GABRIELLA BATEL: Alphabt
I scratch my scalp as I dial Mom. “Morning, bug,” Mom chirps. “Hi. So, um. A thing’s missing.” “What thing?” “I… don’t know. It’s just not around. I told Mary, but sh—” Blip. Our call drops just prior...
View ArticleTRACY ROYCE: Unidentified
In three decades of practice, Dr. Raymund had never seen anything like it. His patient reclined in the dental chair complaining of molar pain, opened wide, and then Zzziiiiip! Something small and shiny...
View ArticleJOHN H. DROMEY: Business as Usual
“I hear the company you work for is run on clichés.” “Yes, like clockwork.” “Can you give me an example?” “Well, when the head honcho quit, he left big shoes to fill.” “So?” “Members of the Board of...
View ArticleJOANNA NORLAND: The Story of My Friend Has Been Posted
My friend, Bob, has posted a fifty-word marvel. With a deft flick of his crisp wit, he has lassoed a universe. I cherish the accolades he garners as if they were my own. After all, did I not urge him...
View ArticleDAVID DEZELL TURNER: Nature Documentary
Parker stepped off the ladder and onto the Martian surface. “Houston,” she began, “we—” “Finally, after millennia of struggling,” a voice interrupted, “the humans leave their backwater planet and stand...
View ArticleCEZAR LIMA: Queue
“Sir, it’s your turn.” “Oh, so sorry!” You know, sometimes I get so lost in my own thoughts that I can’t even keep track of the line. Internal voices are slightly louder than the external ones, like a...
View ArticleWILLIAM MITCHELL: The Last Man on Earth
My kids used to think it hilarious, the way I’d thank Siri, or apologise to Alexa for getting song titles wrong. Now, as the Hunter Killers roam the streets, they see me, they recognise me, and they...
View ArticleSUSAN HEISNER: Connor’s Debut
The motivational speakers took the stage. The audience didn’t expect these founders of the phenomenally successful dog-training company, Sit Down!, to unveil a new venture. On command, their yellow...
View ArticleCRAIG KIRCHNER: No Need For Papers
We are evolving in America, ears getting smaller, feet bigger, but we are losing our little toes. Josh was born today with a red, white and blue label at the base of his neck: “Made in USA – White, no...
View ArticleJOHN H. DROMEY: The Opposite of Heartwarming
“I’m practically freezing. Why do they crank the air-conditioner up so high at these events for seniors?” “I don’t know. My best guess is the organizers suspect some of us attendees have gone past our...
View ArticleGABE BONNEY: Images of You
Every morning when I peer around the door frame, your slumbering teen body is a new shape. A toppled Roman statue, all broken limbs and alabaster skin. A wild dog in the desert, curled hard against the...
View ArticleELLIS JAMIESON: Apples
Doctors hate them. Historically, one attacked Newton. Snow White actually died! When God himself said ‘steer clear, Kids’, and Adam “forgot”, every man since ended up with one lodged in his throat. I...
View ArticleKPS PLAHA: Running the Full Sentence
At first they thought it was a complex one but soon it was apparent that, despite slicing it into clauses and grammar, it was going to refuse to be categorised–or pigeon-holed, if you may–and start to...
View ArticleJOHN CHRISTENSON: For Sale
FOR SALE: One flying saucer, slightly dented from crash in Roswell, NM. Traditional mid-century pie-plate design. Owned by an immigrant from Alpha Centauri who flew over picnics, playgrounds, and...
View ArticleJOHN H. DROMEY: Going Through the Motions
If you’re ever in Judge S’s courtroom, remain alert. Literal-minded, he once threw the book—Exhibit A in a plagiarism case—at a sleepy defendant. During criminal trials, an overhead projector displays...
View ArticleLEE NICHOLAS: Order Out Of
The last line of this story became the first. After years of experimenting with wave functions, quantum entanglement, and my home-made particle accelerator, I’d finally conquered it. Time travel....
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