Author: Emily Wilcox She died today. Blonde ringlets trodden down into the hardwood floor. A world overlooking her, eyes slick with awe and grins stitched firmly just below. A kingdom, a fandom, whatever we were, we were building from the inside, elevating the pedestal in ...

Author: Tyler James Russell When a wall of bone and fascia bloomed from the earth a hundred miles from our village, my dead almost-girlfriend stood over my bed, waiting for me to wake up. “You,” I whispered. We’d been longtime girlfriends but only vaguely girlfriends just ...

Author: Gwynfryn Thomas Shena’s fingernail glistened under the afternoon sun. This one didn’t hurt when it came off – it fell like a mere petal onto the dusty ground. A breeze stung the exposed skin. Wrapping his tongue around the sore finger, he kicked a spiral of dust ...

Author: Dick Narvett It sat on the shelf behind a T-Rex action figure and a feminist coffee mug with the saying “If they can put a man on the moon, why not all of them?” Finding a laptop in Mr. Chapa’s secondhand shop was like discovering an Apple watch on an Egyptian ...

Author: Steven Holland “The owl isn’t an owl.” “What?” I asked. In retrospect, this was a stupid question. Far better questions to ask would have been “how are you able to talk?” Cats aren’t known for doing this. Or better yet “why am I on a spaceship?” At least, it ...

Author: Connor Long-Johnson We haven’t forgotten the moment the monsters came, and we still pass on the stories of that day. They descended in their rocket ships, cutting holes through our peaceful skies and filling our air with their toxic fumes. First, they came in ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Hey, Pete. What’s the name of this station again?” “Celeste.” “Appropriate.” “Hush up, Davy. Get back to duty or the captain will murder us.” “If he does that, he’ll have no-one to pilot or fix the ship.” “Good argument, but I don’t ...

Author: Jatayu When David first met her she seemed sad, but afterward, when their time had expired she held him close, asking him to stay a little longer. When he came back the next week her eyes lit up and she smiled just a little, unsure if it was okay. They made love, ...

Author: Kathleen Bryson We only travel at night and we only travel in a small pen. The pen is an invention that means we can keep our time travelling in a small place so we can’t create anomalies. We only travel at night is a phrase that popped up in a dream of my mine and ...

Author: Kathleen Bryson We succumbed to space tourism at last and went last week to see the prickly end of the sun, you know it’s always got those jutting little rays like in a good graphic design, and we petted the end of one sunbeam. It was furry like a sun kitten, oops I ...

Author: Harry J. Bentham A deep vista of stars rested in the boundless black, subordinate to the rays of a single white sun above the time-scarred wastes of the surface. There stood cliffs, cruel and capricious, and the winds piped in an endless song through deep canyons. ...

Author: Peter Fossey Ria is eating one of those flaky pastries with almond paste in, so my coffee tastes like I’ve snuck in a shot of Amaretto, and that makes her laugh. Or one of us, anyway. It was hard to get to know people, for a while. Meeting face-to-face became too ...

Author: Mark Renney The hardest part for me was the departure, turning from the body, walking away from my earthly remains. I lingered knowing it was dangerous to do so. I couldn’t stay there, in that room. I stepped backward and gazed down at the body slumped on the sofa. ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The viewing room is hushed as we approach the co-ordinates. Every being not on duty has gathered. For some, it’s a rite of passage. For others, a renewal of faith. “Exiting shiftspace in three, two, one.” Conventional space and time ...

Author: T. Thornton Gray It’s called no man’s land. That space between the entry doors and the actual store. The sensor zone one must pass through to get in and out. I can see the drone docks overhead and the red blinking eyes of the Taser firing drones where they perch ...

Author: Ken Carlson “Good morning! Welcome to McDonald’s” It was just after 11. The young brunette, Britney, was still going strong. She’d been on counter duty since 6, the friendly gal with cat eye glasses. There was the early rush, the gaggle of seniors, a few ...

Author: David Henson Captain Stanton’s attorney calls him to the stand. I know the blurry figure is indeed the captain, but it’s my job to prove he’s a murdering imposter, a Triklorian. Earth opened its arms to Triklorian refugees after we over-mined their planet and ...

Author: Andrew Dunn Ehsan squinted through thick lenses, aged fingers working the tiniest pliers and scissors he had to complete his masterpiece. One by one he weaved threads, each no thicker than the grey on his head, to create rigging every bit as elaborate as that which ...