Author: Ananya Bhatt I heard the bell. It was time for science class. I took a computer chip out of my brain and put in my science class one. By the time I got to class, the information was downloaded. I was ready for my test. My name is Ava Johnson. I am 14 years old, ...

Author: Michael Anthony Dioguardi Important information for all Galpasorean invaders! It is imperative that you read this entire message before invading this human-occupied quadrant. Following the initial provocation that concluded with the deaths and consequent ...

Author: Michael Anthony Dioguardi The last man on earth to beat a cyborg on the track? That would be Galen Ryan, of course. To this day I don’t remember why he did it, or rather, what point he was trying to prove; he wasn’t any good, at least in the professional sense. He ...

Author: Irene Montaner I take one last look around the beauty aisle. Combs, hairbrushes, face creams and cleansers, body moisturisers, shampoos and conditioners, bath foams, hand soaps - empty racks by the way - ear buds and cotton pads. And then, black ragged plastic bags ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer We’re eighty-four days out from Sondehaven before we pick up the right beacon. I get everyone’s attention with a short blast of the klaxon, which prompts a round of rude guesswork as to my parentage and next sexual partner. “You’re all ...

Author: Mike McMaster “South.” said the captain. “But that doesn’t make sense,” complained his crew. “There are no magnetic poles here, so there is no North or South.” “When you travel and everything cools and then chills and then bites into your very bones, when the ...

Author: Baishampayan Seal The yellow two-rotor postal-drone comes down to me as I walk down the pavement with the whole week's grocery. Generally, these drones are Prussian blue, with no biohazard symbol like it has of course; so this one must have something to do with the ...

Author: Don Nigroni Dr. Humphrey Devereux is the famous polymath who won the first Nobel Prize in mathematics. We were best friends since we were mischievous little boys. He became a mathematical physicist and I’m still an English Literature professor. He was slightly ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher He is known by many names. Most people call him Jack. He prefers Old Zero. His campaign starts on the first nippy morning in late September when the average person wakes with a chill in their bones and turns the heat on for the first time in six ...

Author: Lewis Richards "What is it?" "My boy, this is an Elephant." The man responded, never taking his eyes from the animal. "What does it do?" His grandson continued, Looking woefully unimpressed. "Well, it eats, it drinks, you see those horns at the front? ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Every day he was there, walking funny and slowly waving his arms about like he was directing the spaceships that thundered over his head as they went to and from the port. Chan and Ling Di led a group of us up there. We hid in the bushes ...

Author: Joshua Fagan To the human who found my spaceship: I am sorry the front door was locked, but the open house does not start until tomorrow. You’re free to come back then, and in fact, I encourage you to do so. I have an offer to make you. Living out of a spaceship ...

Author: Lewis Richards We all have little rituals. Lily braids her hair every night before bed, Daisy rubs the same spot on her arm when she worries, Jasmine taps out the same rhythm with her fingers when she daydreams in lessons. We all wear our white silks and pearls ...

Author: R. Michael “Good morning, Sue. How may I assist you today?” “I’m afraid there isn’t much you can do, Vick. Everyone is staying home. They know what’s happening and don’t want to put additional strain on the system,” Sue replied, rummaging through some boxes on a ...

Author: Mary Sophie Filicetti The roar of overhead planes; that’s what hits me—or more, the lack of it. Each morning at six planes soared overhead, one after another, pulling me into a dim consciousness. Night brought a gradual reversal, the gaps between flights widening ...

Author: William Gray Exploring Callisto, stumbling upon curious cave drawings. Erratic runes chiseled into rocky walls needed no formal translation. Illustrations below sufficed. A staircase, a shrine, an altar, a robe-clad Oracle. Arrows circling from a child to an ...

Author: Mark Renney The road signs are still standing and at first, this intrigues Davis. It doesn’t make sense to him when everything else has been demolished and flattened, reduced to strewn rubble. The foundations of buildings remain but these are merely platforms of ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The map on the wall shows a wash of orange with occasional zones of red or blue. Above is yellow, denoting the Canada-Alaska Alliance, below is green: Mexico. All bordered by the black of the oceans. “D.C. has fallen.” Analyst Stevens ...