Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
Remembering When the Sun Went Out
There's another empty booklet waiting for me on the desk, must be close to three years now. The first one was here when I appeared in this room, just a few days after the sun went out. The second was waiting on the desk after the three-hundred and sixtieth time the lights in my room went out. I can't remember what day or time it is, but I remember seeing the sun getting drawn into the dot and how quickly everything became cold. I wonder where my mom and dad are, I hope they were taken up too. Wish the voice wasn't so loud and demanding. The commands are beyond old and annoying. “HOW ABOUT TELLING ME WHY YOU TOOK ME FROM MY FAMILY!”
By Tim Pieper5 years ago in Fiction
Clarion
Step. Dust puffed from beneath the cracked soles of her bare feet. Clarion’s head hung low, her eyes watching the way the fine brown dirt fell over the tops of her feet, clinging to the tiny hairs there, unwanted passengers on this journey of drudgery. The sun beat on her shoulders causing them to bow further, the heat like a physical weight.
By Sheila Marie5 years ago in Fiction
Earth Cruise
Earth Cruise Lara was excited. For her 12th birthday she had asked Grandpa for a family cruise, and to her surprise, Grandpa Al had said OK, and here they were. The whole family, Lara, her nine year old brother, Kirk, her mother, and her father were berthed on Star Cruiser Constellation, on a fully paid three week cruise with port stops at Mars, Earth’s moon, and the Earth Space Station orbiter.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Dust
I saw them before I heard them, the glowing embers of the world that was. I saw them floating through the air, wafting gently downward onto our muddied flesh, the thunderous boom of the bombs shaking the ground beneath us as they broke the earth’s skin. A crack sounded in the distance, renting the night sky with its resounding finality.
By Julia Trinidad5 years ago in Fiction
The Gold Locket
Mila’s eyes itched. The dust didn’t affect her brother. He played in the stuff, covering the overalls Mama had fished out of the trash in the alley behind Benny’s Tacos. People collected children’s clothes and left them there, while household items were in the dumpster behind Sushi Shack. Both restaurants were long-closed, but their unlit neon signs were landmarks. Mama had washed the overalls out in the pond behind their home. Everything she washed there smelled like seaweed and lollipops, which was a little sickening, but better than the sewage smell from the pond behind Dino’s house. Mila rubbed her eyes, then regretted it. Nothing helped except the cool compress Mama made for her at night.
By Jenna Herbst5 years ago in Fiction
In the Shade of a Mushroom
1 Sasha’s breathing was loud in her head, even with the metallic whirring of the rising platform she was standing on. Cool beads of sweat formed on the back of her neck beneath her clean-suit and she could feel the rumble of the humming machinery shaking her knees, which felt rubbery and useless. The platform crept ever upward on its track through the near blackness of the corridor, broken occasionally by a string of dim florescent lights mounted in the steel walls every twenty feet or so. The pace of the platform was agonizing and Sasha’s mind felt as if it were on fire.
By Dylan Paul5 years ago in Fiction
