Podcast on Episode 8277 for Tuesday the 4th of February 2025.

The Hand That Feeds by Louis Inglis Hall,

read by Pippa Alice Stevens and produced by Devin Martin.

Rated PG-13, with a content note for the death of a child.

Good morning, good day, good afternoon and good evening, and welcome to Podcastle, the flying castle of fancy fiction.

I'm your host, Matt Dovey, and it is my privilege to present for your enjoyment, The Hand That Feeds, by Louis Inglis Hall, narrated by Pippa Alice Stevens. This story was first published in the Coloured Lens, Autumn 2023.

Louis Inglis Hall is a civil servant living in Scotland. His work has appeared in Clarkswell,

Strange Horizons and Apparition Lit, amongst others.

Pippa Alice Stevens is an actress and voiceover artist.

She can be seen in The Invisible Wall playing Rose Barkley, and spiraling, playing Natalie.

And now pay attention, for our tale is about to begin.

And it's important you listen and learn this lesson.

The Hand That Feeds by Louis Inglis Hall, read by Pippa Alice Stevens.

Last Christmas, a mermaid died in the school swimming pool.

It was only a small pool, built up at the sides with wooden panels,

more like a tank for training children in.

That meant it froze over very easily.

But a mermaid couldn't know that. It stood in a courtyard in the

shadow of the school, and the sun reached it only at rare intervals. Behind it lurked a stone and

sulking outhouse, pebble-dash walls lashed together with a corrugated plastic roof. In its damp darkness, the children undressed and tripped

and snapped tight, powdered rubber caps over their skulls.

Under its benches, something black grew wetly out towards them.

...