Cajones

by Floyd Largent You'd think a superhero wouldn't have any trouble making a living, but since my Breakthrough, I've barely been getting by. My folks, who are proud of my new status, are happy to lend me money between bounties, which is how I

The Missing Variable

by Steven Mathes It may seem like an obvious detail, but nobody on our team caught it.   We planned. We imagined uncertainties about pathogens, toxins, hostile predators, and historical facts of human violence. We knew it would require unspeakable amounts of energy. Therefore, I was armored in something halfway between

What Counts as a Heart in a Bicycle

by Jennifer Lesh Fleck Circus-striped streamers dazzle my handlebars. My leatherette seat wears printed roses and flourishes, like a Western saddle. I’m pretty, parked alongside my brothers and sisters. My factory paint has glitter in the pink, swirling like cosmic dust.   The village outside hunkers under June gloom, the

ART of the Solar System #8

by Cody Schell

The Bacon That Isn’t There

by Justin Dill For the fourteenth day, eggs fall from the sky. Always eggs, and mine, always scrambled. Never over easy. Never over. Never easy. Mother makes omelets for breakfast, for the fourteenth time. Fourteen quiche lunches. Fourteen egg salad suppers. Meringue for dessert. I skip that first. And then

Troll Extraction

by Mark Szasz   “Mm-hm, mm-hm… No doubt about it. You’ve got a troll under your dental bridge,” Dr. Gruff agreed, narrowing his gaze.        The beam from his dental headlight shone on two tiny shining eyes in my mouth, each reflecting in his spectacles and glowering at me.       A gigantic

Network Creep

by Corey Jae White the matter transfer room resembles a cathedral. The gate a window waiting to open onto the light of all Creation, brighter than a thousand suns.  Sometimes I stand on the observation deck and watch storage containers break through the wall of blazing energy and my eyes

ART of the Solar System #7

by Cody Schell

Song of the Loom

by Janet Forbes I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died.   My hands were an echo of hers. Heavy with grief, they wove eight hundred threads onto the frame, a hundred for each string of her Lyra. The weft, the framework, the heart of the weave. Each string

A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #26: Jennifer’s white string shawl in Lèvres de sang (Lips of Blood) (1975)

by Vince Stadon “You had to remember me before I could appear to you.” – Jennifer  Making movies is arduous work, and sometimes filming is rough on everyone. Lèvres de sang was shot in three weeks, often guerrilla-style, as the film crew would just turn up without pre-planning or permits to,

ART of the Solar System #6

by Cody Schell

They Came for Me at Dusk

by J. S. Watts Art by Arnold T. Blumberg They came for me at dusk, before the tired light had fully faded from the sky. Before I could finally sleep. Before I could wake.  I wasn’t yet dead, was as weak—no, weaker—than them. There were twelve of