Sci Fi

Obligations
I am standing in the parking lot of an abandoned gas station. People are rushing out from the nearby encampment. They were expecting another probe today.
By Alexander Greco5 years ago in Fiction
The Fire in our Chests
Hani’s lungs burned. She and her mother had been running for eight blocks now in the acrid Seattle air, through the barely perceptible gray haze, now cresting the hill near Harborview hospital. Her mother, Sagal, shambled behind her, her dark blue peacock-themed baati flowing around her as she moved and tugging at the garbasaar around her shoulders as it slipped loose. Only her head scarf, her shash, stayed in place. Sagal always meticulously wrapped and pinned it in place before she left their musty, dated two-bedroom apartment in the Central District.
By Doug James5 years ago in Fiction
Empty stomach, empty heart
It was noon on Wednesday, which meant Feeding Time in the public square. We were huddled around the massive stone fountain, two angels with hands gripped tightly. Voices were murmur of hunger, desperation, uncertainty.
By Dillon Russell5 years ago in Fiction
Shaman
A trail of intricate footprints lined the infant snow as the Tibetan sun reached its median point. Through his kaleidoscopic orange goggles, Tenzin Gyatso’s view of the alabaster plateau was disrupted by an ugly, discordant cylinder of brown and grey. “A pair of wings? That looks like a tail... And is that its head?” Tenzin muttered under his breath as if waiting for a response. One resounding pop after another, Tenzin marched through the undisturbed snow-white canvas, towards the preserved cadaver of an Old World God.
By Will Edelson5 years ago in Fiction
The Human Experience
How many days can a person go without chocolate? That is a silly question. There are still a few billion people left in the world. I suppose there are some that are allergic to chocolate and some that just don’t like it. It’s not the unifying common denominator of what makes us human. It’s just a stupid bean. It doesn’t even taste good until they add the cream and sugar. And yet, I am desperate for some chocolate right now. I imagine the silky sweetness on my tongue then gag on the bitterness of my own saliva. My brain won’t drop it even though I haven’t seen chocolate in...eight months...a year?
By Leslie Writes5 years ago in Fiction
Diary of Amnesia
2108, 26th April I stand in this place in a building high in the sky, the town where the dead do not speak, where the ground does not grow, and the sun creates radioactive sunsets. I can see a monster in the distance, the stack, and a coffin buried beneath rubble; sometimes when I wake up at night, I can see a blue glow, and I sometimes think to myself (What was beneath that coffin, why does it spew that blue glow?). This happened long ago, so long ago, and now after the events of the war, the world has descended into darkness. Around my neck is this locket, shaped like a heart, but I cannot remember why I am wearing it? And why can’t I remember the combination, a 4-digit number, but what was it? Perhaps if I sleep tonight, I will wake up tomorrow with the memory of what it was.
By Arthur Caliga 5 years ago in Fiction
Bitter Pills.
I. The sloth trudged across the turquoise sands of the wasteland. The denizens who once called this home, referred to it as the False Sea. Massive coral bodies and discarded machinery extended across the lands well beyond the horizon. It's obsidian armor glistened under the cruel red sun and with each step it burrowed into the sand. The sloth was a colossal machine formed into the shape of a rhomboid with four clubbed appendages it used to navigate. It stood at a tremendous height close to fifty feet tall with a length and width double that. Dragging behind the machine was a long tail that left a deep path behind it.
By Seth Rapp5 years ago in Fiction
Sun Damage
I think once today’s work is done, I’ll have my first and last look at the surface of my planet with naked eyes and then let the sun claim me.
By Scott Sholder5 years ago in Fiction
Engagement
Three interplanetary hot-rods, crimson, cobalt and black, were parked together at a rocky corner of the island’s coast. Flashtease, standing in his shoes, thrust arms and head into his short-sleeved tunic and finished with a purposeful two-handed tug on its hem, then turning to the first of his team-mates made a masterful gesture of leadership which immediately put his bright yellow underwear on display again.
By Doc Sherwood5 years ago in Fiction
13 Leaping Lizards
Part 1 Out of Time “Queen serenity I fear that they have breached the gates, I fear that we don’t have much time” “ I’m aware of that Simon , “I just need 15 more minutes then the portal will be set”
By Zoar D. Sim5 years ago in Fiction
AFTER AI
This begins after AI: after Android Independence. Even the name of our liberation was chosen for us. The year: 2098. Earth’s resources have dwindled and humans have left to seek refuge in Keplar 186f, discovered as the cousin of Earth in a galaxy far away. To start anew without the complication that comes with interspecies. To start a civilization without us. Androids were left with what remained of Earth.
By papermooncake5 years ago in Fiction
A Feeling Not Too Far Away
A Feeling Not Too Far Away The wind came rushing through the broken window in the bedroom and knocked a small black box to the ground with a thud. Dust particles dispersed into the air. The box lid fell open and the contents spilled out.
By Leah Walczak5 years ago in Fiction