A Mother's Love

Author : Jinque

"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

Author : Kenny R. Brown

"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

Author : C. Hale

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

Author : Jeff Deignan

As I floated, I thought to myself, “Poems end this way.”

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

Author : J.R.Blackwell, Staff Writer "I just can't believe they dumped me!" Relex squealed into the Audio Tube. "Relex, Silkstring, Bloodpuff, you have to calm down." Relex mothers voice chimed evenly through the Audio Tube. "It's been three sun cycles now, and you need to start the ...

Lost City, 1946

Author : Dustin Neal

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

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The air was heavy with the stench of decay and turbulent with dust. The walls reverberated with the sound of treads biting into the war torn asphalt outside. A man half crouched and half ran from one shattered row house to the next through holes ...

The Second Society

Author : Pyai (aka Megan Hoffman)

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

Author : Duncan Shields

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

Author : David Zhou

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

Author : J. R. Salling

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

Author : J. S. Kachelries

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

Author : LaTosha Hall

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

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Zero hour is struck on an instrument of time beyond the grasp of mortal men. Above the sky over the northern pole of the earth, a great creature slowly shakes off the remnants of a rather lengthy slumber. Eight bristling legs unfold and stretch, ...

Next of Kin

Author : Ashley Bonkajo

The old woman had not been seen for quite a while. Nor was it unusual for a person to not be seen for months at a time. Robot or (for the very wealthy) android assistants handled the details of day to day life.

The old woman had not answered the door ...

Renegotiations

Author : Benjamin Fischer

Basajaun sighed and rubbed the sweat from under his eyes. A shadow had fallen across reflected rays of his private sun.

“What is it you want?” he asked, blinking and groggy.

The shade resolved itself into the slim image of a woman ...

Necessary Fictions

Author : John Mierau

"Mr. Jerome?"

Pen and thoughts still pressed to the page, the writer looked up: a tall man in an old-fashioned suit weaved his way through the happy hour crowd.

"David Jerome. It's really you!"

Another fan? God, why can't people be ...

Threshold

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The big bike tugged at his gloves, pleading for the roll of the wrist that would send the 6 cylinders into a frenzy of combustion and release. Patience. He eased out of the garage, coasting down the parking ramp onto the drive before gently throttling ...

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