The Perfect Guy

Author : Sam Davis Today was the day, Kari decided. Today she was going to tell Abe. She was going to have a drink and work up the nerve and send him a message and then he would come by and then she could just tell him. She could take her time and explain—Abe was a good ...

Nostalgia®

Author : John C. Osborn The shakes began to violently intensify. Janus couldn't bear it much longer, the nauseating craving, the blankness of mind, the emotional emptiness. He tightly gripped a long slender metallic canister that cost him a days worth of panhandling cash. His ...

Observation without Affection

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer She watched him, often, from the other side of his bedroom mirror, a floor to ceiling affair that allowed her the privilege of spectating from the comfort of her own space. He would come and go, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. He ...

Wake Up

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer We had created a society free of disease and violence. We had a society that was centered on fun and learning. We had a society that knew the difference between entertainment and education. We had cross-bred to the point that there ...

An Ounce of Prevention

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “If the human ambassador moves, kill him,” ordered the Torellian captain. His two security guards instantly leveled their phasers at Ambassador Dorn. Dorn smiled, and said to his security escort, “Men, if the Torellian guards shoot ...

The Steel Tree

Author : Glenn Blakeslee

It had taken us weeks to get there. My brother Phillip and I, carrying heavy packs, had joined with a group of pilgrims early in our journey. We'd wound our way through the ruins, followed the old freeways to the mountains which rimmed the coastal plain like ...

Have a good look, Mr. G.

Author : Q. B. Fox Bill had never been the sort of person who looked for the limelight. He was the sort of team player that kept his head down and worked hard; no doubt that’s why he had been selected for this mission. But it bothered him that he would be the first person in ...

It Feels Like

Author : Iva Koevska -Mommy, what does snow feel like? I’m in the kitchen taking care of the dishes after dinner. I turn around and there she is. My little daughter’s staring at some snowflake hologram. It’s as big as her head, a gorgeous illusion of perfect symmetry. One ...

IT!

Author : Kevin Hosey It was after him. Captain Kurt Avenel hadn’t seen the alien creature himself, but the last radio transmission from his first officer gave him a brief, panicked description: two meters tall with a reptilian body, razor-sharp teeth, and jagged claws. Their ...

The Quiegmans Take a Holiday

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer The massive ship hung motionless over the city, menacing in its silence. Below in the preternatural darkness the frightened population cowered in their homes, their offices, their automobiles. One thing was certain… death was ...

Sunday Dinners

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer He never got along with adults after the war. Only the children. I remember him needing to angle himself just a little bit to fit his wide shoulders through our front door. He was all grunts and one-word answers. He was married once but ...

Mission Earth

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer After the Great Energy Wars of the twenty third century, human civilization was almost non-existent. The human global population had been reduced from nine billion to a few hundred thousand. The original global superpowers, China, ...

Neo the Hampster

Author : Jeff McGaha A red-haired man walks directly up to the customer service counter. He carries in his right hand a metal cage with a tiny brown hamster inside. Reaching the counter, he drops the cage thoughtlessly, jostling the small creature inside. “Scuse me,” He says ...

Dave

Author : Erin Searles “Cats,”said Big Fat Dave. “It was cats that started it in this reality.” In his channel's feed I saw Archibald, Big Fat Dave's big fat cat, stretch as if in agreement. He continued: “You know how cats will watch something or someone crossing a room ...

Repurpose

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Harry nudged the body in the lobby with the toe of his boot, weapon unwaveringly pointed towards the head. Satisfied he was dead, Harry retrieved his knife and the man's keys, turned and carefully locked the front doors. The entrance ...

If You Say So

Author : Ilan Herman Koy, the sky-blue alien, explained to Jeff that life on earth was really an experiment conducted by him and his associates, an anthropological study of how life evolves from the molecular to the bird, or fish, or tiger, or man. “We planted the seeds of ...

Caught

Author : Amanda Baker Years ago, Christina stayed over at Emily’s house, and found herself belting out this awful pop song in the shower. Some boy band kind of thing. She didn’t remember the song; boy bands hadn’t been popular since the nineties, and she’d be hard pressed to ...

Tiddly-om-pom-pom

Author : Ian Rennie Matron moved almost silently from ward to ward. The faint silken brush of her passing made the nurses look up, meeting her eyes as she passed, exchanging glanced messages that said as much as conversations. The few awake patients did not look. Most of ...

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