Sci-Fi + Fantasy

I found a rock that was good to hold. A trip to Beachy Head, one of my days with Charlie. He liked the rock too, kept bringing it back, preferring it to his tennis ball, picking it out of the other uncountable, small, smooth stones. He kept it in his mouth after I told him […]

The lake had always been there—as was the nature of lakes—but that spring, it began to move. It crept forward at night, stretching dark tentacles toward the village. People whispered that it had changed color, more green now than blue, more black even than green. “Snowy winter,” the blacksmith explained. “Melted too fast,” agreed widow […]

Your hands shake as you take two steps forward. Your feet are soundless on the concrete floor, and your long jalabiya makes soft swooshing sounds. But how can this be? You think as you look at the body lying peacefully on the bed. You know the woman. Early sunlight plays on her black braids, making […]

Good morning, Professor! I’m Death, and I would like to speak to you about, well, me. Oh dear. I see now that my sudden appearance must be a bit of a shock to a frail human psyche. Go on, take a moment to collect yourself. I’ll wait. Right, let’s begin again. I’m Death. And I […]

CLASSIFIED AND CONFIDENTIALMindMap® Whole Brain Emulation (WBE) Therapy Subject: Cassie Syland, 27-year-old female, Caste-Alpha Investigative Cohort: Malcolm Syland, 30-year-old male, Caste-Alpha MindMap Anomaly #1 of 3 Her Moment of Catatonic Entrapment23 September 2189 My consciousness embeds within Cassie’s lucid mindscape, and her inner world blossoms around me like a plume of eternal spring. The breeze […]

There once was a man with a hand of gold. He was the pride of his town. When he walked down the street, all the people would stop and stare. There goes the man with the hand of gold, they’d say. And the man with the hand of gold would always see them seeing him, […]

Was a fine night. Sitting out on the porch. Moon was up full. Could smell the night lilies. Moon was coming over the trees down at the bottom of the paddock. It was like the branches were fingers or hands trying to drag the moon down. But them hands weren’t strong enough, not to catch […]

I carry corpses. They drift on my surface, usually in boats, sturdy enough to last a few days against my grasping fingers. This is the first and only time their passengers will touch me. The boats are alight with memories of life: feeds scrolling endless well-wishes, funeral goods piled high in jewel colors, holograms of […]

I sit on the floor of what should have been my future child’s bedroom and stare at the field of stars painted on the ceiling, tears pricking the inside of my eyelids. Not two hours ago, Doctor Sharma confirmed that the tiny little dot of potential on the ultrasound monitor had no heartbeat. If next […]

“Maybe we should have noticed sooner,” says Elaine Bantam, “but we all go through that phase around here.” She sits next to her husband, Nat, on the couples’ front porch, facing the cameras. “Started with small things,” Elaine continues. “Ralph, our oldest, began leaving milk and bread on the back porch every night. Now, I’m […]

It was ill luck that found Aphra tending the mother vine on Roanonck in a late August squall. It was a fate fouler still that found her watching as a pirate ship scuppered itself on the nearest Carolina barrier island. She stood next to a live oak while the sailors launched a dingy, which began […]

The god’s carcass floated between the Marble Nebula and the Third-Quadrant Gate. Scavengers had already begun harvesting vital minerals and resources from the decaying godfall and ships matched its velocity as they fell through the cosmos. Most were enterprise-grade ships, though smaller vessels dotted the space between. Many had a charter to sell their harvest […]