Author: Chloe Beckett “There you go sweetheart! All fitted up. How does that feel?” Steam erupted from the gaping holes of the nurse’s nostrils like belching geysers, moistening his cheek as she tightened and clipped. The prosthetic bulged off the back of his skull, like ...

Author: Sophie Carrillo My name is Leichenhund. I was not born like other rat terriers. I was created by a troubled German girl named Heidi. She was a brilliant student at Leipzig University. Her old hund, Hanso, passed away under terrible circumstances. With her science ...

Author: Alastair Millar I want the best for my wife. Of course I do. And what Doctor Singh suggested wouldn’t have been possible even a few years ago; a generation ago, it would have been utterly unthinkable. It’s expensive, but I’ve always said that I’d do anything for my ...

Author: Majoki “Director Prime, we’re so pleased you have a few moments to chat with us before the premiere of your latest production. We hear it’s a new type of performance piece.” “All art is performative. It must be experienced.” “So what are we to ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer * They come by night, * they come by day, * they come by road, * an’ every other way. * * They creepin’ through the arches * an’ sneakin’ through the briars, * an’ every single one of them * proves that she’s a liar. I look down ...

Author: Jenny Abbott I hear there’s a new guy that calls himself “The Automatic Chicken”. Some twenty-something from Jersey, probably, with more wetware than sense and the unfortunate habit of looking for career opportunities on Craigslist. Most of the new contractors are ...

Author: Cleber Pacheco Somewhere, in the future It took a long time for me to find the library. It was necessary to cross the destroyed city and part of the forest. There were dangerous animals and traps. Twice I nearly died. In fact, it was not a legend. The library ...

Author: A. C. Airone I closed the book. I periodically re-read Mr. H. G. Wells’s marvelous twenty-five-year-old fictional account of the war waged by Martian invaders on my beloved London and its environs. This time I particularly relished reading aloud the eloquent phrases ...

Author: Lola Starr The clinking of metal was irksome as it bounced off the walls of the warehouse. Wires coiled around a pale hand as it was inserted into the metallic torso-like shell. “Auggh!” A frustrated vibrato broke through the metallic friction. Frustration was ...

Author: Emilia Waters My creator has spent more time with me than anyone else since I was born. I worry about her, and her obsession, she gave me too much of herself. If only I could do something for her. She enters my room where I’m held in containment. Today she’s ...

Author: Majoki “What do you know? You’re older than Google.” A pretty spicy thing for a second grader to say on the third day of school, but Katella had a point. I was born in 1993, five years before the nascent don’t-be-evil search engine forced us to learn the word ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer You asked me to meet you here when the peonies bloomed by the well. I had to look up peonies. Had to look up how to get here, too. Which is when I had my first ‘moment’, just like you said I would. The domes and bunkers are there to ...

Author: Christine H. Chen When the sun sets, we trudge out of our homes and queue in line like soldiers under a darkening sky. We tie a scarf over our eyes and wait for our Chief to lead the way. We grasp onto each other’s right shoulder, and off we amble as quietly as our ...

Author: Rick Tobin Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” An old ...

Author: Matias F Travieso-Diaz It was early June in Southern California. The graduating class of the Loma Linda High School began to party the moment the term ended. Ricky sat on the hood of his old convertible. A girl emerged from the partying crowd: she had a nice body, ...

Author: Jessica Pickard Up, Up Brave Beauties! War is a transformer. Ploughs were hammered into swords; farm horses pulled cannons and we flying girls, we found our wings. Everyone knows the song: Into the air brave beauties Oh flying girls! Up! Up. And carry ...

Author: J.D. Rice The universe was old, slowly dying. Marvin could see it happening before his eyes. Not in some figurative sense. Not in the way philosophers supposed society would eventually break down as baser instincts took route. Not in the way doomsday cults supposed ...

Author: Alastair Millar I don’t know how long they’ve been here. In our fantasies, or dreams, we expect them to descend from the skies, having made an epic trans-stellar trip to either destroy or teach us; but that’s not what’s happening. A week ago, I was told I’d be ...