by submission | Jul 3, 2026 | Story
Author: Starlight
When I was a kid – however long ago that was, ten years or a hundred, I wouldn’t know – when I was a kid, there was this game we did in nursery.
Over, under, forward, back.
The teacher would give us all a toy and have us stand in lines like little soldiers. She’d shout her orders and we’d follow them. Over, she’d cry, and we’d hold the toys over our heads. Under, and we’d drop them to the ground. Forward, we’d thrust them out like trophies. Back, and this was the tricky one, we’d pull our arms as far backwards as they went, so that the toy hovered somewhere between our heads and the base of our necks. She’d yell them first in order, then out of order, and sometimes she’d repeat them a couple times and a kid would get nervy and hold the toy up when they were still meant to be holding forward.
It’s a pretty insignificant memory in the grand scheme of things. Still, it’s a memory I cling to. A mantra I repeat to myself.
Over, under, forward, back.
The ground is heavy, aggressive, fighting my every move, threatening to suck me down and keep me there until my flesh disintegrates so that it may flower again. I can’t blame it, not really. I’m far from the first person to tread this earth, I sure as hell won’t be the last.
All around me is the same. Sodden mud, lifeless clay that clings with a dying breath. It’s getting difficult to distinguish which timeline I’m in, and I think I’m one of the few who still knows that there was a way to tell the difference once, by which I mean never. Memories can get hazy when your timeline is overwritten. I’ve long since forgotten the faces of my family and am more worried about forgetting basic human functions that I have never been taught.
Over, under, forward, back.
I press forward. If I recall correctly, and who knows if I have, there’s a pickup point not too far from here. They’ll lock onto my signal, and they’ll take me back to the barracks, and probably give me a dressing down for getting separated from my troop but how is that my fault when my troop forgot to exist?
Water falls from the sky at a rapid pace – there’s a word for this phenomenon, but it doesn’t come to me. I’m soaked to the bone. Was there ever a time when I wasn’t? Sometimes it feels like all that exists is the immediate, that only the now is immutable, that after is unthinkable and before is unidentifiable. I focus on my breathing, focus on my limbs pumping forward and back, focus on the weight of water against my skin and remind myself that I must exist. I cannot forget that I exist. If I forget then I am finished.
Over, under, forward, back.
I can’t go back. Can’t even look back – Scared that if I do I there’ll be no footprints. There is no back to go to.
Over, under, forward.
My vision tunnels – my eyes blurred by liquid that is coming from somewhere. There is ground beneath my feet. I march on.
Under, forward.
Where am I going? What is the point? Did I ever know? Did it ever matter? I can’t keep moving – there’s nowhere to go. Nothing exists past there here and now.
The ground draws at my feet, and I go under.
by submission | Jul 2, 2026 | Story
Author: Brian Ball
There’s a pantry in the basement, or at least there was. It’s gone now.
St. Mary’s, our parish, used it most when the soup kitchen was busy. One Saturday, Judy Grezlick went down to grab some rice and lost her footing. She fell to floor and rice spilled everywhere.
She brushed herself off and stood over the mess. Mumbling, she swept it up and set the broom aside. There was a hollow thud as it hit the basement wall. Curious, she felt along the wall.
Probably an old access panel, Judy said. She mentioned it to Father Brennan. He stood over the cast iron stove pushing a pile of diced onions into a large pot. Recognition flickered. Before Judy could go back and grab another bag of rice, Father Brennan was in the basement with a crowbar.
After an hour, he and some other kitchen volunteers pried off the section of the wall. The five-foot panel looked like the rest of the foundation, but the ancient spackle came off as they pulled.
Dust went everywhere. They coughed as it settled at their feet, revealing rough-hewn stairs that faded into the darkness like sunlight down a well.
They certainly weren’t made by any licensed contractor Miles Ackner said. Miles was a retired home inspector and current church volunteer. He told Father Brennan they could violate any of a number of building codes and telling the city could might close the church. Father Brennan didn’t care for that notion, not one bit.
Miles put some extra batteries in his pocket and took the flashlight. He moved jauntily down the stairs, humming. A small group watched him go. No one said good-bye. He would just peek, he said, he’d be right back.
Soon they were shouting after him and heard nothing but silence and their own measured breathing. By now the group had grown, including Amy, Miles’ wife. Each possessed their own opinions. The sound of their arguing echoed down the stairs. Father Brennan finally called the police.
Then they came in pairs. Officers took notes, asked questions and then went down themselves. One gave Father Brennan half of a two-way radio. She said they’d check-in, but within a few minutes Father heard only static. Judy Grezlik started to cry.
A much larger group came with masks, breathing tanks and a police dog. They set up sonar cameras. Amy Ackner was hysterical then. No one judged her.
More descended. None returned. Each failure was more desperate, more chaotic. Father Brennan shuttered the church.
The McCormick brothers were called. As local contractors, everyone knew them. They would weld a steel plate over the opening. Toxic shale gas was the excuse they gave. It was as good excuse as any.
Four men carried the heavy plate. Mickalean McCormick lit the bright blue flame and dropped down his protective glasses. A cigarette dangled from his mouth. Amy shouted for Miles as the torch sealed the last crack.
They still listen for the men and women who went down the stairs, even after the basement was filled in. The McCormick brothers did this work too and said not to bother listening. They were gone.
When it was done, Father Brennan closed the door at the top of the stairs, now a wall of cement. Amy was sent away to rest. St. Mary’s still has mass, but only on holidays.
And that’s the story. That’s why we wait. But don’t worry, Father Brennan won’t forget us. He’ll send more down here.
For God’s sake, he knows we need to eat.
by submission | Jul 1, 2026 | Story
Author: Hillary Lyon
The shining silver ship cruised in, causing waves of wind to unfurl across the landscape, spawning swirling towers of dust and dirt and debris from an abandoned civilization.
Once the craft stabilized, the main door slid open and the four spacemen tentatively descended the ramp. The last man wandered out, hands gripping his helmet. He attempted to adjust his visor, gave up and pulled the head-piece off entirely.
“Arrrg!” Moira groaned. “I’ve already seen this movie!”
She tapped the small glowing green cube on her coffee table. “Bijou! Find me something I haven’t already seen—something weird and alien, something exciting. A game, a movie, anything.”
Bijou, as she called her personal AI entertainment assistant, scanned the planet’s database for her request. Finding nothing she hadn’t already seen or played, it extended its search to the outer regions of the solar system, then the galaxy.
The cube shivered and flashed through a kaleidoscopic assortment of hues before settling on one Moira had never seen before. She wrinkled her nose; how would one even describe that color? A beam of this weird-colored light shot out of the cube, broadened, and within it a humanoid shape coalesced.
First appearing as a hologram, it quickly solidified into a three-dimensional form. Like pouring water into an empty glass, Moira thought. The being wore a dull matte-gray armor of flat scales. The creature was angular like a poorly rendered video game character—yet still exuded strength and determination.
Moira rose from the sofa for a closer look. “Arkzulia awaits,” the being urged, extending one of his four hands.
“This is new,” Moira murmured. “Good work, Bijou.”
“Arkzulia awaits,” the being reiterated. As Moira took his hand, a burst of white light filled the den. She disappeared with the being. Bijou went dark.
* * *
After 30 minutes the cube warmed and began cycling through a panoply of colors, before settling on the indescribable color that opened the gateway to Arkzulia.
Moira first appeared as a hologram, then rapidly solidified. She wore dented and scuffed matte-gray scaled armor; the exposed skin of her hands and face bore long-healed scars. She used her right eye, now a bionic scanner, to scope out her apartment. Finding no enemy warriors, she relaxed, though still kept a firm grip on her Arkzulian war-hammer.
Bijou brightened into his familiar, friendly green upon recognizing Moira.
“Thank you for playing ‘Campaign for Arkzulia: The Final Battle.’ Congratulations! You finished Level 1 with a four out of five star rating. You have successfully unlocked Level 2,” Bijou chirped gleefully, channeling the game’s programmed voice-over.
The cube continued, “The Level 2 access code will be downloaded to your—”
Before it could finish, Moira raised her war-hammer and brought it down upon Bijou with all the strength of a battle-hardened Arkzulian warrior, smashing both the cube and coffee table to bits.
by submission | Jun 30, 2026 | Story
Author: Mark Renney
Replacements are more prevalent than flesh and blood, skin and bone, almost everyone at some point becomes part of the System. There are still a few holdouts, of course, those professing it is better to age gracefully but there isn’t anything graceful about the geriatrics shuffling about, hiding themselves away in those foul smelling care facilities.
It is no longer necessary for us to appear old but the surgery, the injections and the gym will only take us so far. We can preserve our bodies but only for so long. As a race we have not been able to eradicate disease and addiction and we break down. The body is a fragile shell and eventually will begin to split and crack. Fluids seep from inside of us, blood, mucus and pus. Our joints creak and our organs fail but when something is not functioning as it should or is causing us pain we can, as long as we embrace the System, simply replace the failing part. Most of us do this piece-meal, over the years and the decades as required. We become vain and secretive about just how hollow we’ve become but the majority succumb. Whenever we are forced to slow down and take a breath, we re-evaluate, add another appendage, a section of the torso, or wherever we might require the replacement. Although I haven’t taken a breath, or eaten food or sipped a drink in decades, I’m ok with that as I have had a good run and in my time have tried everything and I really do mean everything and now I crave for nothing.
I am entirely inorganic now and my body is wholly hollow and this shell will not crack or split. I have no bones or organs, no fluids, just the digital stew that is keeping us, the majority, afloat. Whenever I look in the mirror I see a perfect specimen, a work of art. I am not alone, there are of course others, but nevertheless I feel that thrill and a deep sense of satisfaction. I’m looking at someone who has lived a life almost entirely without envy or regret, someone who hasn’t compromised. I will soon make the final transition and replace my brain. It will be different, I know, and I will no longer have ‘independence’. The System will make all of my choices, where I go, what I do, and how I can be useful.
by submission | Jun 28, 2026 | Story
Author: R. J. Erbacher
It happened again. She was on vacation in Ireland, standing with a bus load of tourists on the Cliffs of Moher. The view was magnificent, gray clouds with shafts of peek-a-boo sun streaks, despite the typical weather which was not great; strong winds filled with a thin, skin-stinging mist. But through the shimmer of the moisture, she saw into… another dimension?
Always the same woman, dressed in flowing robes and a cloche head-covering, odd smooth buildings in reflective colors, strange vehicles that looked like hovering cylindrical phone booths. And each time, she appeared to be reaching out, as if she was looking for someone to pull her through the time-space continuum that separated them.
She looked around to see if anybody else from the tour was seeing it but she appeared to be the only one. The other woman’s image kept phasing in and out as if it were a hologram projection that was being interrupted by interference.
The first time was in her bathroom at home, couple of months back. After a full day of work and then drinking with colleagues she wanted a shower before bed. The sudden appearance of another person in the tub with her shocked her against the back tile wall. But as she cleared the soap from her eyes, she perceived that it wasn’t just a woman, but a whole world around her, encompassing more space than her bathroom would allow. Not a solid form but a ghostly aperture beyond normality. Tentatively she stretched for the chrome handle and shut the water off and the image vanished. She stood naked, dripping for many minutes before chalking the whole thing up to being groggy and slightly drunk.
Then weeks later she was standing on the front lawn, coffee mug in hand, examining the positioning of the arch shaped sprinkler as it oscillated one side of the grass to the next. The fine spray swung through the early morning sunshine, and the woman in her ethereal world materialized each time it atomized through the light. She stepped forward and inched her hand into the wall of water, memorized by the phenomenon. Clouds drifted into the ray of sun, and it all was gone. Sober and alert, there was no writing this off as a hallucination.
Now, thousands of miles away from her home, on a different continent, and the mystery woman and her interdimensional world was before her once more. She reached her hand out for the other woman’s and they briefly intermixed, a tingling sensation covering her skin. She couldn’t grasp her any more than she could the wind. But their eyes had a moment of connection just before the fickle weather changed, the rain stopping, and the threshold of alter reality evaporated.
She looked around and most of the bus people were staring at her with her arm stretched out into nothing. She lowered her hand and head and walked away. What the hell was this? Was she mingling with a cosmic rabbit hole? Was this just a glitch in the matrix? Was she being chosen to intervene? All that needed to be put aside. First, she had to figure out how to recreate the environment so she could get back to that overlap between the parallel realms. Then she could help.
* * *
The woman vanished. She had reached out to her, but she kept phasing out. She was shocked the first time when she saw her, naked and scared. And just now, the tingling as they touched through the portal of the fourth dimension, her reach, a desperate attempt to connect. The woman seemed to be on the edge of high, dangerous cliffs. She had to figure out how she could get back to her. And help.
