Author: R. J. Erbacher I had just stepped into my shower, having had to wait a full five minutes for the water to become hot enough. It took forever for the water temperature to get up to at least tepid in my apartment. Usually, it was either freezing cold or scalding with ...

Author: Jennifer Peaslee The stale air of the Interplanetary Dynamics office reflected the collective mood of its desk jockeys. Ash Zendar, stewing in a stiff-collared uniform, barely glanced at the form in front of them before stamping approval for a three-cycle visit from ...

Author: S. Douglas Hall Doctor Hibberd’s shoulders slumped and he laid his clipboard on the table. The buzzing at his lab door overshadowed the normal beeps, clicks, and whirls from the lab around him. He ran his hands through his graying brown hair and adjusted his ...

Author: A.R. McHugh Diamonds won her as a child. Looking at sedimentary quartz under 200x magnification, she was fascinated by the possibility of so much clarity, such mineral perfection. Somewhere between her mother’s flashing ring and her father’s relentless pressure ...

Author: Julia Rajagopalan Bertrand Dent knew that the lotto was rigged. Everyone knew. Only paid actors won, or friends of the Lotto Commission. Still, Bertrand stood in line at the Station 14 lotto stand to buy a ticket. It was what everyone did when docking at a ...

Author: Majoki What was I thinking? Tiasmet could not put the thought—the picture—out of her head. The chipmunk with its shark-blank eyes and its panicked keening as the tictocs methodically circled and closed on it. The chipmunk should have been able to easily dash away. ...

Author: Jessica Pickard Once again Sam asked himself why he was standing here, in this field, miles out of town, staring into an increasingly dusky sky. Well he was here for the money of course. God knows he could use that right now. But he was also here, if he was ...

Author: John Adinolfi Caleb lived alone, as did Cole. Caleb by circumstance, Cole by choice. Trina had entertained a variety of live-in partners, but all were short associations. She lived alone. Each of their homes was unexceptional, except for sharing an ...

Author: Hillary Lyon With a well-worn key in hand, Bonnie unlocked the massive front door of her great-uncle Duran’s house. The place sat unoccupied since his passing; it had taken forever for his will to slog through probate. She’d been his favorite family member, and he, ...

Author: Alastair Millar Mandy was pretty, vivacious, and my next door neighbour; she’d pop round evenings or at weekends while my spouse was at work to swap gossip, recipes and just chat. But Marco didn’t mind – “you’re such a cliché,” he’d say, laughing, “her gay best ...

Author: David C. Nutt I had been working on lucid dreaming off and on for about a year. I never believed the goofier ends of the equation- alternate realities, astral projection, and all that other New Age hooey. All I wanted to do was control my own dream space. Maybe have ...

Author: Majoki Juan Dalderis was the creator of LinkJuice, the uber energy drink of the Internet, the black gold, the Texas Tea of web traffic. He could make or break any web platform or presence. He had the power of a techno god, but his mortal self fell seriously ill. A ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Walk with me.” The tall being turns away from Nohane, sweeping it’s cloak out of the way with a graceful, flowing move. Nohane sighs. These trivial, effortless competences are what betray the elder of elders no matter how they try to ...

Author: Daniel Rogers "Victor, make coffee and display the weather." I sank into my kitchen chair, scratching my messed-up mop of hair, wishing I'd gone to bed earlier. "You failed to obtain the recommended eight hours of sleep. It would be beneficial to have a cup of ...

Author: Julie Zack “Starlight, Starbright, First star I see tonight, Wish I may, Wish I might, Have this wish, I wish tonight.” Enid loved when her older sister, Tracy, spoke the words at bedtime. “Do you remember the stars?” Enid asked. “I do,” Tracy said, ...

Author: Colin Jeffrey Sara was sure she had looked away for only a moment. That was all it took. Sam had vanished from the playground. Clouds gathered heavily in the sky as panic gripped her throat. She yelled his name, over and again, her cries buffered by the ...

Author: Jo Gatenby Lara hauled on her dust demon’s reins, desperate to keep the stupid creature on the coaster track and in the race. Desari’s wyrm, Dynamo, surged past them, scalding her with desert sand that slipped under her face mask, choking her. With kicks and ...

Author: Melissa Kobrin “Annie, it looks like Santa brought you one more present!” Annie looked up eagerly from her nest of torn wrapping paper and new toys. The Christmas tree twinkled behind her, and outside the window the sun was barely beginning to peak over the ...