Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Fiction.
The After
She fidgeted with the locket she wore around her neck. She opened it, looked at the pictures inside, then closed the locket and stuck it back in the neck of her shirt. Ran her fingers along the chain holding the locket and then pulled it back from her shirt as if the heart shape trinket would be missing.
By Bryce Bade 5 years ago in Fiction
Samudra & the Soul of the Deep
Razor-sharp salt crystals pelted Samudra’s hefty leather coat. If her skin were exposed, they would no doubt open tiny, stinging cuts. The thick salty air made breathing difficult. Through her compact goggles, she could see the town. Dusty buildings covered in white crystal formations sat in a wide-open plain. The town grew how the landscape allowed. A high metal tower leaned awkwardly to one side, and ropes holding tarps stretched out like a haphazard circus tent. So, it’s a shit hole, got it. She checked the map her grandmother had given her again. After a short scan to confirm, Samudra took a deep breath and, throwing the map back into her bag, marched towards the dilapidated town, clutching her heart-shaped locket. You’re finally here, don’t fuck this up.
By Alexander Dziewanowski5 years ago in Fiction
BARMAH FOREST
Running through the forest floor on the outskirts of Nerimah, he trips over one of the red ones. It’s a girl, early twenties kind of young and would have been quite pretty when The Source was with her. Her hair is vivid red and long, hanging like wet drapes stuck to her luminous chiseled cheeks, marked with holes the size of pins. 'She’s a Redfree,’ ponders Aden.
By Catherine Stace5 years ago in Fiction
THE BOY WITH A HEART OF GOLD
Everywhere Tiffany and I went we were treated like kings and queens. I questioned her about it one day because I thought it strange given the conditions around us. She looked at me and said, “you really don’t know do you Billy?” I looked at her with intrigue in my eyes and said, “know what Tiffany?” She smiled and took me by the hand, “follow me,” she said. We walked for about a mile and a half in silence communicating the whole time in our own special way. Somehow, we always knew what the other was thinking without having to say a word. We come upon an old plantation farmhouse. In the back of the farmhouse was a huge hay barn. Tiffany, still holding on to my hand tightly, led us straight to the barn without hesitation. As we entered, we looked to the left and there was a staircase leading up to a huge loft. Still hand and hand she practically ran full speed pulling me up the stairs. As we reached the top Tiffany took a giant leap forward pulling me air born and landing both of us in the soft, damp, surprisingly comfortable hay. We never said a word, I knew what she wanted. As we lay back in the hay still holding hands tightly, we both closed our eyes, and I went into the deepest sleep I have ever experienced. In the sleep I started to dream. In the dream was Tiffany and I walking down a dark dirt road. As we walked down the dark and scary road together, I began to check out our surroundings. It was supposed to be daylight, but it was completely dark with no sun or moon in sight. I looked at Tiffany, she looked back with a fearful and sad look in her eyes. I had never seen that from her before. She was always so confident and brave. “Where’s the sun?” I asked, “isn’t it supposed to be daylight?” “It’s gone” she said, looking at me with her head down and her sad eyes staring up at me, “the explosion took it.” It made me sad to see Tiffany like this, so hurt and afraid. She was the exact opposite in our other dream.
By William Brady5 years ago in Fiction
Eden’s Rise
Farai - to rejoice and be happy Prologue We all thought that when the vaccine came out in 2021, it would be the end of the virus. I wish we would have known that it was just the beginning. After the vaccine, things went back to normal, for the most part, until a year later. Covid-19 evolved into a supervirus, causing those who got it to turn into carriers for the first month, but after that, their organs would slowly start to shut off.
By Victoria Schmitt5 years ago in Fiction
Found
The currents eddied around me, tugging petulantly at my awareness as I pushed past them. I held fast to the single draw, the scent that I’d been following for days. Step, tap, step, tap. My cane moved rhythmically, in the dance they’d taught me from the first. Foot forward, cane reaching ahead to the opposite side. They’d never understood why I didn’t try to use my skillset to compensate for not seeing. I’d never understood why they thought I needed to.
By Remember Serendipity5 years ago in Fiction
The Invasive Grave of Elizabeth Washington
1. The burrower left the dead-fall at the same time as she usually did, at false dawn, as the eastern skies lightened but the cool of the night still lingered. Upon exiting, she carefully replaced the layers of dead and living plants that hid the entrance to her burrow. She made a quick circuit of the clearing, checking that the entrance remained hidden. It was safe, as far as anything could be these days. A dead pine and a thorn bush thicket: home sweet home.
By Catherine Hamilton5 years ago in Fiction
The Light That Breaks the Mold
As I toe the line for the 2044 Titanium Running Championship race, I am only thinking about one thing: the take down. I clench the heart shaped locket my father gave me in my fist, and I reflect on the last year and everything that has happened. I can’t believe they invited me here. Our society, Steel Nation, has made all individualization and opinions illegal. It wasn’t this bad last year until someone challenged the beginning of these strict rules. That someone was my dad. Technology was becoming too personal and AWU (Always Watching You) cameras were placed all over. Our privacy ceased to exist, and our free-thinking opinions were slowly slipping away. They called this Project X. The X standing for elimination of individuality. 365 days ago, my dad competed in the Titanium Running Championship. I’ll never forget that day, the day it all started.
By Morgan Meseke5 years ago in Fiction
Pandora
L-0W quickly glanced at her arm, where her PerCo Personal Data Companion had just finished analysis of the air quality, particle identification, radiation levels, and weather patterns of the gloomy dustbowl and was now issuing a comically long series of warnings. She snorted. Coming here meant death; she already knew that. Still, she quickly swallowed an iodine tablet, drew her nanite weave tight around her face, and tightened the straps on her goggles and oxygen mask, for she could already taste the deadly, radioactive salt. It was bitter and numbed her lips, and the smallest particles couldn't be avoided. It was the first time she had ever tasted salt, and she had been bracing herself for the sensation.
By Adam Barrett5 years ago in Fiction
Constant Reminder
It’s the end of the month, or so we tell ourselves considering we’ve lost track of the days and only know the year at this point; so that means it’s time to collect more supplies for survival. Last month, my older brother, Joseph, went with our younger sister, Carole, on this journey; that means it’s my turn and I’m not too excited about it. Where we’ve made our home, we’re surrounded by trees, which helps to provide us with cleaner air, and as we go off into the city to gather supplies, it becomes hard to breathe. This is how we’ve lived for the past five years; traveling with gas masks, sickness taking out half of the population including our parents, and clean water becoming scarce every time we go on this journey. People have turned on one another, and the neighbors that we do have, we only speak to when we make eye contact. To be honest, I don’t remember what life was like before the world fell apart, all I can really say is that at some point we had parents, until we didn’t.
By Taylor Richardson5 years ago in Fiction
