Author : Grace Franzen In 1721 Mary Margaret Thornton is sitting in the shallows of the river when the dairy farmer’s son finds her. He rises often this early, on the breath of dawn, specifically of a purpose to find her before anyone else does. When he sees her in the ...

Author : Alicia Cerra Waters Don’t they understand that we have no room for them here? Think about it. We are on the only blue planet in a galaxy of gas giants and colossal boulders caught in orbit, most of which are about to be swallowed up by their swollen, burning suns. ...

Author : David Maskill Look below: gravitational lensing but with added sugar. Ocean currents were rendered hazy and golden. The whole planet was swathed in caramelised whorls of cloud turned syrup. Even the stars twinkled a little too excitedly. “Have you been ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’m reading his thermo-image through the door before he knocks: average human temperature distribution, no suspicious cool patches. Something chilly in his hand. Tucking the Sternig pulse pistol into the back of my trousers, I open the ...

Author : Samuel Stapleton I stared at our instructor, unsure if I’d heard him correctly. “You want me to what?” He sighed and stepped back. “Everyone here believes that any human that loses contact with Interface3 would suffer irreversible neurological and physical ...

Author : R. S. Alexander v1: Derek Taylor was sipping coffee in a Los Angeles restaurant when a recruiter from XygmaCorp walked past his table, accidentally brushing against his shoulder. 57,143 down votes Top-rated comment: “Wait, this is happening in a world with ...

Author : Rab Ferguson Here at the end, there’s the last of everything. The last boiling kettle, the last ringing of guitar strings, the last letting go of hands. This is the last writing. It’s hard to know what to say. I could make something from the end of us. Draw some ...

Author : David Henson "So, the Missus qualifies for a full body refresh, but you don't," Georgie says solemnly, looking first at Beverly then Michael. "Too much HoverGolf, not enough volunteer work?" "Something like that," Michael says. "I should've changed my ways when they first ...

Author : Peter Merani I like to watch it all go dark. To see if the world knows from up here how the evening folds in half. I used to think each individual sunset was its own glorious diamond. I would run to the top of the hill with Chawa as the sun flared up and flickered vibrant magentas ...

Author : Bob Newbell Dalynn sighed as the space elevator approached Depot #4 of the Ring Around The World. He had had some trepidation from the moment he'd stepped onto the elevator in Pontianak, Indonesia. He'd been invited to come to high lunar orbit by his friend, ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Papa Six, touchdown.” Inside the wall, the grounds are laid out formally, in concentric rings. Each ring of growth is separated from the next by a ring of lawn. Big trees, then little trees with flowers on, then brambles and ...

Author : Desmond White It was maybe the smell – the stench of it – which wafted from its corridor invisibly, or on a bad morning very visible, a blushing mist. The cloying reek, like a bouquet of rich, rotting flowers, congealed on windshields and the grease on fingertips ...

Author : Beck Dacus I found the button too late. My mother was killed 36 years before I found it, when I was twelve. Some psychopath piece of shit cornered her at the pharmacy and stabbed her in the stomach, taking away the medication she was getting for my sister’s ...

Author : Thomas Desrochers It was the most alien scene Naobi had ever witnessed, a deep fissure in the cultural settling tank of Paris that the light never touched. It had been an enormous theater once, but the seats had been replaced with a jungle of private booths on ...

Author : Sara Labor “They don’t respect us. Never have and never will.” Karen kicked a mound of dirt to release some of her pent up anger. Her temper was one of her many flaws; she heard this all the time. “They don’t need to respect their tools,” pointed out ...

Author : Gray Blix I'm awake before dawn. No alarm, but my internal clock must have a reason. Another job interview today? Can't remember. Might as well get up, check messages, have something to eat. Might as well get up. Can't move. Frozen in my favorite sleeping ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I hear the mugger running off as the echoes of the gunshot fade. Opening my eyes, I’m still standing. There’s a bleeding body at my feet that hadn’t been there when I closed my eyes. He rolls over. “Michael!” He looks up, tears ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Jessica sat in the corner booth at the back of O'Tooles with the best sight line to the door. She wanted to see him when he arrived, Taylor Jacobs, highschool sweetheart. Well, he might have been. He'd always been polite, and they grew ...