Author: Janet Shell Anderson The reason I haven’t heard from my brother Jonathan is he’s dead. I made a mistake. It’s foggy, one of those autumn fogs that grow out of the Potomac and everything seems strange; our empty streets feel like someone’s there, but you can’t ...

Author: David Henson “I'm going to lay down and take a nap,” I tell my wife. “You mean ‘lie down.’ ‘Lay’ is a transitive verb requiring an object.” “OK, OK. You've been popping smart pills again obviously.” “The etymology of ‘pill-popping’ is interesting, Walt. It ...

Author : Rick Tobin Dear Humans: By now, you will be fully aware we are living among you. In some ways, in the last four hundred years, we have become you. No, there was no strident message or headline. This change was inevitable, just as Cro-Magnon’s gradual but ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Funny how the roar of wind fades into the background after a while. I loved the wind roar in my rag-top coupe. Drove that antique everywhere, pretty much spent my late teens in it, met the love of my life while driving it, and waved ...

Author: Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “It’s not that I hate being rich. I love it. It’s just that I feel undeserving. I wish my situation wasn’t so unique.” said Carl Whittaker 4 to his therapist. “You mean being the first and likely only billionaire clone to exist?” ...

Author : David C. Nutt “Angel Cordoza, Operator 7157, signing on: 0700 EST 11 Jan.” “Good morning L90-05 this is control, do you read?” “Affirmative control. I know why you’re calling.” “Uh-huh. And if you know why, why don’t you just complete the mission?” “I want ...

Author: Josh Thompson The grey of the crowd’s grieving clothes blended with the concrete of the square in the cold morning haze. The sunlight filtering through the smog was enough to wash out the street level neon and the giant screens far above, but not enough to warm the ...

Author: Matt Poll “Don’t point at the bird, Larry honey,” Jared hissed, half-slapping his daughter’s finger out of the horizontal. She flashed him a comical tilt-headed glare of hurt, which he responded to with a comical arched-eyebrow glare of fatherly ...

Author: Rick Tobin Aaron’s dark green Volvo continued in the interstate fast lane, at the legal speed limit, when suddenly a bright red SUV swerved around him, honking, almost striking the front of his car. He smiled as the aggressive driver sped ahead, then veered suddenly ...

Author: Adam Fout “All of it.” The creature’s look is quizzical. My helmet inhibits no sounds; I feel that my words are quite clear. My hands shake. My gloved fist smashes the surface of his table. “I need all of it. Not some. Not a bit. Not most. All. Is this a ...

Author:  Julian Miles, Staff Writer I land with a crunch that tells me the remaining organic ribs in my left side need replacing. “I bet that hurt, Shields.” Fast footsteps betray his next move. I brace, left arm tight. Sure enough, Manny lands a running kick that ...

Author : J.D. Rice The worn grandfather clock stood idly in the corner, looking out of place against the stale, concrete wall. Its slow and steady ticking echoed quietly around the room, breaking up the silence between the room's two occupants. Sitting behind a white-washed ...

Author : Michael Holt "This gives a whole new meaning to the term peep show don't you think?” said, Trayden. "Mr. Rice while we enjoy your humor you really must get your rest, we have some more tests for you tomorrow." said the intercom above the doorway. "I really ...

Author : Kent Rosenberger “It’s happening,” announced Saul Quick from two minutes ago. “Is everybody ready? We’re only going to get one pass at this.” “Who cares?” sniped Saul Quick from sixty-six years ago, his grungy concert shirt in terrible need of a wash. “What does ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters Let me be clear: there is reality, even when there is not. What I am writing here exists. It is both linear and classical. It is on paper, and it is not. It’s on paper if you print it. But you cannot, with certainty, proclaim that ...

Author : Matthew J. Beckman The Deputy stood in front of the patched screen door, staring down at Danny Willis. Moths flickered around the porch light. “Were you up there three nights back? In the canyon?” Danny licked his chapped lips. A moth landed on the side of the ...

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “So why’d you join the off-world diplomacy exchange?” buzzed Zazzy through his translator. His mandibles glistened and his iridescent bright-purple eyestalks waved back and forth like windshield wipers in a light rain, scanning my face. ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Jolla looks toward the setting sun: “A million light years from home and we still instinctively count ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four, ‘lots’. Our territories are virtually limitless, yet our minds still consider a horizon as the end of the ...