The fire crackles, and Sirella watches as Kai lies with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. She knows he’s pretending because his breathing is too soft. She’s heard his almost snores since the second night, when they’d both finally relaxed enough … Escape Pod 633 Lucky Shot (Part 2) - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2K0oklh via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Sometimes at night when my mind is calm, I think I hear the octopuses. Around the world, the great network of molluscan philosophers. I had many reasons for moving to the Pacific Northwest –  weather, closeness to potential clients and my big brothe…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The little cleanerbot whirrs as it crisscrosses the arena, sucking up the robot dust with the vacuum chute on its right and picking up strewn robot parts with the multi-hinged arm on its front. via Pocket Escape Pod 673 Optimizing the Verified Good (Artemis Rising) - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2CIrft3

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io And Yet A. T. Greenblatt Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet. Here you are. Standing on the sagging, weed-strangled front porch that hasn’t changed in twenty years. Every dip in the floorboards, every peeling strip … Escape Pod 674 And Yet - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2Vxspir

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io It was the middle of the night and everybody was knocked out. Marcus, my big brother who died the week before last, had his door cracked. I heard him snoring under the hum of the refrigerator. The carpet creaked under my feet as I stepped into the d…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Escape Pod 676 Ulissa - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2UnhIha The old woman they called Ulissa pointed south. “There’s the ship.” Edoardo raised the binoculars. “Mio dio, it’s huge,” he said. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Escape Pod 677 Valedictorian (Flashback Friday) - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2UYueJ2 There are three things Zinhle decides, when she is old enough to understand. The first is that she will never, ever, give less than her best to anything she tries to do. The second is that she will not live in fear. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io During the day, James A. Miller works on Milking Robots in the Madison Wisconsin area. At night, he spends time with his family and does his best to come up with fun and creative fiction. He is a first reader for Allegory e-zine and member of the Co… EP540 The Right Answer - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2catQQy

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Erin Cashier is fond of the unreliable narrator. The things that interest me most are Disneyland (not kidding), esoteric philosophy books, alchemy as it relates to Jungian theories, William Blake, and Super Paper Mario. via Pocket EP537 Honeycomb Girls - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2bi9Exq

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “Congratulations, Mrs. Costa,” chirped the young Life Center nurse. “You’re ready to go home! Here’s your shield.” Maria raised the infant in her arms high enough for the nurse to slip the slim, silver band around her waist. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Escape Pod 668 The Harmonic Resonance of Ejiro Anaborhi | Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/30rPfNs The spindly, sleek ship hurtled forward at hyperliminal speed, blurring its own intricately patterned design in six dimensions and wrecking the fabric of space–time in its wake. via Pocket

Inheritance By Elise Stephens Carmen would have expected a gold necklace or tarnished antique, maybe some money or a secret family recipe card, but she’d never dreamed her grandmother would try to imm…

Martian Chronicles by Cory Doctorow I didn’t go back to the Junior Colonists’ Lounge for a whole week. Instead, I spent the time with my dad, who seemed pleasantly surprised that his son wanted to han…

This Is As I Wish To Be Restored By Christie Yant Every night I come home and I drink. I trade away the hope, the guilt, the fear, even the love–I think it’s love, crazy as it seems. I trade them for …

The Homunculi’s Guide to Resurrecting Your Loved One From Their Electronic Ghosts by Kara Lee 0. Confession If you are reading this, your Loved One has died. We are sorry for your loss. If you are rea…

The Last Stellar Death Metal Opera By Elly Bangs Raya eases power into the singularity engine and all her senses sharpen with the glorious, brutal reality of the moment: dead ahead there’s the blackli…

Points of Origin by Marissa Lingen Most people who have reached their eighties without raising children have every right to believe that they will go on not raising them, and Judith and I were no diff…

A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide By Sarah Pinsker Andy tattooed his left forearm with Lori’s name on a drunken night in his seventeenth year. “Lori & Andy Forever and Ever” was the full text, all i…

Martian Chronicles by Cory Doctorow They say you can’t smell anything through a launch-hood, but I still smelled the pove in the next seat as the space-attendants strapped us into our acceleration cou…

Real Artists by Ken Liu “You’ve done well,” Creative Director Len Palladon said, looking over Sophia’s résumé. Sophia squinted in the golden California sun that fell on her through the huge windows of the conference room. She wanted to pinch herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. She was here, really here, on the hallowed […]

The Things by Peter Watts I am being Blair. I escape out the back as the world comes in through the front. I am being Copper. I am rising from the dead. I am being Childs. I am guarding the main entrance. The names don’t matter. They are placeholders, nothing more; all biomass is interchangeable. […]