One in a Trillion
“One more time. CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?â€
“Ugh, would you please STOP already?â€
“H-hello?â€
“Did it ever occur to you that simply no one’s interested in what you have to say?â€
“You can hear me! You can hear my ...
The Panhandler
“Begging,†and the cop practically spat the word, “is not allowed in Silver City.â€
Nelson grinned and shook his plastic cup. It jingled, filled with a motley collection of transit tokens, poker chips, and low-end credit ...
Refugees
The little boy was sitting in a chair that was clearly designed for an adult. His feet, which didn’t quite reach the floor, swayed back and forth like two tiny crisscrossing pendulums. His arms were wrapped tightly around some sort of red stuffed animal ...
Confessions of a Cannibal Sun
A little flare.
Just a flash on the other side of the sun, our sun, and it was gone.
That was when we knew it had escaped.
We made it in a generator the size of a grown man's thumb. Just a little thing, a little spark. But it was a ...
A Mother's Love
"How much further is it, sweetheart?" from the backseat of the car, Mitchell stroked his hand across baby Willow's tiny head, slightly mussing her soft black hair.
"At least two hours. The traffic ahead looks even worse than it has been. Curse you for ...
The Visitor
"Hello there; it's so nice to see you!"
The door slid open noiselessly on a set of hidden tracks. The old man gestured expansively, welcoming his guest.
"I've been hoping that you would visit for quite a while now. I've hardly had any company ...
The Organ War
After the Organ War, Jerald was called the Last Donor. An odd title for sure, considering that he was actually the first to do a lot of things.
Most importantly, he was the first to figure out that we were nothing but walking organ banks being raised by ...
The Highwayman
As I floated, I thought to myself, “Poems end this way.â€
It was easy enough, in the beginning. People expected thieves to use lasers, the sonic tech, or even small atomics for holdups, and security would check for that sort of thing. Security ...
The New Girl
Lost City, 1946
I had just rested my head on Billy's shoulder when he asked me if I "believed." Looking up into the cold, starlit sky, I didn't stumble long with my response. "Yeah, Billy, I believe in God." His eyes grew fierce as he pushed my head off of his warm, flannel ...
Hope
The Second Society
Most of her thoughts were consumed in blind panic, so she wasn’t really away of what was happening until she had dug herself halfway out of the dirt. She was wearing the dress her sister had put her in to be a bridesmaid last spring, and her face ...
Time Trap
Seven years of work here in the KT and the worst that’s happened to me is that I lost a fingertip in a time trap. It’s still there, falling to the floor in a three second loop over and over again for eternity over in Cardiff. The victim is still turning ...
The Plum Eater
It started, as many such things start, with a plum.
The fruitseller first noticed the plum eater when he came by the same stall not once, not twice, not thrice, but fifteen times in the same cycle. He would always pick the juiciest plums; freshly cloned ...
Discovered Upon Drawing a Curtain
A large ripe melon rests on an operating table. Members of the surgical team stand in the wings, preparing long serrated knives. Spotlights illuminate chunks of crushed ice that slip down the sides of the patient. My mouth becomes moist in sympathy. I take ...
The Danger of Hubris
I am very, very sorry. What else can I say? If it means anything, at least I will die before you. I probably only have a few hours left...just enough time to tell you what happened, and to ask for your forgiveness.
I am (actually, was) a graduate ...
Mobius Revisited
The three children stared at the table top.
"How's it doin' that?" the fair haired boy whispered, reaching two fingers out towards the dull metal object floating above the center of the cracked table. The only girl of the group, tall and gangly, ...
Guardian
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