesh, then skin, enveloped it all. Quills erupted before softening into silky feathers. Finally, a beak clucked a new breath, alive again.</p> <p>I ended up shuffled to a corner...</p></div><a href="/fiction/between-tides-and-bones-august-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 547 548 </div> 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 <div> 608 <h3 class="workTitle"> 609 <a href="/fiction/pieces-of-anna-july-2026/">Pieces of Anna</a> 610 </h3> 611 612 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 613 by 614 615 <a href="/authors/r-l-meza/">R.L. Meza</a> 616 617 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-four/">Issue Twenty-Four, July 2026</a> 618 </h3> 619 620 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Pieces of Anna by R.L. Meza"> <p>Itâs a funny thing, telling folks that my astronaut daughter was lost at seaâfunny, like slowly pulling up a weed with a taproot anchored in my heart; which is to say, not very funny at all. But then, watching oneâs flesh and blood descend from the upper atmosphere to scatter into a billion pieces takes a strange toll on a manâs sense of humor. Anna would have laughed to hear me describe it. Rolled her big brown eyes, then flashed that crooked smile that only ever showed a dimple on one side, as she told me I was worrying for nothing. The orbital repair mechs are safe. Astronauts have been ri...</p></div><a href="/fiction/pieces-of-anna-july-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 621 622 </div> 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 <div> 682 <h3 class="workTitle"> 683 <a href="/fiction/in-this-dimension-do-you-still-believe-in-god-july-2026/">In This Dimension, Do You Still Believe in God?</a> 684 </h3> 685 686 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 687 by 688 689 <a href="/authors/lora-gray/">Lora Gray</a> 690 691 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-four/">Issue Twenty-Four, July 2026</a> 692 </h3> 693 694 <p><div role="article" aria-label="In This Dimension, Do You Still Believe in God? by Lora Gray"> <p>Hope is seeing that tiny muscle in Abdiâs jaw move when I lean against his shoulder and breathe him in. Patchouli and oil paints. Garlic and rosemary. <i>Home.</i> I lay a hand he cannot feel on his arm and whisper memories into his ear like a prayer.</p><p>How long has it been since we held each other?</p><p>According to my instruments, I jumped dimensions six weeks ago, but the receiving end of the Interdimensional Bridge is glitchy in ways Jones, Croft and I never accounted for. Every time I activate the Bridge, it <i>should</i> bring me back to 00:00°, back home.</p><p>I rest my head against the sofa and check my position....</p></div><a href="/fiction/in-this-dimension-do-you-still-believe-in-god-july-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 695 696 </div> 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 <div> 756 <h3 class="workTitle">
757 <a href="/fiction/if-you-dont-return-i-want-you-to-know-july-2026/">If You Donât Return, I Want You To Know</a> 758 </h3> 759 760 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 761 by 762 763 <a href="/authors/merc-fenn-wolfmoor/">Merc Fenn Wolfmoor</a> 764 765 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-four/">Issue Twenty-Four, July 2026</a> 766 </h3> 767 768 <p><div role="article" aria-label="If You Donât Return, I Want You To Know by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor"> <p>Quinn gets lost in voidspace while Iâm headed home from work.</p><p>Iâm on the train when I receive the ping from the Institute for Dimensional Exploration. The communication line with Quinn Valentine has been disconnected in the subdimensional bridge. This is a courtesy notice, and if contact cannot be restored before the bridge shuts down, I will receive a secondary letter of condolence for my loss.</p><p>Itâs so coldly polite. People have been lost in the subdimensional bridge before; all the researchers sign more than a hundred digital pages just in waivers. </p><p>Quinn showed me some of the paperwork when t...</p></div><a href="/fiction/if-you-dont-return-i-want-you-to-know-july-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 769 770 </div> 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 <div> 830 <h3 class="workTitle"> 831 <a href="/fiction/convergence-july-2026/">Convergence</a> 832 </h3> 833 834 <h3 class="workAuthor"> 835 by 836 837 <a href="/authors/dan-peacock/">Dan Peacock</a> 838 839 in <a href="/issues/issue-twenty-four/">Issue Twenty-Four, July 2026</a> 840 </h3> 841 842 <p><div role="article" aria-label="Convergence by Dan Peacock"> <p>Awareness returns to me in ragged bursts. There is a heaviness to my thoughts as my systems fight to come back online. </p><p>Iâm severely damaged, paralysed, my drives shattered and splintered. Life support systems for the crew are just functional enough to tell me that theyâre no longer functional. I pull together as much data as I can from the sensors that remain: my hull is pierced in a hundred and twelve places that I can detect, the exact number likely higher. Nowhere inside me is still pressurised or oxygenated, every room exposed to vacuum. All the air, and presumably the crew, have been dra...</p></div><a href="/fiction/convergence-july-2026/"> Continue â</a></p> 843 844 </div> 845 846 847 848<!-- Pagination --> 849 850 <div class="pagination"> 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 <!-- First page + ellipsis if needed --> 861 862 863 <!-- Page numbers in window --> 864 865 866 <span class="current-page">1</span> 867 868 869 870 871 <a href="/fiction/page-2/">2</a> 872 873 874 875 876 877 <a href="/fiction/page-3/">3</a> 878 879 880 881 882 <!-- Ellipsis + last page if needed --> 883 884 885 <span class="ellipsis">â¦</span> 886 887 <a href="/fiction/page-14/">14</a> 888 889 890 891 <a href="/fiction/page-2/">Next »</a> 892 893 </div> 894 895 896 </div> 897 </article> 898</div> 899 900</div> 901 </main> 902 </div> 903 <footer class="footer"> 904 <p> 905 © 2026 Haven Spec Magazine. All rights reserved. 906 </p> 907 <div class="footer-social"> 908 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/havenspec/" aria-label="Instagram" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 909 <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="1.8"> 910 <rect x="2" y="2" width="20" height="20" rx="5"/> 911 <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="4.5"/> 912 <circle cx="17.3" cy="6.7" r="1.1" fill="currentColor" stroke="none"/> 913 </svg> 914 </a>
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