Escape Pod 198: N-words
N-words
By Ted Kosmatka
They came from test tubes. They came pale as ghosts with eyes as blue-white as glacier ice. They came first out of Korea.
I try to picture David’s face in my head, but I can’t. They’ve told me this is temporary—a kind of shock that happens sometimes when you’ve seen a person die that way. Although I try to picture David’s face, it’s only his pale eyes I can see.
My sister squeezes my hand in the back of the limo. “It’s almost over,” she says. Up the road, against the long, wrought iron railing, the protestors grow excited as our procession approaches. They’re standing in the snow on both sides of the cemetery gates, men and women wearing hats and gloves and looks of righteous indignation, carrying signs I refuse to read.
About the Author
Ted Kosmatka
Ted’s work has been reprinted in ten Year’s Best anthologies, translated into a dozen languages, and performed on stage in Indiana and New York. He’s been nominated for both the Nebula Award and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and is co-winner of the 2010 Asimov’s Readers’ Choice Award. His novel The Games was nominated for a Locus Award for Best First Novel. He grew up in Chesterton, Indiana and now works as a video game writer in the Pacific Northwest.
About the Narrator
Kim the Comic Book Goddess
Kim the Comic Book Goddess is a musician and podcaster from near Scranton PA. Her podcast, Geek Pantheon and Your Moment of Kim, was a finalist for the Parsec for Best Speculative Fiction Comedy / Parody Podcast. In addition to Geek Pantheon, she is a member of the cast and crew of the 9th Heroescast (Parsec Finalist – Best Fancast) and has read, acted or composed and recorded music for at least 15 other podcasts, including Escape Pod, Metamor City, SciPhi Journal, and Buffy Between the Lines.
