This is a horror podcast, and as a result, it will have some horror in it.

You may find that horror 2 disturbing. Don't worry, this ride is one you can get off at any time,

just press stop if it's getting to you. The funorama at Old Man Jenkins will the fun and death,

that's not a ride you can get off, and honestly, not one we would recommend you get on.

Sudopod Episode 809 for May 6, 2022. A Pearl as Red as Sin by R.A. Busby.

I am your host, Caitlin Zavanovich. Normally, I'm an assistant editor over at

podcasts, but every now and again, I'm able to escape the dragon and come dwell in the dark

with you all at Sudopod. Last year, I narrated Episode 784, an American remake of a Japanese ghost

story, and in July, Sudopod published my own original story, The Child Feast of Herod and Sack,

as Episode 765. Do give it a listen, it's a good companion to today's Mother's Day story.

Today's author, winner of 2020's Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction for her story,

not the man I married, R.A. Busby has published numerous other short works. In her spare time,

goes running in the desert with her dog and finds weird things to write about.

Our narrator is Lois Tate. Lois Tate lends her dubious vocal abilities to narrate R.A. Busby's

evocative prose. Mistates many rumor talents are a secret with she jealously guards. It is said

she can do several things fairly well, but she takes great pains to conceal them. Mistate is

unmarried, outside of the carbon-14 method. She has never been dated, and has no children,

not even lousy once. Miss Lois Tate looks forward to a long and illustrious posthumous career.

Now, we have a story for you, and we promise you, it's true.

The pearl is reticent by R.A. Busby, narrated by Lois Tate.

The baby bit hard into my flesh and held there, dug into the left side of my womb with a pin-brick

pinched sharp and determined, lying in bed, cheek-hot against the old pillowcase,

...