Fictional Worlds

Two giant polyps were nibbling at the husk of a shopping mall some miles off. I was focused on a sludge-tower, though, just a half mile down the hill from me. I’d have to pass it. via Pocket

The lander sloped down from orbit towards the jagged peninsula that leaked westwards from Earth’s great landmass. Salzmann’s eyes tracked across the surface as they broke the cloud cover. It stretched brown-green to the limits of his vision, shorn o… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io A Final Resting Place – Matt Hornsby – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/355DGfc

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Julian’s voice filtered through her dying radio. The Prince of Cats was a speck of light, dimming through the gold-grey film that, atom by atom, was devouring her helmet. Valley tried to say something, anything. Failed. via Pocket A Layer Thin As Breath – Thea Boodhoo – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/32EdU06

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io I dream of vast landscapes. The distance bends like cotton on a washing line or a rabbit vanishing down a hole. In my dream, women come, carrying brutally tined forks. Their hands crook around their bodies and somehow they are monstrous and too big.… A Yellow Landscape – Sarah McGill – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2KcW7rU

The damned shadows did me in. They should have been blue. Yellowish light should cast blue or violet shadows, every artist learned that. While disregard for basic colour principles was new and exciting in paint, in life it was awful. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The old woman looked up from where she was kneeling in her garden, tending to the tiny green shoots that were poking through the soil. “There’s a name I ain’t heard in a while,” she said to the young whippersnapper shifting from foot to foot on the …

The train car reeked of cigarettes and rumbled like a storm. Loud enough to drown out the voice of every passenger crammed inside it, but still Inez’s heartbeat rattled between her ears. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “The night sky is beautiful,” Seven says. “Deep and dark, blue-black and starless. It has a certain ineffable purity to it, don’t you think?” Mara glances up. This world is a young one, snugged tight against the galactic core. via Pocket A Bear, or a Spider, or an Elephant – Edward Ashton – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2M96dKF

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “No.” I pushed my chair back from the conference table. I could see myself in the window opposite, Herrje’s deep night sky turning the glass wall into a giant mirror. via Pocket Communication Breakdown – Andrew Knighton – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2XRQplz

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The purpose of the Las Vegas Museum of Space Exploration is to preserve and display extraterrestrial art and material of incredible cultural importance: the Mars Frescoes and Earth’s largest collection of MarsBlood. via Pocket Las Vegas Museum of Space Exploration – Marilee Dahlman – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2FEpjTM

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Day 1: Gerry woke to his chiming alarm clock, unaware his spaceship, the Rotor, had just exploded. He shuffled into the kitchen and expected his usual routine: frying eggs, watering his bonsai, and being the only person for light-years. But there he… One Day in Space Too Many – Michael Sherrin – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JuCFDt

“Minutes… they are the easiest to kill,” he whispered. His voice was thick with the drowsiness of spent passion; I thought he had fallen asleep, and felt grateful that he was staying awake with me a little longer. “You need something sharp… Cut thei… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

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On Friday morning, the ambient heaviness in his boss’s tiny office threatened to bend Isaac double, and his ears ached from the pressure in the air. via Pocket L’Appel du Vide – Rajiv Moté – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2WwLdhP

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Long before dawn I give up trying to sleep and walk around the apartment packing some essentials into a travel bag. If things go badly today, I’m prepared. As I’m putting my government passport into my purse, a wave of nausea sloshes through my guts…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Transcripts of Mayfly interviews by Dr. Leanne Jansen. Sarah al-Awqati (childhood friend): “Fuck forever.” Yup, I was right in front of the stage when she first said that. I can say “she,” right? via Pocket Forever and a Life – Daniel Roy – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2GiKjQW

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The changeling boy goes to space in a ship of his own making. Late at night, as the house sleeps, he labors over steel and circuits in his father’s garage. via Pocket

I look over and there Kate is, back from the dead yet again, even though there are rules about that sort of thing. No one else has ever come back more than twice. It’s like three strikes and you’re out—you’ve officially become too expensive or too t… The Girls Who Come Back Are Made of Metal and Glass – L’Erin Ogle – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/300wePf

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via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The circus smelled of magic, of popcorn, dung, and cotton candy. Miranda squinted as she entered, just like the book suggested. She followed the crowd through the gate, then slipped between the wagons, searching for something only half open eyes cou… With Eyes Half Open – Frances Pauli – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2VcxVdx

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via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The scribe met the knight on the old stone road. The castle was a couple of hours away. Three, at the speed his donkey was trotting. He’d meant to deliver his news of no news and stumble off to a bath and, if he were lucky, into a warm bed with a wa… La Belle Dame – Sabrina N. Balmick – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2F7EYtR

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Do they even ask that anymore? Standing outside this door, in this dark hallway, fifteen miles from the airport, he can’t remember if they ever have, of him. via Pocket Mr. McAvennie’s Freedom – Dan Micklethwaite – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2F3y7le

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Before he went by Solomon, the stranger’s name was Shlomo. He seemed at first unremarkable, apart from being new, and in palpable need of a wife. Yutke’s mother began to snoop as soon as she noticed that he did not wear the tallis which marks a marr… Solomon and the Dragon’s Tongue – Molly Etta – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2TJxMhF

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The color of my home is red like an apple. That is what God told the father of all my fathers, who told all their daughters, who told me. I do not know what an apple is, only that it is sweet and red like my home. My name is Anan. I have lived as lo… The Color of My Home is Red Like an Apple – Evan Marcroft – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2HOlAFX

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io I savour the meal of plastic as I cut through the water; each pass a different symphony of flavour. It is sour and bitter by shifting degrees and always has been so. The meal brings me little comfort in my solitude. I would sing my complaints, but n… Whalesong – L. Chan – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2TDLm6o

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Dahlia traced the melody on her tablet and her song poured from speakers hidden around the subway station. It burrowed into Jonah’s ear and asked a question only she could answer. It dug into his brain and found his memories of her. via Pocket A Song Without a Voice – Brad Preslar – Metaphorosis Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2HA4pao