Weekly short stories read aloud by their authors. From Cetera Magazine, featuring literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction exploring memory, rebellion, folklore, and other worlds without warning. Stories edited by Natalia Emmons and Jon Negroni.
Rain Check – A Literary Short Story By Emily Brown
Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, we’re reaching into the Cetera Magazine archive for “Rain Check” by Emily Brown, originally published May 21, 2026. Jon Negroni reads aloud the story of Marge, a woman ninety-two days sober whose carefully planned backpacking trip changes when her sponsor cancels at the last minute. Rather than stay home, Marge takes her permit, shoulders her pack, and heads into the wilderness alone, with a storm already moving toward the trail.
You can find the written version of this story right here (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/rain-check/).
About the Author
Emily Brown is a writer and poet based in Toronto. When she is not writing, she can usually be found walking by the lake, buying books she has no shelf space for, or making coffee she forgets to drink.
Tip the author (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/rain-check/#/portal/support) to support them and say thanks
Explore our full archive (https://www.ceteramagazine.com) of stories and poetry.
Submit your own story (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/submit-to-cetera/) to be featured on Cetera.
About Cetera Magazine
We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.
Credits
Author: Emily Brown
Narrator: Jon Negroni
Editor: Natalia Emmons
Artwork: Jon Negroni
Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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3 Sept 2026
Carcinization – A Speculative Short Story by Danielle Wilfand
Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud “Carcinization” by Danielle Wilfand, which is a science fiction/speculative story about a chronically ill woman who travels 10,000 years into the future searching for the man she loves and discovers that everything has evolved into crabs. As she waits for him to find his way through time, however, this alien future begins to feel unexpectedly accommodating to a body that her own world increasingly treated as a problem.
You can find the written version of this story right here (https:/www.ceteramagazine.com/carcinization/).
About the Author
Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Danielle Wilfand resides in Denver, Colorado where she is a first-year internal medicine resident at the University of Colorado. She enjoys writing about and examining her experience of living with chronic illness through different lenses.
Tip the author (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/carcinization/#/portal/support) to support them and say thanks
Explore our full archive (https://www.ceteramagazine.com) of stories and poetry.
Submit your own story (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/submit-to-cetera/) to be featured on Cetera.
About Cetera Magazine
We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.
Credits
Author: Danielle Wilfand
Narrator: Jon Negroni
Editor: Natalia Emmons
Artwork: Jon Negroni
Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
30 Aug 2026
What We Were Good At – A Literary Short Story by Jon Negroni
Welcome back to Worlds Without Warning. This week, Jon Negroni reads aloud his short story “What We Were Good At,” a literary story about two longtime friends who finally act on the romantic possibility everyone around them has already noticed. As familiarity gives way to expectation, two people who once knew exactly how to be together have to confront the possibility that changing the relationship has also changed what made it work.
You can find the written version of this story right here (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/what-we-were-good-at/).
About the Author
Jon Negroni is a Puerto Rican author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s published two books, as well as short stories for IHRAM Press, The Fairy Tale Magazine, and more.
Tip the author (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/what-we-were-good-at/#/portal/support) to support them and say thanks
Explore our full archive (https://www.ceteramagazine.com) of stories and poetry.
Submit your own story (https://www.ceteramagazine.com/submit-to-cetera/) to be featured on Cetera.
About Cetera Magazine
We publish original short fiction every Thursday. Our stories span literary fiction, speculative tales, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction. All written without AI assistance and curated by editor Natalia Emmons.
Credits
Author: Jon Negroni
Narrator: Jon Negroni
Editor: Natalia Emmons
Artwork: Jon Negroni
Music: "Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Share This Episode
If you enjoyed this story, please share it with fellow story lovers. Your enthusiasm helps these stories reach new readers. Thank you!
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
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