AntipodeanSF Issue 312

By J.S. O'Keefe

“Sean, go ahead order whatever you like. Let me recommend the corned beef on brioche.”

“Frank, I hear a small still voice whispering that you’re not going to publish ‘Subjugated’ after all.”

“Well…”

“You son-of-a-bitch!”

“Sean, listen…“

“No, you listen, Frank. A fortnight ago you sent me an email that the piece had been accepted by the board. Later that day you also left a long message on my phone, praising the article, a truly thought-provoking story if ever there was one.”

“Well, turns out, it’s not a good fit.”

“So why the sudden change of heart?”

“It’s way too political for us. ‘Subjugated’ is clearly about brainwashing, obviously not an issue in America. First Amendment, ring the bell? So at a minimum it’s misplaced paranoia. Maybe leftwing political propaganda, which I would not put past you either. It’s definitely no literary work. My job in the publishing business is to attract talent who’d write nice poems, interesting stories, creative essays. I don’t court controversy, especially the wrong kind. It’s lose-lose.”

“Okay, Frank, you’ve just convinced me that self-censorship is the rule, not the exception.”

“Free country, believe whatever you want. We have thousands of readers, most expecting to get a respite from the daily hurly-burly when they sit down to read in the evening or on weekend. They want their minds to freely travel to a nicer world for an hour or so.”

“No, there’s no nicer world, especially considering the Thought Police is trying to bombard our so-called free minds day in, day out.”

“Sean, you’re wrong, of course, but why would I want to attract unnecessary attention? Especially now that a bunch of academicians, journalists, artists got blacklisted in one fell swoop.”

“I am getting a headache here, Frank. You know what, I don’t give a shit, I just send ‘Subjugated’ somewhere else.”

“Good luck with that. I bet they’ll reject it one by one, and more or less for the same reason; it’s too political and lacks literary content. Unless you find a social-libertarian or nativist publication, the subversive kind that only the FBI reads.”

“Then I’ll send it to Canada, how about that?”

“Why not to the Ministry of Truth? The Canadian version of free speech is that scores of small businesses have lost their licences for mischaracterising customers’ gender.”

“Okay, England then.”

“Ever read the news? A couple years ago it took a single phone call to the Labour party headquarters to fire Corbyn and Ken Livingstone. One call and their asses were grass.”

“Was that a local call or international?”

“It was certainly not a prank call.” 

“Fascinating. Okay then, I’m going to submit ‘Subjugated’ to an Australian lit-mag.”

“Really? To the kangaroo people? You know they spend their entire existence upside down? The Earth is spherical and gravity’s doing its thing. Why do you think those Aussies have to sleep on their stomachs?”

Artwork by Toni Verkruysse

This article was previously published as “Shackled” in Friday Flash Fiction on June 21, 2024

rocket crux 2 75

About the Author

john okeefe 300J. S. O’Keefe is a scientist, trilingual translator and writer.

His short stories and poems have been published in Roi Faineant, Scribes*MICRO, Every Day Fiction, AntipodeanSF, 101 Words, Microfiction Monday, 50WS, Friday Flash Fiction, Medium, Paragraph Planet, 6S, WENSUM, Spillwords, Satire, etc.

Mailing List Signup

Subscribe

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

E-Book Issues

Epub for all e-readers:

Download for Kindle, Kobo, tablet or PC for offline reading

aus25grn

Issue Contributors

The AntiSF Radio Show

antipod-show-50Our weekly podcast features the stories from recently published issues, often narrated by the authors themselves.

Listen to the latest episode now:

The AntipodeanSF Radio Show is also broadcast on community radio, 2NVR, 105.9FM every Sunday evening at 7:00pm.

You can find every broadcast episode online here: http://antisf.libsyn.com 

Meet the Narrators

  • Emma Gill

    Emma Louise GillEmma Louise Gill (she/her) is a British-Australian spec fic writer and consumer of vast amounts of coffee. Brought up on a diet of English lit, she rebelled and now spends her time writing explosive space opera and other fantastical things in

    ...
  • Ed Errington

    ed erringtonEd lives with his wife plus a magical assortment of native animals in tropical North Queensland.

    His efforts at wallaby wrangling are without parallel — at least in this universe.

    He enjoys reading and writing science-fiction stories set within intriguing, yet plausible contexts, and invite readers’ “willing suspension of

    ...
  • Marg Essex

    marg essex 200Margaret lives the good life on a small piece of rural New South Wales Australia, with an amazing man, a couple of pets, and several rambunctious wombats.

    She feels so lucky to be a part of the AntiSF team.

    ...

  • Sarah Pratt

    sarah pratt 200Sarah Pratt is an avid fiction writer and a Marketing Consultant.

    She is currently working on her first novel but loves diving into short stories to bring a little lightness, intrigue or humour to the day.

    Her work has appeared in Sponge Magazine and The Commuting

    ...
  • Michelle Walker

    michelle walker32My time at Nambucca Valley Community Radio began back in 2016 after moving into the area from Sydney.

    As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I recognised it was definitely God who opened up the pathways for my husband and I to settle in the Valley.

    Within

    ...
  • Carolyn Eccles

    carolyn eccles 100

    Carolyn's work spans devising, performance, theatre-in-education and a collaborative visual art practice.

    She tours children's works to schools nationally with School Performance Tours, is a member of the Bathurst physical theatre ensemble Lingua Franca and one half of darkroom —

    ...
  • Laurie Bell

    lauriebell 2 200

    Laurie Bell lives in Melbourne, Australia and is the author of "The Stones of Power Series" via Wyvern's Peak Publishing: "The Butterfly Stone", "The Tiger's Eye" and "The Crow's Heart" (YA/Fantasy).

    She is also the author of "White Fire" (Sci-Fi) and "The Good, the Bad and the Undecided" (a

    ...
  • Chuck McKenzie

    chuck mckenzie 200Chuck McKenzie was born in 1970, and still spends much of his time there.

    He also runs the YouTube channel 'A Touch of the Terrors', where — as 'Uncle Charles' — he performs readings of his favourite horror tales in a manner that makes most ham actors

    ...
  • Mark English

    mark english 100Mark is an astrophysicist and space scientist who worked on the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn. Following this he worked in computer consultancy, engineering, and high energy research (with a stint at the JET Fusion Torus).

    All this science hasn't damped his love of fantasy and science fiction. It has, however, ruined his

    ...
  • Sarah Jane Justice

    Sarah Jane Justice 200Sarah Jane Justice is an Adelaide-based fiction writer, poet, musician and spoken word artist.

    Among other achievements, she has performed in the National Finals of the Australian Poetry Slam, released two albums of her original music and seen her poetry

    ...
  • Barry Yedvobnick

    barry yedvobnick 200Barry Yedvobnick is a recently retired Biology Professor. He performed molecular biology and genetic research, and taught, at Emory University in Atlanta for 34 years. He is new to fiction writing, and enjoys taking real science a step or two beyond its known boundaries in his

    ...
  • Tim Borella

    tim borellaTim Borella is an Australian author, mainly of short speculative fiction published in anthologies, online and in podcasts.

    He’s also a songwriter, and has been fortunate enough to have spent most of his working life doing something else he loves, flying.

    Tim lives with his wife Georgie in beautiful Far

    ...
  • Alistair Lloyd

    alistair lloyd 200Alistair Lloyd is a Melbourne based writer and narrator who has been consuming good quality science fiction and fantasy most of his life.

    You may find him on Twitter as <@mr_al> and online at <...

  • Geraldine Borella

    geraldine borella 200Geraldine Borella writes fiction for children, young adults and adults. Her work has been published by Deadset Press, IFWG Publishing, Wombat Books/Rhiza Edge, AHWA/Midnight Echo, Antipodean SF, Shacklebound Books, Black Ink Fiction, Paramour Ink Fiction, House of Loki and Raven & Drake

    ...
  • Merri Andrew

    merri andrew 200Merri Andrew writes poetry and short fiction, some of which has appeared in Cordite, Be:longing, Baby Teeth and Islet, among other places.

    She has been a featured artist for the Noted festival, won a Red Room #30in30 daily poetry challenge and was shortlisted for the

    ...