Author : M. Irene Hill Today’s sunrise is a Chinese watercolor painting, with inky tree branches in the foreground of an ombre sky. Below a band of monochrome cloud, a thin line of cinnabar melts into pink chrysanthemum in rhythmic balance. I imagine that a bird’s eye view ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters The moon stares down as I stand on the beach next to what once was the ocean. Powerless to control the tide, or anything at all, the moon seems sad. This is conjecture on my part. The moon hasn’t said anything lately, so for all I know ...

Author : Dylan Otto Krider Talmey is not a pervert, just very lonely. He tried to get dates, really he did. With the computer business, he didn’t have time. Plus, he was shy and -- he could admit this – ugly. But a guy has certain needs; for sex, yes, of course, but female ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer It has always been the way that the skies inspired images of freedom and escape from the troubles of the now. “The sky belongs to none”, as my grandfather used to say. We’ve had Eflubian motherships and Targamor raidcraft, Claflandian God-discs and ...

Author : Anthony Francis Hariq realized she’d wandered into their territory the moment it was too late to go back. She’d turned too early, into the alley to the abandoned school, a blasted block of creaking swings and dirty chainlink the city had let fall ...

Author : David C. Nutt “Give me a good reason why I should not demote you, Sub-lieutenant.” “Excellency, I followed the mission parameters to the letter. I do not understand why the creatures reacted so violently.” “Did you manifest as an older white male with upper ...

Author : Kraig Conkin The gray skinned youths standing at the edge of the platform cheered when the silver saucer broke the clouds and descended towards them. Upon landing, Winkus popped from the hatch and ran to meet his schoolmates. “Did you do it?” Tizdic, leader ...

Author : David C. Nutt “You think I’m crazy?” Sammy stopped hammering the board he was working on and turned to the old man. “Just because your building a boat dock in the middle of a Kansas wheat field, 417 miles from the ocean? Let’s just say I think you’re a tad bit ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Do you need to have a defensive engagement but can't afford it? We can help. UNITED DEFENCE is the acknowledged leader in warfare solutions throughout the Milky Way. From terrorist suppression to continent-spanning strategic ...

Author : Malcolm Carvalho “Do you have to leave so soon, Arun?” Arun slipped an arm under Eliya’s head, allowing her to snuggle closer to him. “Eli, that’s the nature of my job. I can’t stop at just one place.” “Hell, why not?” Eliya said. “You’ve already set up the ...

Author : R. W. Warwick I ran from the parking area up to the back of the queue. It was huge. I tapped the shoulder of the woman in front of me. “Why is it so busy today?” I asked. She half turned but didn’t face me. “What rock have you been under? It’s always busy ...

Author : Travis Gregg The snow was falling gently all around, big thick snowflakes that stuck to everything. It was the first real snow of winter and in a few weeks the whole area would be under a couple feet. I'd been out an hour before sunrise, my joints stiff and aching ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer June looked up as the diner door opened. There was Jack, ten-fifteen every morning like clockwork. Same dark, carefully pressed single-breasted suit, always with his trench coat folded over his left arm, fedora perched on top of his ...

Author : Tim McDaniel The ceiling opened and the Priest Judge Arbitrator descended into the Control Center. Tloygruu bobbed his head up and down the correct number of times, but one hand snuck down to tug on his genitalia. There was no need for concern or worry, he ...

Author : Gray Blix Glastonbury Tor was cordoned off by military, of course, but one hundred and fifty metres below tens of thousands coursed through the town and fields east, where a festival was underway. Costumed performers from Renaissance faires, popular in Somerset, ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’m pulling taters when I hear the bell and the rhyme starts pounding in my head. I scatter the haul as my legs take off of their own accord, carrying me with them. Run, run, run, The snuffymen come! No time to hide Just dive ...

Author : Chris Lee Jones My twenty-first birthday, and I've got him a gift he can't refuse. He's older than me and I know that bothers him. He hasn't expressed as much in words, of course; he's not that kind of guy. But he's my kind of guy. "Wait a few minutes," I ...

Author : Beck Dacus I knew she was weird well before I talked to her. Why? Simple: she tripped. Nobody walked around without Antrips. These little computers in motors on your knees can predict when you’re unbalanced, and the braces connected to them around your upper and ...