Author: Cesium When we left work that evening, they'd started blocking out the murals in the stairwell already, so we had to step carefully around the cans of paint piled on tarps and the walls still wet with fresh colors. They were going for a more abstract take on the ...

Author: Ian Hill                 As the Sweeper sweeps, therein dwells another and smaller Sweeper—a microcosmic miniature, cuter than a button, armed with duster and eyes lit with adventurous delight.

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Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Christopher swore if he ever set his feet back on solid ground, he'd never put them back in a spacecraft again. He'd been assigned to this mission for a one year tour, but that had been extended five times, and he wasn't sure how much ...

Author: David Henson The crotchety old bastard ducked when a boy in a SuperSuit streaked above him. As he straightened up, a SuperSuited girl knocked his hat off. The crotchety old bastard shook his fist in the air. “Let the kids have fun,” a passer-by on the crowded ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer He rests the butt of the rifle on his hip, trying to look casual despite torn and bloody clothing. Pausing his posing to light a cigar, he snaps the lighter closed and returns it to his beltpouch. Looking about the scene, he lifts a leg to ...

Author: Daniel Tenner Kristofer notices his next victim across the buzz of the entrance to the Christmas market, or maybe she notices him. She’s short, slim, tanned, draped in a sleek, long coat with a shimmering grey techwool exterior. Short hair, sharp features, and those ...

Author: Gerald Keaney Behind the baroque crags of the planetoid peak, galactically sheeted stars gushed like a fusion fountain. Bounding in the low gravity, he grasped an outcrop that seemed to have been gnarled into divisive twistings by the cosmic wind itself. It was half ...

Author: Cesium I started making a map of the places in my dreams. It used to be that more often than not, when I fell asleep I'd find myself wandering the streets of an old new city. I'd ride the 88 bus alongside a gaggle of frat boys in dresses heading to a Mardi Gras ...

Author: Alzo David-West The Man walked into the empty room. He sat down on a chair. “Why do you want to change?” the Voice asked. “Because I'm tired,” the Man said, “because I'm tired, and I'm broken.” “Please explain your reason,” the Voice required. “Yes. You ...

Author: David Henson Lt. John Peters tosses a foam ball to his son, Petey. The boy giggles when it goes through his hands and bumps him on the nose. Lt. Peters lies back on the gurney. Norene sits, legs crossed, anxiety like a current of electricity twitching her ...

Author: Stephen C. Curro The air is sour with smoke. Emergency sirens shriek in the distance. All around me the world is burning. ​My four arms cut through the haze. I stumble over the rubble, hardly able to believe that this was a busy plaza moments ago. ​“Mal’ven?” I ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “I said I wanted soy milk, not almond.” The lady brandishes her mug at me like it’s a talisman of doom and she’s a banespeaker. I sigh. If only it were that simple. Taking the mug, I tip the perfectly good coffee away, then make one ...

Author: Brenda Anderson The Little Time Machine got tired of ferrying passengers back and forth in space-time. He wrote a polite letter of resignation to his employers, Time Taxis, and fled to the 18th century. Here he discovered a life of culture, refinement and music. ...

Author: Emma K. Leadley Karl twitched in his sleep. He dreamed of tomatoes. Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes with their firm texture, sweet innards and tantalising smell. He twisted one from its stem and bit into it, juice and seeds running down his chin and-- The hub lights ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher The leather-wrapped handle of his dual-edged battle-axe was slick in his clenching fists. The snow-coated everything of Sverre’s including his helmet, beard, massive bare arms, and boots. He was in the seventh or the tenth line of men, he really ...

Author: Glenn Leung Good evening, parents and teachers. As you all know, I was the engineer in charge of investigating the accident. I'll begin by recapping what was on the news. Eighteen-year-old Samantha Chen was on her phone and did not see the STOP signal for the ...

Author: Hart St. John Ring, Ring… “You’ve reached the dwelling of Socrates, if you’ve called hoping for a public apology, please hang up, and don’t call again. Hemlock suppliers, please leave me detailed instructions on where to procure your wares. Time is of the ...

Author: Irene Montaner Time was born the moment Erisha did. And when she breathed for the first time, in and out, a world was brought to life. A land of flames and fumes. Erisha made herself a home in it and watched time go by from the warmth of her hearth. Decades, ...