Author : John Pedersen I do beg your pardon, sir. Please forgive the inconvenience. Oh, no sir, I assure you we are not out of anything. Well, sir, the National Weather Service has issued an atomic advisory, and we must insist all our customers move away from the ...

Author : Eric Spery 27 December, 2033 A thin sunbeam streamed through a crack in the blinds. It lit John Kohl’s pregnant wife Angie as she snored quietly in bed. He sat at his desk drinking coffee. Watching her. His pack leaned against the door. Yet another ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters It's not easy being a psychopath. I don't care about others, but I also don't care about myself. I've never felt a connection, and I've always been curious about what would happen if I did certain things to people or animals. So, I did ...

Author : Rollin T. Gentry "Argh! You...you hammerhead-shark-looking son of a bitch!" I yelled aloud for the first time since I'd started playing this alien's stupid game. "You took the cows. You took all the cows?!" Steaks ... gone. Butter ... gone. And nothing to ...

Author : Neil Floyd We don't like to use that word. It sounds negative, don't you think? The whole procedure is much safer now. Please, try the caviar. It's real. No, I insist. Our motto explains it all: "Freedom From Form." Nobody uses their brain's full processing power. ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Just another day at the office, sitting on my ladybird, chatting with my blue owl friend. I named him Percy, and he’s smarter than your average owl. Which he should be, being that up until 09:16:32 this morning, he was the icon for my ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters Road-weary we pulled in and parked outside the motel office. This was our first time in the North East, and we weren't even sure exactly where we were. Somewhere outside Maine, I think. I looked out at the horizon, and it lit up twice, ...

Author : J.D. Rice My hand shakes as I desperately try to keep myself from pulling the trigger. I stare at the man who wears my husband’s face, my eyes filled with tears. He looks hurt. Concerned. Maybe even betrayed. So convincing. “Sarah, put the gun down. Please, ...

Author : Beck Dacus The week was ending. I was typing up my summary report, excited to enter the weekend and chill at the house with my girlfriend for a couple days. My spreadsheet was half-done when Bertin came up to my desk and “checked on me.” “How’s it going?” he ...

Author : Philip Berry My music teacher, Miss Herenka, gesticulated through the blue-tinged, sound-proofed glass. I watched her thin hands glide. Her voice came down from speakers in the circular ceiling of my training cell. “Jenna come on! It’s not enough to go through ...

Author : Riley S Meachem I passed a filling station the other day. It was covered in some sort of vine, kudzu maybe, and the roads were cracked, so no cars could get through. (Hey, remember cars? They used to be everywhere!) I stepped cautiously over bleached bones, picked ...

Author : DL Shirey I pound shots of espresso until my vision tinges brown as a sepia tint. The tip of my fat finger barely touches the skin of my thumb through the hole in the handle of the tiny cup, small and fragile like half an eggshell, yet it nests another stiff dose ...

Author : Kenny A Chaffin “What is it you would want to know?” the synthesized voice asked. Johnson scanned the cryptic and stonewall faces assembled around him and the computer screen before typing. “Who are you? Where are you from? How do we know this is not some prank, ...

Author : Edwin Tam “How will you do it with incomplete memory transfer from the subject?” “We have cultural references on file: I’ll fill in the gaps.” “But you’re supposed to infiltrate and integrate: there’ll be an offspring in the house. “ “Right, four feet tall with ...

Author : Travis Gregg "Goddamit Steve, will you hold the ladder?" Darius yelled down. He'd been burdened with Steve for three weeks now and things were getting worse. Reluctantly, almost begrudgingly, Steve sauntered over and put his hands on the ladder. Darius sighed. The ...

Author : Travis Gregg "So first things first," the man began, "there is no such thing as time traveling. I'll repeat it again for those of you who are a little slow on the uptake. There is no such thing as time traveling. The past is the past, you can't go back." The ...

Author : Beck Dacus In the middle of filing my taxes, I got a phone call. I hoped it would be some kind of relief from this stress, but it wasn’t to be; it was my wife’s lawyer calling, saying she wanted to meet about the settlement and matters of custody over lunch on ...

Author : Mark Cowling Alan studies his reflection in the bathroom cabinet mirror. His face seems wrong -- older, for a start. And unfamiliar in a way he can't define, like something put together by the police from eyewitness descriptions. He looks around the room, now ...