The story below is a work of fiction. The android sat crossed-legged and scratched at his head—two gestures he had learned from his days of living with real humans, when they were alive. He held one of their bodies in his hand. It didn’t move, just like all the other ones scattered in front of … Story: Artificial
The story below is a work of fiction. Her hand was nestled into the crook of his elbow as he lead her down the crowded, powdered-white street. The layered sheets of blurry white specks floated down and the sight of their meandering, parallax paths made the couples’ route a kaleidoscopic adventure. They threaded the needle … Story: Urban Planning
The story below is a work of fiction. The aliens abducted the man and placed him into a spartan but comfortable room in the zoo. Patrons of only a few alien races walked by to observe him. When the flow of observers increased, and interest in his presence became more acute, his keepers filled out … Story: Caravaggio Prison
The story below is a work of fiction. The lady kept eyeing her on the train, like yesterday. What is this intruder doing here again, she was probably thinking. Another working woman to contend for her Queen Bee perch, overlooking the morning commute. The paranoid thought life of older working ladies: muggers, ex-husbands, rapists, and … Story: The Second Day of Work
At one of my old jobs, someone had left a poorly-worded note in the break room: “coat doesn’t fit. trade?” I wrote this out and taped it up next to it. I almost considered getting it written it up in calligraphy, but I’m not that big of a jerk. Gentlemen of the XX Floor, Is … A Good Sir Story
Lily and Daisy Toddlers warming to their names Fart blossoms blooming Island-stranded couple’s bottled message: “Don’t bother.” Johnson quickly saluted his smug editor. Yet behind him, Emily seethed. The office editorial was complete.
The story below is a work of fiction. He just wanted to sub to an Instagram account that had decent fitness inspiration, but everything he looked at was filled with brown circle Brazilian backsides on the beach and women that were a little too abby. No different than a strip club photo session; he wanted … Story: Lousy Illuminati Disguises, Half Off
The story below is a work of fiction. She babysat the one kid who just watched that one animated movie on repeat. The one with the Taylor Swift song in the beginning. That one song that was an obvious ploy by her A&R management to sell to any kind of media that involves New York … Stories on Blogs are a Bad Idea
The story below is a work of fiction. I notice the short guy that works in my building. Middle aged. Beige yuppie trenchcoat, untied. The hem probably grazes bottom shelves. Not fat; blocky, not stocky. He always orders “hot coffee” at Starbucks, never mentions a size. Unmarried. What does the guy do outside of work. … Story: Coatman
I got third in the spitting competition at Speculative Faith. It wasn’t even close, but I don’t know how close these things tend to get. As a reward for reading this post so far, you get to look at their past competitions and write up a detailed report for me, please. You won’t get paid, … Bronze Place Is Last Place
The story below is a work of fiction. A light rain. He offered the guy space under his umbrella, but he said he was okay without it. He wondered if it would seem kind of gay to the guy, since it seemed like that to him. What kind of unfortunate linguistic determinism is it that … This Story Won’t Turn You Gay
The story below is a work of fiction. A trained actor with an endless parade of stupid ideas. He would voice the most ridiculous, unrewarding ones and immediately criticize them before his friends could. “Here’s one: I’ll transplant to a different part of the country, out of the Valley. No one knows me. I’ll pull … Story: Something Persuasive
The story below is a work of fiction. Visiting her relatives is her secondmost hated event. They stumble over to her with their ethnic hair and diabetic knees. Their collective scent isn’t unpleasant but borderline inhuman; it triggers her disgust reflex. She leaves when she wants to. Trips to the grocery store are degrees worse, … Story: Despair in Two Parts
The story below is a work of fiction. Another semester and another set of students, shining bright like Kubrick tiger eyes. He has enthusiasm for the job despite the contagion protocols of the classroom. They’ve all got superpowers but there’s no defense against the enemies we can’t see.
Men, arrayed on rays, vertex to vertex Reach across the plane with probisci Sleek and curious but blade-grass frail A lateral-diagonal intermingling God, as capstone, pours it downward Perpendicularity, liquid, and unpredicatable Few could apprehend from whence to where Most retract their probing lines, prophesying danger Only a few stay their hand to catch the … Story: Platonic Solid
The story below is a work of fiction. Initially, the object was only perceptible to the array of sensitive instruments focused onto the area, though it soon became visible to those gathered: astronomers, linguists, physicists. It emerged from the blankness of dead space, like a chick from its shell, at the exact coordinates and time … Story: Duality Erased
The story below is a work of fiction. “You and your inventions!” Talia shouted at Thomas, as she blasted away a few more of the large, crab-like, training room drones with her pulse rifle. “And now of all times!” “Those were the last ones, I think, for now,” Thomas reported from his crouched position next … Story: T.H.O.W.A.C.K.
The story below is a work of fiction. He was on edge all week from finals. Miko had sensed it, and urged him up to the hilltop on a cool weekday night on a break, away from the campus lights. He watched, weary and passive, as she assembled the telescope, her pale deft hands grasping … Story: Faster Than Light
The story below is a work of fiction. With the adults, and most of the neighborhood kids, occupied with the block party outside, John fumbled with the lighter in his bedroom. He finally managed to keep it lit without burning his fingers, and ignited the cigarette that stood straight out of Victoria’s mouth. Chris looked … Story: It’s No Wonder
The story below is a work of fiction. All thirty employees gathered in the carpeted lobby for the first public beta play-through of the game. Becky, the project manager, won—she would say “lost,” after the fact—the shortest straw and was player one. Silence during the opening cinematic, and a quick cut to the gameplay, an … Story: The Soldier Has No Gun