Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Fiction.

The Untamed Ambition of Civilized Men
“Oh bloody hell, it’s another one of those darned insects in my sleeping bag, they told me that nothing would get inside, the latest in ‘fabric science’ they said. Insects don’t care about ‘fabric science!’”
By Dean Gee5 years ago in Fiction
Tarnished Hope
There was a brief moment that we shared eye contact. I know she felt the same thing I did. There was a glimmer of a smile, on both our faces. Then the train stopped, and she jolted as though just realizing it was her stop. She jumped up and threw on her backpack, pressing forward quickly through the closing doors, with just a second to glance at me, still smiling. Something was on the seat she vacated, a heart-shaped locket. It looked worn and handed down. I rushed over to grab it before anyone else might. When I touched it, my hand seemed to tingle. What a weird yet good feeling this moment was. Here I was bleak but now hopeful. I was sure I would see her on the train again.
By JJ Jorgensen5 years ago in Fiction
Matched
Ava has decided to give her Guardian a hard time. When she woke up this morning in her bunk to find her stupid Locket glowing red, she immediately felt the urge to run. Of course, running options are limited when you live on an enclosed thirty-three acres with roughly forty thousand other people. There’s the track that runs the perimeter of Campus, but that’s not the kind of running Ava was after. When she looked at the soft red gleam of the heart-shaped interface implanted on the inside of her wrist, she didn’t just have the urge for a quick jog—she had the urge to fully scale one of the towering walls surrounding Campus and to sprint away into the vast, dark wilderness.
By Kate Anderson5 years ago in Fiction
The Wasteland
The air is still cold as the sun crests the horizon. Nothing in front of her except sand, and a small dirt path. A sign in the ground reads of the dangers ahead, 60 degrees celsius heat during the day leading to -10 degrees celsius at night, wasteland dogs and large insects. Anne grasps the walking stick in her hand and walks past the sign into the Wasteland. She’s been on this road before, she knows of its dangers. Nobody takes this route to the City, there’s a large river off in the distance that stretches from the small fishing village she was residing in, all the way to the City. The river is poison; sewage from the City, dead bodies of those who have fallen off the ships, it drains into a lake far enough away from the Crystal Sea. The village sits between the two, half of the village is lush and beautiful, untouched by the air of the lake. The other half, where nobody lives, but where everyone works, isn’t safe for any longer than 4 hours at a time. The two halves are separated by a large wall, to make sure the livable side remains so. Anne looks behind her one final time, she’s spent the last 7 months in this village and now she has to return to the City.
By John U5 years ago in Fiction
Dear Charlie
Chloe sat on the edge of the atrium of what use to be Phipps Plaza. The old AMC theater sign hung above her, though the C was a little crooked now. She could hear other people on the floor above her, but her vantage point gave her time to hide if they approached. There was an elevator beside her, but she knew anyone that used it was a fool. It wasn’t trustworthy enough to attempt to use. The power was so shoddy. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped in a glass elevator at the mercy of whoever opened the door.
By Samantha Hamrick5 years ago in Fiction
2032: The Costs of Liberty
2032: The Costs of Liberty By Will Jorgenson Today I celebrate my 50th birthday, on July 12, 2032, alone in the wilderness of what use to be known as northern Saskatchewan, Canada, but is now part of the U.C.R.S.R. The only reminder of the life I once lived is a silver heart shaped locket with a picture of My Wife, Our Two Daughters and Me. Staring at their beautiful faces fills my heart with despair and longing for what once was, but will never be again.
By Will Jorgenson 5 years ago in Fiction
The Critic
Things have been pretty good for me since the aliens named me an Ambassador of Aesthetics for the human race. The gallarians invaded at the end of a big year for my career. Between the biennial buzz and the Kanye cosign, I was beginning to make the leap from critical darling to household name, and people were talking about my "meteoric ascent" right up until the first ship landed and rendered such phrases passé (we know now that descents bring far more change.)
By David Schaefer5 years ago in Fiction
Nani
“Nani!” The young woman was startled awake. Through half-open eyes, she saw Kawika, the facility’s custodian. She sensed that something was very wrong.
By David Flowers5 years ago in Fiction
A Simple Desire
In the Amish village of Ashtabula, Ohio, Catherine awoke. Her right eye swollen from the blow to her head. As she stirred to find her husband, Nathaniel’s hand in hers, she realized it was not a nightmare. Tears welling up as she looked upon Nathaniel to see death had kissed him as she lay unconscious from the monsters that left her for dead as well. Married for a month today, her dream of heaven on Earth vanished in less than an hour.
By Tasha Lackey5 years ago in Fiction
The Black Russian
The invitation reads as follows. “Dear Philip Johnstone, you are cordially invited to attend this year’s management conference. Only a select group of management will attend. Consider yourself part of the elect. This year’s exclusive management conference will be held at the Kremlin, Russia, where the new global head of the company will be revealed. Your travel arrangements are as follows…”
By Dean Gee5 years ago in Fiction
Sick
I wake up in a panic, gasping for air; the oxygen burns my throat as if I was breathing in salt water. My body hurts, I correct my mind. This. This body hurts. I push away the past, erase the life that I was just living. Martha, and Cam. I push their face to the back of my mind where I keep the rest of them.
By Taylor corry5 years ago in Fiction
The Ember Queen's Heart
Havanas had always dreamed of something more; a greater life than what she had. She wasn’t just unhappy with her life; she hated it. Her parents worked hard to provide and do what they could in the city. They took what jobs they could find in their district; which meant working menial labor and odd hours. They spent so much time away from home she barely knew them. Except for when they were home; then she only knew pain, whether it was verbal or physical, at some point it all started feeling the same. She knew that they took out their frustrations on her for the shit life that they were handed. Well, what can one expect when your parents are an interspecies couple? I mean how the hell did a dragolic end up with a human woman? How could they have a child that was born with dragon traits on one half of her body? Either way, her parents had to know that society was not going to be accepting of them and so they ended up in Rana. A city of outcasts and one of the last cities that still worshipped dragons and their ilk. Here they were sorted into districts based on their skill set and of course species. Havanas’s family would have been placed into the industrial district where her father could have been working with the great tinkerers. They could have had a decent two-story house and money to spend and all it would have required was leaving her mom to her own district; but no, her father had to be noble and stay with her mother instead. So, there Havanas was in the third district where you were either a drug dealer, a whore, or overworked and underpaid.
By Luis Omar Padilla5 years ago in Fiction