Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Terran Winds
I write in this journal for those who would find it when I have passed. My name is Julie. I am fourteen in Earth years. That is my home planet. We had to leave the planet after the moon exploded. We had made it our portal to the stars. We had stored so much nuclear fuel on the moon that when a rogue asteroid hit the moon it caused an explosion so massive that it destroyed it.
Diplomatic Etiquette and the Alien Menace
Welcome to the Exterran Federation Guide to Human-Kro'dyl Relations. Perhaps you are reading this because you are an Envoy considering a xenodiplomatic post, or a businessman seeking practical advice on alien relations, or a member of the public curious about this strange new species. The members of the Kro'dyl Dominion have a reputation for belligerence, but they are also a species marred by cruel and inaccurate rumors as well as simple cultural misunderstandings. These guides are intended to set the record straight on this species while also helping the reader navigate their culture with caution and sensitivity.
Andrew JohnstonPublished 3 years ago in FictionMissing Peace
The explosion was something random and widespread. I remember walking out of Macy's with my sister, we'd had just got done birthday shopping for our dad. In New York, there are many unique and particular people so when we see a random guy running around and yelling "IT'S THE END" we casually brushed it off and laugh, not knowing that it really was the end. I can recall when it all happened, the sky turned dark momentarily before buildings came crashing down, the once sunny sky, happy faces and joyful music was now replaced with fear, crying and screaming. Chaos was being displayed in Manhattan, this day. I grabbed my sister's hand in attempts to try and find a fall out shelter near by but she pulled back when she seen a mother and her daughter struggling to be released from a heavy brick slab that had fallen from them. Aniah has always been a caring and selfless person, quick to put people before herself. I shouted for her to hurry back but before I knew it, a heavy pressure hits my back causing me to fall to the ground and slamming my head on the concrete.
Tania HillPublished 3 years ago in FictionBye Y'All
Bye, Y’all Cryogenics was not Rachel's field of research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Her specialty was pediatric oncology, and she was lead researcher on a study of triggers for childhood cancers hoping that better understanding of those triggers could lead to effective interventions to forestall the disease. But today Rachel was across from NIH at the National Library of Medicine accessing all the information they had on cryogenics.
Cleve TaylorPublished 3 years ago in FictionSchool's Out
Rudy stared eagerly at the clock, watching the seconds, then minutes, tick by as the school year came to a close. The classroom was like a furnace, not only holding in heat, but seeming also to take it in through the open windows. He waited eagerly as his teacher, Mrs. Winlock, passed out the year-end reports one by one.
Apocalypse Boom
The year is 2120 and everything is great! The world is at peace, nations are in unity and the world economy is extremely good. Everyone is happy and content with what is going on around the world.
Banging So Bad
It is 2077; men are working in call center-like office environments; their bosses, women. Male bosses are non-existent, and society is now matriarchal. Women leaders are everywhere. Women make all the decisions; they take advantage of men for their domestic abilities, cooking skills, and kindness attributes to perform all chores.
Christa Cusack O'NeillPublished 3 years ago in FictionRenaming Dragontail Peak
The stage is set. The meager applause dies in the air, its praise fading faster than it had come. All the middle school students sit in rows on the retractable bleachers in the gym which, on days like today, doubles as an amphitheater. The teachers have constructed a makeshift stage underneath the basketball hoops, a simple raised platform with a decorative garland stapled all around its edges, little paper stars hanging from the shiny purple plastic fringe. The cheap decor doesn’t do much to make the gym look any less like a gym, with its giant scoreboards all over the bland cinder block walls. P.E. is Sascha’s least favorite class, and as such, the gym is her least favorite part of the school. Today, in particular, has done nothing to change that.
Natale FelixPublished 3 years ago in FictionWingman Batman Makes Introduction to Superman
December 1959 Superman and a Nose Dance I’m twenty-one, divorced and living in Manhattan. Just off Sutton Place on 55th Street. Great address and high rent. I’m determined to go to law school, but at the moment I’m an NYU undergrad. The last semester before Law School. I hope. To cover rent and food I work nights and go to school full time during the day. Not too many places to work nights. Hooker? Nah! Night watchwoman? Nah! All night disk jocky? Not a sultry enough voice. I’m the hatcheck girl at Gatsby’s, a chi-chi supper club on the corner of 49th Street and First Avenue. I can do homework in the check room between customers and as staff eat a good free dinner.
Alice Donenfeld-VernouxPublished 3 years ago in FictionOne Good Turn
The baby deer was lying just off the road. I couldn't tell if it was dead or alive. It was in a fairly thick stand of poison ivy, so I didn't really want to go get it unless I had to.
Jonathan BlackbowPublished 3 years ago in FictionCut-throat; Mouth Fed
Gas Mask? Check. Knife? Check. Tape? Check. Teddy Bear? Check. Alright. Now, her backpack is set for school. Back when I was in 3rd grade, my backpack had lunch, books, and pencils. Her backpack has a doomsday kit and an “How to Survive Pamphlet”. She looked at me with dim, yet puzzled eyes.
The Phoenix Variant
The Phoenix Variant House mice are all pretty much the same, so I will call this all important mouse, "Mouse". On this particular day Mouse was foraging for food in the waste from the Phoenix Veteran's Administration Hospital when she came upon a tasty bit. Unfortunately, this tasty bit was tainted with the Covid-19 virus, which had come from an unlucky veteran who had served his country in Korea only to meet his demise from a virus invisible to the human eye.
Cleve TaylorPublished 3 years ago in Fiction