Beget
Author: Rick Tobin
Deuteronomy 28:41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
Just a toe. That’s all. Just her pointed phalanx appears. No more, at first. She plays me like a fly cast trout. She can’t be real, ...
Big Brother
Author: Mark Joseph Kevlock
I needed a big brother, so I disguised myself and went back in time to become him. I'd lived all this before, as my kid self, so it was pretty easy. I just had to remember the details along the way.
First was a mustache like the Village ...
One in a Thousand
Author: Mina
Major Tom Valence knew it was a one-way trip yet he felt at peace, euphoric even. Soon he would be with them again - Liv and Susie. He sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Tetrad. The agony of the absence of his wife and daughter had left him hollow - Susie had ...
Trick of the Light
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
He gently places a finger on her hand.
“Now try. Over there. No, don’t look back, you won’t see him. Look in the window. He’s just to the left of Mrs. Bakker, kissing her shoulder.”
Krista stares around the room, at Connor, then at the ...
Connectivity Issues
Author: John McLaughlin
Semi-Finals Status Update: Seven-in-Absentia vs The Last Dragon. One hour remaining!
The text crawls across Danny's white suburban bedroom ceiling--bright and blood red--and descends behind the armoire on the far wall. He ignores it and continues ...
Little Silver Pyramid
Author: J Frank Wright
Clank. Clank. Clank.
The little silver pyramid hovered to the kitchen sink. Two metal arms emerged and started doing the dishes.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Dan thought that something must have broken when it crashed in the ...
Prodigal
Author: Jamie Bainbridge-Wood
One- The Ghost is Another Machine
The point of this exercise is observation but I'm distracted, observing that Dwyer's return will cause some surprise.
The house he has chosen sits at the top of a steep slope, between two snowy hills. The ...
Thought Criminals
Author: Alicia Cerra Waters
My mother came home from work that night with the corners of her mouth turned towards her chin. She took off her yellow fluorescent vest and hardhat, which was scarred with dirt and the colorless remains of the unionist sticker she’d scratched ...
The Cosmic Patriot
Author: Steven Watson
“It’s not the end of the world.”
This was how Clara consoled herself: by affirming the exact opposite. For it was the end of the world. The earth was dying, and only a small mountainous corner remained habitable. A band of several hundred humans ...
Yellow
Author: Jes Sanders
“This is war now.” Murfree Tain blinked his retinal feed off and scowled at the cityscape sliding beneath him. He couldn’t bear watching his company’s stock dive any further.
His companion, Bill, clicked a Zendorphin dispenser that doled out one ...
Apples
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
The moon picks out bright lines from the vegetation-shrouded hulks at the sides of the road. High above, our Night Ravens duel with watch drones. So high that any kills fall outside our ken, leaving the night undisturbed.
“A long time ...
I Noticed the Roads Were Empty
Author: Janet Shell Anderson
I married for money, wasn’t much good at it. I used to hunt.
Last week, driving west from Valentine on 20, I noticed the roads were empty. Not a stock truck, horse van, pickup. Not an old rez beater, though we’re pretty far south of Pine ...
Easy Pickings
Author: Palmer Caine
Every hair on Dexter’s body stood erect, his pupils dilated and his ears began to twitch. Xians’ caused this reaction in humans when on the hunt, it was defensive. In memory time would slow, every sense overloaded.
He’d been working the Plaza all ...
The Wobble of the Light
Author: Alzo David-West
Allen Etter was stranded in deep space. The propulsors of his small hypercraft had exploded, and he was thrown off course. His initial hope had been to make geostationary orbit in the gravity field of the nearby artificial planetoid Beta until the ...
Immunity
Author: Rick Tobin
“May I speak frankly?” Preston Daniels stood before Secretariat Chrisom, ruler straight, staring at the Marscape beyond his superior’s office windows.
“With care, Preston. You always have delicate propositions, often nothing to do with our mission: ...
The Peace Broker
Author: Helena Hypercube
‘Ndrea pressed herself into the blood-soaked ground and swore under her breath. She had never had a peace-brokering mission go this badly wrong before. Someone in the Central Office had severely underestimated the volatility of the situation, and ...
Impression Encounter
Author: David Henson
As I take in the barren, alien landscape in orange and tan, I notice someone at the top of a steep rise not far away. I shout for help, wave one of the crutches I've fashioned from a landing strut. The figure disappears over the hill. I struggle back ...
Home Ground
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
Sweating people are moving quickly down the High Street, frantically making angular edifices with cardboard boxes and spray paint. I’m working with Heather, rigging cat’s cradles of fishing line between the trees and bushes in the little ...
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