Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Rebecca stood in the middle of her little gallery and surveyed her work. She'd hoped her recent direction was going to be different, maybe spark some kind of reaction from this sleepy little town, but the series hadn't gotten anything more ...

Author: David Henson I regain consciousness in a small hut made from sweet-smelling grass and blue sticks. A male garbed in the same type of grass stands over me. When he notices my eyes are open, he looks away and begins clicking and whistling. I ask about my crewmates. He ...

Author: Ian Hill Affin slipped and slid over the lumpy white slopes. Her hair hung clotted with curdy chunks, and irritating crescents of tallow lingered under her fingernails; most of her skin was hidden under smeared wax; her clothes were heavy with clinging runoff. After ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer The old Queen sits on the eve of her twentieth birthday and speaks to her yellow-eyed daughter and their legs they drip from the edge of the huge deck where once aircraft lurched and fell up and into a sky of the deepest floss-streaked ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The cube of recycled plastic is labelled ‘Egg Mayonnaise’ and filled with a yellow paste. I don’t know what ‘Mayonnaise’ is, but egg’s one of the healthy stuffs listed on the Daily Reader’s ‘Top 20 Stuffs to Eat’. Always liked the Reader; ...

Author: Ken Carlson “It’s not that complicated,” said Captain Briggs, “my ship has been called to an outpost that we should reach in two hours’ time.” “Sounds simple enough,” replied his wife, Anita, beautiful in the simple, yet elegant way most people are not. Seated ...

Author: Ian Hill Marble mulch crunched underfoot as the priest struggled to remain upright. There was such a weight on his shoulders, on his head, on his heart. The velvet folds of his robe pressed painfully into his body like cutting belts, and the brass icons that dangled ...

Author: Elle B Sullivan "Morning" "Goodmorning to you too," I say smiling and turning around to push my back against your chest as you wrap your arms around me. "How did you sleep?" "I think well - all things considering." "Hmmm," you grumble, nuzzling your lips into ...

Author: Matthew Lee Chinese-occupied Philippines, 2034. The palette in Xinghua’s hand was a burst of pumpkin, butterscotch, and persimmon. The colours crept up her arm to her slim elbow. A group of four left the cathedral. With practiced technique, she scraped four ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The wind up here is gentle, bringing the smell of summer fields from the uplands. Below my bloodied feet the valley stretches from side to side as far as I can see, so wide I can only just make out the verdant walls that line the far ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer The twins lay entwined, shuddering beneath the sodden pail that unfurled from the peak of the seventh hill that ghosted at their back. Babes, innocent as a mothers whisper, cast into the mighty rivers silted shoulder by the paranoid dreams ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Bennett stood out on the sweeping plateau of rock a mile above the ocean and watched as the planet's orange sun dipped below the horizon. Beneath him, miles upon miles of tunnels and caverns carved out of the living rock by a hive of the ...

Author: Richard M. O'Donnell, Sr. At near light speed, the starship Genesis sailed into the wormhole. Two-point-five nanoseconds later, the ship neared a rip in the wormhole, a rip that had allowed the earthlings to glimpse the multiverse on the other side. Genesis, in ...

Author: Josie Gowler I slam on the retro brakes and skim past the first skyscraper, getting thrown forward and to the left in my harness as I dive within metres of the glassy face. The ship jolts into the gap between the first skyscraper and the jagged remains of the next ...

Author: David Henson The hunt has been good. Zolt feels inside the pouch stitched with sinew to his belt. He removes a long, curved tooth and touches it to his forehead. The charm has worked well, though the tracking took him farther than he intended. Now the light crouches ...

Author: Hari Navarro There’s a galaxy tucked away neatly within a grain of sand on a beach that stretches out within the warm memory of my youth. In it a planet and on it a palace and a windowless corridor that leads to an intricately carved door that opens out and into a ...

Author: Irene Montaner Their planet was insignificant. A pint-sized rock orbiting a small star in the middle of its life cycle. It was geologically diverse and had a rich atmosphere that had allowed life to thrive both on water and land masses. Their technology was ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The laboratory is quiet at last. Carrie crouches down to retrieve a champagne bottle. As it’s not quite empty, she drinks the rest and stands up, pausing to let a lightheaded moment pass. Dropping the bottle into the bin, she turns and ...