ART of the Solar System #11
by Cody Schell
Latest
The Whole Beast
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
Green Apples
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,
The Lotus Operator
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.
ART of the Solar System #10
by Cody Schell
Glass Coffins
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
Error: Visual Database Defying Analysis
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
Family Fight for the Point of View Right
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
Dybot of Sol
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
ART of the Solar System #9
by Cody Schell
The Content of This Piece Has Been Removed
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
Cajones
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
Steven Mathes
The Missing Variable
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
Jennifer Lesh Fleck
What Counts as a Heart in a Bicycle
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
Cody Schell
ART of the Solar System #8
by Cody Schell
Justin Dill
The Bacon That Isn’t There
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
Mark Szasz
Troll Extraction
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
Corey Jae White
Network Creep
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
Cody Schell
ART of the Solar System #7
by Cody Schell
Janet Forbes
Song of the Loom
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
Vince Stadon
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #26: Jennifer’s white string shawl in Lèvres de sang (Lips of Blood) (1975)
by Vince Stadon “You had to remember me before I could appear to you.” – Jennifer Making movies is arduous work, and sometimes filming is rough on everyone. Lèvres de sang was shot in three weeks, often guerrilla-style, as the film crew would just turn up without pre-planning or permits to,
Cody Schell
ART of the Solar System #6
by Cody Schell
J. S. Watts
They Came for Me at Dusk
by J. S. Watts Art by Arnold T. Blumberg They came for me at dusk, before the tired light had fully faded from the sky. Before I could finally sleep. Before I could wake. I wasn’t yet dead, was as weak—no, weaker—than them. There were twelve of
Vince Stadon
A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #13: Tom Savini’s blood tube in Friday the 13th (1980)
by Vince Stadon “You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday…” – Mrs. Voorhees Sunday the 1st. I begin watching Friday 13th for the first time in decades. Twenty minutes in it occurs to me that this film might be best experienced in daily chunks. I’d never