Fictional Worlds

Author: David Barber Rumour had it that Mother would soon order them to quit the planet, so Six rose early, trying not to wake her sisters as she donned her mask and breather. Outside, dust swirled around remotes abandoned the previous day by her siblings, who gloved these metal figures from the comfort of the […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:49:34 UTC

Author: James Moran In the days when Earth was small the other planets eyed it hungrily and argued over how they would split it up. Like a mother protecting her young, the Moon circled Earth, a wary eye on each of the planets. She visited the ears of Venus and Mercury until she finally convinced […]

Author: Rainbow Heartshine We have enough feathers for a couple of mattresses now. I’m not such an awful person as to use so, but how are you supposed to dispose of angel down? Whether they count as the real thing is over my head, theologically. It shouldn’t be. When she showed up and explained, I […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:47:18 UTC

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:44:38 UTC

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The city burns behind them. Long shadows stretch almost to the citadel of government. Late afternoon sunlight picks out moments in bright clarity: metallic reflections from the bent panels of a vandalised coupe, a discarded sheet spread like spilt milk, the sparkle of falling tears. Ahead of such scenes, a […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:42:39 UTC

Author: Reba Elliott The sun rises and sets, then the other sun rises and and sets, and then the planet rises and the sun rises and the planet sets and the other sun rises and the sun sets and the other sun sets. There is light everywhere. Leaves grow long and wild and in all […]

Author: Hillary Lyon “So we’re outside, drinking on the patio like we do sometimes after work, when Ellie looks up at the sky and goes—” “I said, ‘What is THAT?’” Ellie laughed awkwardly. From his seat next to the sofa, the interviewer, Mister Guest, leaned towards her, holding his small recorder. He wore a black […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:38:30 UTC

Author: Anna Jackson I couldn’t look at it, but it stood tall and imposing before me, like it was begging me to see. I knew it was time, I knew that I didn’t have a choice, but that didn’t make it any easier. The Gateway was open and it was my turn to step through […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:34:28 UTC

Author: Benjamin DeHaan The Delta 21’s hull creaks as she slows and comes into view of the alien space bubble, a pink translucent sack hovering in outer space. At its current rate of expansion, it will enter the stratosphere by nightfall. By next week all of Earth will be swallowed. Our team has worked around […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:32:20 UTC

Author: Bill Cox Hi Ted, let me tell you my story. Some of it you’ll know, but some will be new. I fervently hope that it’ll become your story too. In 2006 the New Horizons probe was launched from Earth. Its goal was a flyby of Pluto, which it achieved on July 14th, 2015, after […]

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:28:05 UTC

archived 23 Oct 2022 22:28:50 UTC

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s always warning. No matter how sneaky they are, they can’t help themselves. The urge to see our reaction means they telegraph every strike. If our side managed to spot that more often, it’d be hilarious. “Four o’clock low.” I flick a glance that way. That twinkling is lenses aligning. […]

Author: Tim Goldstone I first met you at that stage where I couldn’t sleep because I needed to stretch and stretch and stretch but it’s never ever enough all night long, every night, and I know the only certain way to achieve relief is to stretch so far so violently that my bones burst out […]