Kara Dennison
by Kara Dennison “There’s a difference,” said Dr. Burns, “between something being unkillable and something being unable to die.” I turned my eyes back toward the lozenge-shaped airplane window, keen to move us to something less existential. “Speaking of unkillable,” I segued, “they’ve come a long way in
Liam Hogan
by Liam Hogan The orchard was merely a hundred trees. A hundred and twenty, counting the malus sylvestris—crab apples—that fringed the sides. “Why so many?” I asked, shivering in the February cold. Old crones made hedgerow jelly from the stunted apples, despite the wince-inducing tartness, despite their size,
Gull Ditta
by Gull Ditta The villagers called her Mehnaz, a name borrowed from the river that refused to keep her. She knew herself as a sequence of sensations: the prickle of dry earth between her toes, the pressure of a monsoon cloud, the shimmer of starlight caught in a still pond.
Cody Schell
by Cody Schell
Andrew Kozma
by Andrew Kozma I did not want to be attending the living memorial service for my mother, but there I was, the spiritual officer’s voice droning on like a TV left on in another room. My mother was in a coma, kept on life support for only pennies on
Jetse de Vries
by Jetse de Vries Research nano-swarm employed: spread evenly across the globe; Finding: uttermost majority of civilization’s remnants are on land (remnants at sea bottom are mainly transport vessels); Second nano-swarm employed: aimed at most promising remnant sites; Check: tools, appendages, and similar appliances; Filter out: those used for
Larry Hodges
by Larry Hodges SCENE 1 “Honey, should we kill the children today?” Frieda asks. “Sure,” I say. “Why not?” My lovely wife is so cute when she talks murder. “Please don’t kill us!” cries Little Sammy. He cowers on the sofa with Baby Tammy, who slobbers like a broken
by Lorraine Schein Art by Arnold T. Blumberg She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay To look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott.
by Liz Hill Art by Arnold T. Blumberg I stood on the roof of our goat hut and listened to the song of the coming storm. Footsteps sounded behind me on the roof planks. I drew in a deep lungful of air. “It calls to me, Machel.” “It’s not
by Robert Jeschonek Artwork by Doan Trang JOE BLOW RINKY-DINK Joe’s Saturday To-Do List: 1. Pick up fresh produce 2. Paint bedroom accent wall 3. Plant flowers 4. Prune Marcie’s favorite roses 5. Make pasta for dinner RINKY’S ROLL-OUT-THE-WELCOME-WAGON-FOR-JOE-DAY TO-DO LIST: 1. Get up bright & early
Narrative, unbound
by Jayde Holmes Now all the People of Earth were connected and prosperous, so they said to each other, “Come, let us send out probes and map the heavens.” They built the fastest ever propulsion systems and entwined-particle instantaneous communication devices, so they could uncover wonders within the lifetime of
by Cody Schell
by Alistair Robinson The content of this piece has been removed and cannot be recovered. The Government’s Advanced Countermeasures system requires all forms of content, whether electronic or physical, to conform with our counter-extremism strategy—including content originally produced in areas outside of the Government’s jurisdiction. Content refers
by Floyd Largent You'd think a superhero wouldn't have any trouble making a living, but since my Breakthrough, I've barely been getting by. My folks, who are proud of my new status, are happy to lend me money between bounties, which is how I
by Steven Mathes It may seem like an obvious detail, but nobody on our team caught it. We planned. We imagined uncertainties about pathogens, toxins, hostile predators, and historical facts of human violence. We knew it would require unspeakable amounts of energy. Therefore, I was armored in something halfway between
by Jennifer Lesh Fleck Circus-striped streamers dazzle my handlebars. My leatherette seat wears printed roses and flourishes, like a Western saddle. I’m pretty, parked alongside my brothers and sisters. My factory paint has glitter in the pink, swirling like cosmic dust. The village outside hunkers under June gloom, the
by Cody Schell
by Justin Dill For the fourteenth day, eggs fall from the sky. Always eggs, and mine, always scrambled. Never over easy. Never over. Never easy. Mother makes omelets for breakfast, for the fourteenth time. Fourteen quiche lunches. Fourteen egg salad suppers. Meringue for dessert. I skip that first. And then
by Mark Szasz “Mm-hm, mm-hm… No doubt about it. You’ve got a troll under your dental bridge,” Dr. Gruff agreed, narrowing his gaze. The beam from his dental headlight shone on two tiny shining eyes in my mouth, each reflecting in his spectacles and glowering at me. A gigantic
by Corey Jae White the matter transfer room resembles a cathedral. The gate a window waiting to open onto the light of all Creation, brighter than a thousand suns. Sometimes I stand on the observation deck and watch storage containers break through the wall of blazing energy and my eyes
by Cody Schell
by Janet Forbes I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died. My hands were an echo of hers. Heavy with grief, they wove eight hundred threads onto the frame, a hundred for each string of her Lyra. The weft, the framework, the heart of the weave. Each string