Fictional Worlds

The glass bottles are caked with so much grime you can’t see what’s in them anymore. It’s better that way because you don’t think you’d be able to do what you need to, if you could. You fish the knife out of your canvas bag, and a lighter with just enough fluid for one more flash of fire. This is your first time—but you’ve seen your mother do the same thing countless times before. Before she made her first mistake. Before you were forced to take her place.

Housing Problem by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner   Jacqueline said it was a canary, but I contended that there were a couple of lovebirds in the covered cage. One canary could never make that much fuss. Besides, I liked to think of crusty old Mr. Henchard keeping lovebirds; it was so completely inappropriate. But […]

Quest of the Starstone – Part Two by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner Yarol landed on his feet like the cat he was, gun still gripped and ready, black eyes blinking in the starry dark. Smith, hampered by the terrified Jirel, sank with nightmare ease to the ground and rebounded a little from its sponginess. […]

Author: Hillary Lyon “Watcha got there?” Mik-taa’s co-pilot asked, watching her unfold a large map on a table in the ship’s galley. “It’s a map,” she replied, not looking up. “No duh,” Bix scoffed. “Even I recognize old tech maps like that. Whatcha looking for? Going somewhere?” Mik-taa ignored him. She smoothed the creases in […]

Author: Aubrey Williams I’ve been trying to figure things out. For no reason, I found myself on the side of a lonely road somewhere. I felt like I’d been asleep for too long on a hot day, and couldn’t quite remember what I was doing. It was quiet, with only the sound of distant sky […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Nine at night and residential roads are empty. Everybody is safe inside, either working or enjoying approved leisure activities. Meanwhile, on the intercity hyperways, traffic provides cover for duels between the dishonest and the diligent. My control board emits an annoying bleep. Somebody is being exceptionally diligent. “Unidentified perpetrator, westbound […]

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Priya begins by striking the words love, hate, heart, and feel from the computer’s vocabulary, and blocks the internet. It isn’t with malicious intent. She d...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The nightlight downgrades again, becoming a dim glow. Frankie squints at it, then turns his attention back to me, pupils wide above the patched duvet cover that contains more shredded dry rubbish than actual duvet. “Tell me about the Call to Arms.” I shake my head. Every week his school […]

“Darling,” Hades says one evening as the two of them are curled up on the couch, “I love you, but we can’t live like this.” “Hmm?” Persephone glances up from her Macbook. At her feet, Perennial Gra…

Drugged and dying, Bigby thinks about dreams. How, long ago, maybe two or three beers in, he told his roommate he wanted to be an umpire. He was going to drop out of school. He was going to spend y…

Author: Majoki Francis was helping the elderly lady cross a busy street when the call came. He waited until she’d thanked him with a little pat on the arm and entered the drugstore even though the shelves were almost bare. His phone was still buzzing. Oscar. He hesitated, but knew that was impolite and so […]

Author: Aubrey Williams “Look, we understand that this is a strange request, Mr. Human… but we repeat again: our planet’s security… even galactic security, may depend on us acquiring one of these devices. Please, we implore you— surrender your microwave to us!” So spoke the little alien being, its four hands wrung in pleading, its […]

Author: Sean Nelson Taylor “Christ, these Danishes are hard as rocks!” Damien’s heart rate jumped. The lab assistants were chatting as they returned from their coffee break, ready to begin the afternoon session. Strapped down to a cold metal seat, he was helpless. “Alright, you sick fuck. Time for a little Empathy Training.” Damien could […]

Úna’s dad once said to her: “You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” Spring had turned and they’d come cycling up the highway, fourteen kilometres north through a land bedecked with rocky…

Author: David Barber “You’re not old enough to remember Patty Blue, the singer,” the salesman said. He still wore his hair in a spacer crop, though he hadn’t been out in the dark for years. “Spacers broadcast her songs when coms traffic was slow and that voice would haunt you.” He rotated the hologram of […]

Author: Cheri Vazquez It was 1978 and I was on my way to a job interview at the most exclusive fine dining restaurant in New City. I’d coifed my hair into what I believed to be worthy of the sommelier position. My satin slacks pinched at my waist securing a silver silk blouse I had purchased at Barneys, my throat dry […]

Three pieces of toast—dark on one side, light on the other. A cup of coffee. Rosh’s preference is Blend 14, with hints of Sub-Saharan Africa and caramel, delivered tepid with more milk than expresso.

Author: Jenny Abbott The Bob Hope in the next act is slipping, and I can hear him breaking down a little more every night through the wall. These places off the turnpike aren’t exactly five-star gigs, but you take what you can get—a career in combat leaves you long on synaptic adjustments but short on […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer My peers are very fond of saying how they ‘were fortunate’ or ‘spotted an opportunity’. The more honest have momentary shadows in their eyes when they say it. The raw truth is that to accumulate this much wealth, we’ve taken opportunities, money, and even lives from others. Not theft or […]

Author: Alastair Millar Brad was at his workstation when his supposedly locked office door dilated unexpectedly, and a casually dressed young woman stepped through; he looked up in annoyance. “Well?” “Doctor Mendelsson?” “Yes. You’re not one of my students. Who are you?” “My name’s Smith. I’m with Section Seven.” “Am I supposed to be impressed? […]

Author: Marijean Oldham The Mississippi only ran backwards, south to north, twice that we know of. First time was during the earthquakes of 1812. And the second was the day the meteor fell. In the months that followed, we felt a drop in our stomachs any time we crested the hill to reach what used […]

Author: David C. Nutt All of us on this mission were eager to explore, chosen from among thousands of applicants as being restless beyond restless to know what was next as we traversed the void. When we landed on this new planet, we could not believe our eyes. An entire continent developed- farms, industry, homes […]

Author: Christopher DePree Kate and I trudged up the hill on our evening walk, heading west of the house to get to the clearing. It was cold, and a thin layer of icy snow crunched beneath each step. The snow was not deep. A buzzard glided slowly across the sky above us, looking for a […]

Author: Aubrey Williams “Look, I’m not apologising, and that’s that!” The man glared up at the smoke alarm, its smug viewfinder glinting annoyingly in the evening’s neon haze. “Oh really? You just had say *that* to Catherine?” “Hey, I felt she ought to know you’re having doubts about that part of your relationship,” it replied […]

Author: Majoki You gave them the names. All of them. Jelenik, Szmania, Guar, Imhotep, Salasi, Yun, Indrasutthan, Porter. Faisel knows it. His broken face, his darkened eyes tell you in the sterile moments of your visits. You wrap his lacerations, dampen his fever, moisten his battered lips, force morsels past his chipped teeth. His pulse […]

Content Note: Racism   Seven of Nine is a third-culture kid. Those of us who leave one country for another at an early age recognize the beats: You’re one person, a whole, unconflicted person with a whole, unconflicted family that belongs—until being literally assimilated as a child. You learn to adjust, but eventually—perhaps as a […]

Author: Hillary Lyon Kaz tumbled through the centrifugal force of the prismatic vortex, finally landing on the planet’s surface with a cruel thud. Medical nanobots lining the interior of his suit immediately went to work, infusing themselves through the pores of his skin, worming their way into his bloodstream. From there, the minuscule bots traveled […]

You are walking down a winter road that carves a gentle arc through a forest of hemlock and fir.

We had thought ourselves safe, but then you found us in our little ship.