You are listening to a Clarksworld magazine podcast with your host and narrator, Kate Baker.

I hope this podcast finds you well.

My dear Clarksworld citizens, this is our third story for the month of January issue 196.

As per usual, I want to thank you for your ongoing support of the magazine, whether you

are a subscriber or you've chucked a few bucks our way via patreon.com forward slash Clarksworld.

We cannot do this without you, so each and every month we are completely grateful for

those of you who can subscribe and donate a few dollars our way.

So our story is titled Anias gets a turn and is by RTSTER.

This is the longer one of the month coming in at 15,000 and change.

Our author, RTSTER, who can be found at the website module10.com for his last writing.

Does some work on the side while working professionally as a visual designer?

However, most of his time is spent raising two young kids with his wife and drawing

any inspiration he can from the Texas heat.

His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Clarksworld and Interzone.

We do have a couple stories that RTSTER has written for us as well.

So if you like what you hear, I suggest going back to slight forms and meddling fields.

So my dear listener, I hope you can sit back, relax, and let me tell you a story.

The world organism is awake and has spent the last decade playing round after round

of tic-tac-toe with itself.

Hearing this the first time, Anias reacts like anyone would to a stranger sitting next

to them on a plane, insisting on conversation for the flight's three-hour duration.

She nods and smiles, she takes the man's card, she makes a note to toss it in the nearest

...