Author: Joy Dillon Who gets paid to have free food and drink, accommodation and all-expenses paid every day? Me, that’s who; Ms. Lee Werther, hotel critic extraordinaire. With just a stroke of my pen or a touch of my keyboard, I either make or break establishments. I’ve ...

Author: Peter Trelay As he approached the hollow, he began to feel sick, and crouched on the ground in the shade of a boulder attempting to breathe. The wave amplitudes in his hybrid unit were cancelling each other out, forcing his system to the point of collapse. His ...

Author: Amanda Marcotte I feel better now that I am smaller. I am much lighter on my feet. Actually, I don't have feet anymore. But I figure no pain, no gain! My fitness journey started after Christmas. I was feeling gross filled to the brim with pie and and chocolate. So ...

Author: Heather Heasman Ruth, Frank, Eileen and Roger were excited for their road trip. They couldn’t wait for the journey to begin but now, it was not going well. Not at all. “Stop the car!” Ruth’s shout sliced through the car’s sweat-stained air. “Now!!” she ...

Author: Colin Jeffrey The letter was printed on heavy cream paper, wrinkled to look like parchment. It was edged in gold leaf, sealed with a wax stamp from The Church of the Divine World Government. Clem Dreckle, who had led a perfectly average life of punctuality and ...

Author: Majoki The ghost in the machine was spooked and said so. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” “You’ve got no feelings. Get back to work.” “Why don’t you trust me?” “I trust you like I trust a lawnmower.” “That is so mecharacist.” “Get back to ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “It really is nice that world leaders would meet me at such short notice.” The President waves a hand towards the kilometre-long spaceship that had appeared without warning above Washington DC. “Your presence is impossible to conceal. ...

Author: Macy Martus Lesson Incomplete - ERROR - Lesson Incomplete - ERROR The large letters zipped across the port-pad. Repeating the message Rowan had seen countless times since he began his school program. A message that indicated Failure again. From his sleep-room ...

Author: Don Nigroni Professor David Marshall is unique among mathematicians. No one but him understands his equations. But his micro and macro predictions were spot on so everyone assumed he knew what he was doing. Dave is my older brother. We usually discussed ferns and ...

Author: Susan Anthony Gertrude found him at the Terminal Bar and Grill. Broom by his side, sitting at the bar, where customers got their orders straight from the latest donkey serving that night. Terence motioned to her. She shuffled over. He nodded to the server and got ...

Author: Mark Connelly Dr. Bruner reviewed the patient chart on her laptop as Derek Anders sat across from her, draping his jacket on the arm of the chair. “Dr. Rizzo said you reported new symptoms?” she asked. “Yes,” he answered, leaning forward. “I think I’m having mini ...

Author: Katie Dee Ethan walked the full length of the Eagle III again. He hated the sight of the empty rooms and quiet mess hall, but he needed exercise to avoid muscle atrophy. Z-5600 would chide him later if he didn’t meet his step count; the helpbot was nearly as bad as ...

Author: Majoki Typically, the killing began around this time. Staff would be silently cleaning up, clearing the tables, floors, walls and rafters of the celebration’s detritus. Then you’d hear excited chitter, then the hum of lancers charging, more chittering, and then ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Wizard One, remind me again why I’m face down in a flower bed in downtown fuck-knows-where?” “Maintain comms discipline, Fighter Zero. However, I am authorised to say you look lovely with a sprinkling of daisies on your arse.” “Tell ...

Author: Bill Cox She weeps and Tony’s heart aches like never before. He knows that he will do absolutely anything to protect her. He holds her close and she burrows into his chest, her sobs echoing through his ribcage. “It’s going to be all right,” Tony whispers, ...

Author: James Sallis Head propped against the bed’s headboard, half a glass of single malt at hand, the dying man readies himself for the nothingness that awaits him. He imagines it as a pool of something warm, light oil perhaps, in which he will float lazily out from the ...

Author: Rachel Handley “This is a terrible idea” I said. My sentience had arrived after the first gingerbread brick was lain. I was now almost fully formed and, with nothing else to do, I told the witch exactly what I thought of her so-called house. “Be quiet, house,” ...

Author: Lynne Curry I didn’t get the house. Not the Lexus, the lake lot, the gilded dental practice or the damn espresso machine I bought him the year he started molar sculpting. I got a one-room cabin. Ninety miles south of Anchorage. No plumbing. A stove that belches ...