Author: John Overwood Mr. Smith slinks slowly into his seat. His eyes dart around the room, bulging slightly. His demeanor is awkward, his shoulders bunch together making him look small and compact. His hands are neatly folded into each other on top of his lap – strange how ...

Author: Alexander Condie A long time ago, when the vertical world was full of water and wonder, I lived in a city. A city perched above an endless void, made of white ore, and sustained by a God that lived above us. Though we do not remember exactly how we got there, and ...

Author: Shelly Jones Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a Kin Intermediary Device. Your KID is designed to fill the void when your child leaves home. KID is proven to prevent the loneliness and existential despair of empty nest syndrome. 1) Make sure your ...

Author: David Barber Insect morals, insect politics, insect Hamlet. Some notions do not translate well. Jomo had hired a theatre for the Jirt Princess. She, her human guide and her security swarm would be the only audience. They had to walk a short distance as there ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer A man far younger than his face sits in mist heavy clothes beneath the pulse of a cash-machine and asks you if what I am saying is a science fiction story or not? It’s not. It’s not. Rest easy. Science and fiction have not but one ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The man makes his way down the street with care. It’s the care of old age, where a misstep could lead to a fall. As I get closer, I see it’s also wariness. This man doesn’t trust the things about him. Up close, I see he’s not that old. He ...

Author: Mina Rozario I am lying on a sandy beach nestled somewhere in the arm of a spiral galaxy. Myriad stars loom above, mocking. /Always moping/, I hear Rania’s voice echo. /As if it’s that bad being the last human in existence—look at all the space you now ...

Author: Ruby Zehnder Dord was burning at both ends. "Quit flaming so much," his mother warned. "You're gonna go solid." Dord ignored her. He was young and full of energy. And besides, this whole solid thing. It was just something old flamers made up to scare the ...

Author: Riley Meachem The day I finally had enough of it all, I hiked with my rifle all the way to the old amusement park, shooting any of the slow-creatures I encountered. By this point, their faces had mostly been subsumed by the spores, so it was easy to separate them ...

Author: Shelly Jones It had been easy to crush the pills, sprinkling them over his pasta like parmesan. She had been surprised how easy: that he hadn’t noticed, that she felt nothing as he nodded off after dinner, collapsing on the couch, eyelids heavy, muscles limp. Still, ...

Author: Cesium The stone fell to earth some distance west of the city, in the grassy valley of a stream running between two hills, and it remained undiscovered for several days. Once news had filtered up to the university, an expedition was dispatched to investigate the ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer I walk into this thing. The big ugly sign calls it a private bar and it smells like badly washed groin and fizzing plastic. The wound on my shoulder and the one at the back of my right eye pulse and I unintentionally lean forward and ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The grey muffling my senses relinquishes it’s hold. I find myself lying in the same chair I sat down in. I’m in the same clothes. My digital chronograph tells me eight seconds have passed. I look to my other wrist. The vintage analogue ...

Author: A.M. Miles Somewhere in the Amazon Desert, a cactus bloomed in a fractured riverbed. Cara couldn’t take her eyes off it. Vibrant, cool pink in a sea of dead, ruined red. A single flower with head held high to the raging sun, defiant and unapologetic. She ran her ...

Author: David Henson Tilson Henderson gets out of bed and realizes his back’s not stiff. Hasn’t happened since he stopped doing the exercises his chiropractor prescribed. He feels so vigorous, he joins his wife, Gloria, in the shower. Been a while for that, too. Late ...

Author: Kiel M. Gregory I live in a world where most things move too fast or not at all. Molasses or honey like water. Lives. I’m thinking more of others and less of myself and I think that’s precisely where this all started to go wrong. What’s the point of doing ...

Author: VH Ferguson There's a lick of wind that curls around me like satin ribbons, softly against my skin, in my hair. The view is unparalleled, out of this world. The cliffs to the north west are a grey almost blushing pink, and make companion with the sapphire of the ...

Author: Chana Kohl People think the Moon is a tranquil place. I suppose that’s the impression one gets seeing the silvertone reflections of its hauntingly barren expanse from Earth. In reality, it is a painstaking maze of rugged terrain and deep crater mounds, open mouths ...