Author: Justin Anderson He watches her tiny arms cast the line again. She’s already working the makeshift fishing rod with ease. She beams a proud smile up at him, one with all the warmth of a miniature sun. A foreign little star. He smiles back, and she continues ...

Author: Andrew Dunn I called her Jingle-jangle. I told Christiane she reminded me of the way it felt to hear the sound spare change made in my pocket whenever I was fading, and I found a machine that would take coins and give me a soda or candy bar. My hands were on the ...

Author: Ed Nobody The last day goes by unfelt. No change. Time turned glacial under rubbled roads in thick tar, sticky black thick leaking sun of dead summer. I didn't breathe and felt nothing. Wind stopped bothering; leaves not leaning, unswayed by final wind to ...

Author: Don Nigroni Twelve years ago, during the first year of the Ultimate Crisis, the Special Problems: Organized, Researched, Explained and Solved (SPORES) think tank was presented with the perplexing Adjoining Door Conundrum. Our scientists knew about a spot near Mars ...

Author: David C. Nutt I pressed “play” on my digital recorder. “See doc, I wasn’t always a hoarder. Yeah, I know what my place looks like right now, but if I didn’t have clutter, I’d have nothing at all. I was up late watching a classic movie from the 80’s. I noticed ...

Author: Chris Preston I just turned six years old and, for my birthday, Dad gave me a grown-up mask. It was supposed to be Mom’s, but she didn’t come home when she was supposed to. Before the sirens started. I was only four years old when we went into our hideout under the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “A different feeling since you’ve been gone.” Yeah, that’s it. Too many times I catch myself looking down and back, only to find some scrub looking horrified, or empty air because one ran off. “Ten, left.” This one has a different feel. ...

Author: Barry Boone I could see Damian's girlfriend wanted to sock me, but she knew she'd break her fist against my brass jaw. So she held back. Which I knew was hard for her. She was even more kickass than Damian. Damian might be her first love, but a good fight was a ...

Author: Sabrina E. Robinette The choice was obvious for most, but I struggled. Should I die freely on Earth, or live in debt on Mars? “In debt”– that’s what they called it, but everyone knew better. There were rumors of labor camps and brutal mining colonies, none confirmed ...

Author: Hillary Lyon “On a sloping hill, see the field of varicolored flowers? Blossoms of geometric shapes, slowly spinning in the gentle breeze.” Commander Oswald closed his eyes and tapped his own temple with his manicured finger. Private First Class Ichor, who was ...

Author: Warren Woodrich Pettine Mother, We replaced our eyes with machines. The impact of perceiving the full spectrum - from viciously fast gamma rays to the yawning gaps of AM radio - was profound. Our ears were next. Augmenting the perception of substance compression, ...

Author: David Barber Peter had noticed the hippy girl earlier, as he loitered near a tour party, eavesdropping on the French tour guide. The chap was enthusing about Marie de France, mediaeval author of tales of chivalry, who was born in this castle, but Peter’s French ...

Author: Jeremy Marks Left its seeds while I was sleeping -Simon & Garfunkel I am a plastic sac picker; I scour the streets collecting loose grocery sacs in the employ of my city. I live in a former metropolis whose every limb is now coated in disposable ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Midnight, the witching hour. I could do with a flying broom, come to think of it. On that topic, I suspect I’ve more chance of getting to know a broom than any witch that might flit about on one. Right, all geared up – or am I? Phone, ...

Author: Adrianna Voss A series of flashes. An orange marmalade disc cut into her forehead and wrists as she witnessed herself unfold. Her sugar eyes poured as Saskia reached into the surreal. Danced to music no one could hear, with someone who wasn’t there. The ...

Author: Alexandru Lamba Do you enjoy our broadcast? You watch it narrowly, so we are entitled to believe you do. But do you still know who we are? Unfair of us to ask. For we no longer know who you are. Once, your great-grandparents called us the wayfarers, the pioneers, ...

Author: Barry Boone "We're not going to make it." This from Damian. Always worrying. Which is what humans do best. Unfortunately, in this case, he was right: our ship couldn't outrun the aliens. "How long til entry?" he asked, his voice tight. "Fifty-two seconds," ...

Author: Tripp Watson Lucy sat on her bedside and stared at the tiny gap between two of the many grey, plastic panels that composed her bedroom wall. The entirety of Station Bravo’s interior was built of these plastic panels, but only these two with the tiny gap between held ...