LAURA COOKSON: Assessment
I sit, tapping my foot and avoiding eye contact with the man opposite. Finally the receptionist looks up: “Welcome to the Afterlife. Please take your name badge and enter the assessment room.” I leap...
View ArticleYOGITA KHANDGE: The Last Martian
The last Martian watched mournfully as gun-wielding Earthlings and smog from brand-new factories smothered his once beautiful red planet. He bitterly remembered the day fifty years ago when a satellite...
View ArticleSUSAN GALE WICKES: Porch Pirate
Bob prided himself in avoiding video surveillance. Perused the premises prior to approaching any property. He took great pains to assemble original and creative disguises. And then: he just opened the...
View ArticleYOHO GABRY: The Ichthyander Project
The Ichthyander Project of Lord Haist was an utter failure. Both the dismissal of his Supreme Council as well as the failure to grow the gills foretold in the Triton Prophesy despite his years-long...
View ArticleSTEPHEN TILDEN: Widowmaker Revisited
Leaning in the shade of the doorway to the back yard, her back to the grimy floor and a sinkful of dishes, she casually glances at the small saw kerf on top of that rotten limb as she takes one last...
View ArticleGENE NEWMAN: Lament
I’m an old guy finding ways to use up each day so I can get back into bed at night. I fill the bird feeder, take a painful walk, spend my pension in inflationary stores. It’s all the same to me. I’m...
View ArticleJENNIFER METCALF: Waiting For Her
I stare out the window, willing her to appear. What is taking her so long? Stuck in traffic? Flat tire? Grisly accident? No. I won’t think the worst this time. At last, headlights in the driveway....
View ArticleDAVE MYERS: Save it for the title
Seven words drop us into the action. Sprinkle exposition with the next six. Narrow in on a few details; figurative language reigns. Hyphenating and wordsmithing neologisms condenses ideas...
View ArticleMICHAEL THEROUX: Cats on the Back Deck
Cats on the back deck voice hot contention, breaking in on my dreams. I yell for Quiet… Considering their request, a thought weighs in even as I roll back over: Is God this callous? Perhaps the Eternal...
View ArticleBIANCA SANCHEZ: The Tale of an Unappreciated Clock
Teenagers demand I tick faster; adults beg for me to tock slower. Being a clock is a thankless job. I work all day, every day and I never sweat. I quit. Without me, they’ll miss tests and meetings,...
View ArticleKEVIN A RISNER: An Apocalyptic Easter Sunday, 2030, or Any Year After the...
Chartreuse sky, intermittent lightning, air like the rock over Jesus’ tomb. I sit, hurricane in hand, sunglasses on, inhaler nearby, feet in plastic kiddie pool. Radio’s found the only frequency,...
View ArticleBRYANT PHILLIPS: Watcher
A look of death. Soulless eyes watching me through my window. Voyeurism? No, just a lawn nazi. What did I do? Everything bad. There is no privacy. Windows are walls made weak, transparencies in my...
View ArticleS GOVINDARAJ: Adieu Earth
AI notification, March 15, 2060: Interplanetary Council proposes to auction planet Earth, having depleted natural resources, permanent water shortage, irreversibly altered climate. Views invited....
View ArticleBILL COX: Through the Eye of a Needle
Teleportation was a technology only the rich could afford. Zapping themselves to Capri for breakfast, Aspen for lunch, Davos for supper, they flaunted their wealth. Until, that is, a hacker reset...
View ArticleSETH ROSENMAN: Whistling
A nurse came back in after the room was cleared for them, gestured at the remaining machines, and asked if they wanted the sound to be muted. They shook their heads. Alone again, he told her for the...
View ArticleJOHN H DROMEY: Furry Farewell
“Is it true your dog can talk?” “Otto’s a canine of few words. I may need to interpret his speech for you.” “Okay.” Twenty mostly-quiet minutes later. “I’m leaving.” Otto spoke. “There! Told you he...
View ArticleCHRISTOPHER GANNON: Follow These Instructions: A Play
A man tied up with duct tape over his mouth dials a phone with his nose. PHONE: Jeffrey? JEFFREY: (Muffled) PHONE: I can’t understand when you mumble. JEFFREY: (Muffled?) PHONE: There you go again. Ten...
View ArticleSUE HEISNER: As Bess Hypothesized
The neurobiology student’s graduate thesis on pheromones secured her advanced degree. Studies complete, she applied her research findings to her relationship with Roy, her ag student boyfriend. His...
View ArticleSTEPHEN TILDEN: Earth’s Reply
Your evaluation of our planet is a total fabrication—a hoax based on bad science. Our twilights are even more spectacular, and no one suffers anymore from the cold unless they crank up their A/C—and if...
View ArticleSTEVEN HOLDING: Squab Story
Post-cremation: she says he’s nearby. The evidence? White feathers, heaven sent upon a breezy sigh. Each appearance signifies an angelic presence, closer than a whispered farewell. Only I comprehend...
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