Welcome to Issue 12 of Zooscape!
Stories are a vaccine for the soul, teaching your heart and mind to recognize different forms that lives can take, different ways of being. When faced with the completely unfamiliar, we can panic, uncertain of how to react. When the complete unknown is a deadly virus, that uncertainty of how to react can kill us. When the complete unknown is simply a person with a different life story, a different way of seeing things… that uncertainty can make us hard-hearted and cruel.
Literal vaccines are good for the body. Metaphorical vaccines are good for the soul.
So, read these stories, and share them with anyone you know who might like them.
Also, get vaccinated, and tell everyone you know who’s medically able that they should too.
We’re all part of one flock. We must take care of each other. We must learn to be kind, both with our hearts and actions.
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The Squirrelherd and the Sound by Emmie Christie
Mama’s Nursery by Gloria Carnevale
Moon-Eye by Garick Cooke
Moonbow by Jason Kocemba
Eye of the Beholder by Kara Hartz
How We’re Made by Christopher Zerby
Three Layer Apple Pie by Mephitis
Xerophilous by M. J. Pettit
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As always, if you want to support Zooscape, check out our Patreon.