The Boast

Author : Asher Wismer The Boast sat on the hill and watched the man-things playing with fire. They burned themselves, each other, and finally set the forest alight. The fire didn't reach the Boast, so it just watched. The Boast sat on the hill and watched the man-things ...

Wintermen

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer My skin is a grid of white tiles. I’m on the moon, I’m naked, and I’m outside. I’ve been here for hours waiting for my target. I turn my cue-ball eyes up to the sky. I don’t need to breathe but the batteries that power the whirring ...

A Moment of Uninspiring Clarity

Author : Ryan Somma Wyndallo took an unexpected breath of cold, sterile air. He opened his eyes and saw his exhale condense against the glass door to the capsule, which was smoothly lifting away from him. He registered the air outside the capsule was colder than inside, but ...

Gordon's Face

Author : Glenn Blakeslee Janie and I sat on the rocks in the afternoon sun, overlooking the shallow valley and, beyond it, Gordon's face on the mountainside. We waited until the sightseer buses left the parking lot, and walked down the path to the viewing area. It was ...

Love Hurts

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Street-lamps outside lit her bare flesh an iridescent blue, but he knew in the absence of light, she was chiseled obsidian, black as the sun was bright. "It's been a while," her voice low and gentle, "I wasn't sure you'd come back." Logan ...

From The Journal of Finneas Q. Sassafrass

Author : Tony Pacitti “You ever hear of a fellow named, Jules Verne?” the man asked me. “Sure I heard of him. Frenchman. Done borrowed an idea or two from him from time to time.” “It’s funny you should say that,” he said. The man smiled such that it didn’t do much in the ...

The Dovecote

Author : Elizabeth L. Brooks Every morning after the war, Joshua went up to the roof to take care of the dovecote. The chore gave him an excuse to get away from the pounding resentment and fear that throbbed through the living spaces below. He enjoyed it when they needed ...

A Line in the Sand

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer I was sound asleep in my San Agustin home when I was awakened at three in the morning by a member of Homeland Security. Without explanation, I was unceremoniously whisked from my comfortable bed and hustled onto a LJ40 Learjet. It ...

Locked Out

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Someone’s hacked my bank accounts and left me out in the cold. My chip is being recognized as zero balance. None of the doors work. I don’t even have enough money left in my account for the surcharges that would let me into a public ...

Crossed Wires

Author : Milly Rowe “Now all we do is cross these two wires, and were done!” Anna slammed the lid of the robots head down and turned to her student. “That’s all? Two wires!” DJ was stunned. How could reprogramming a robot be so simple? DJ had always assumed it would be far ...

Long-Distance Relationship

Author : William Tracy A woman sat in a surreal coffee shop. The floor was paved with rough slabs of hewn granite. The small, round chairs and small, round tables were solid oak. The walls were of the same stone as the floor, punctuated by ornate stained glass windows. The ...

Data-Entry

Author : Peter Pincosy “Accuracy is the primary road to access” A large white room with banks of computers lined up in rows, was home to Primary English. Sanjay had worked here for three years. He'd won the lottery, the chance to immigrate to the United States. His ...

Just Friends

Author : C.S. Germain “Why did you pick me, out of all those big, strong guys?” asked Richard as he walked out of his tiny apartment on Neal Street. “Because you are a good person. No amount of health or youth can replace that.” was the immediate reply from within his ...

Code of Ethics

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “So, that’s him?” asked Benjamin Goldberg, the reporter from the World Post that was assigned to cover the Berlin Massacre. “Yes,” replied Doctor Ludwig. “That’s the scum that brought the Procyon Virus to Earth. It’s killed twenty ...

Biological Relay

Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer The Shian are a spacefaring race. They are both reasonably telepathic and fairly omniscient: they are also our allies. We - that is, the human race, nothing to do with me personally - built a machine that taps the same frequencies as a Shian ...

Ferryman Father

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer

I’m thinking of my daughter LaHayne and the upcoming marriage. It’ll be her third.

Her other two husbands have met the new fiancee and they like him. They’ll all live together in a series of connected apartments in the cave wall. Modest, ...

House For Sale

Author : Steve Davidson "Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!" I couldn't stop my head from repeating that over and over and over again. Every time I tried to reboot my thought processes, all I managed was a brief "I don't freakin believe this", before returning to my yoga-like ...

Guinea Pigs

Author : Jeremy M. Hall “Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen of Third Platoon, Alpha Company, Harod's Harriers, ” Sergeant Major Clarkson intoned, “you have become the official guinea pigs for the outfit. If you look at the table in front of you, you will notice that there ...

Random Story :

  • Zealot

    Author: Ádám Gerencsér I refuse to believe that you don’t …