At the Threshold, There was Light

by Elijah J. Mears I don’t know how long I’ve been looking for a way out—it feels wasteful to count the seconds here, at the end of time. But I know it must be there. In the depths of my heart, I know that you wouldn’t

ART of the Solar System #12

by Cody Schell ART of the Solar System celebrates one year!

The Song Shines On

by Jo Berry Could I compare thee to a summer’s day?  Thou art the summer and the day incarnate.  Thy winds summon forth the herald aurorae  And all worlds hail thy golden coruscate ate ate ate  [—ate—]  [—later, okay? I’m still trying to run this diagnostic. And can

Claire de Lune

by Jacob Baugher  She comes back to the Carousel House in the blue evening, solitary on the Carolina seaside. Her black Samsonite makes looping tracks on the cold beach, dragging sand across the house’s threshold. She stays here sometimes when she needs refuge, pretends to be one with the

Evidence Before the Committee

by R. K. Duncan Content warnings: Eugenics, infanticide, forced abortion, forced sterilization, torture.  All exhibits marked CONFIDENTIAL URGENT ATTN: Diplomatic Committee; Ad-Hoc Sub-Committee for Generation Ship Response, Convened 344 AF, Planetary Commune of Jardin  Exhibit 1:   Statement of Abraham Helmangel, Captain, Glory of Falling Stars.  Inclusion challenged; not

ART of the Solar System #11

by Cody Schell

The Whole Beast

by Kara Dennison “There’s a difference,” said Dr. Burns, “between something being unkillable and something being unable to die.”  I turned my eyes back toward the lozenge-shaped airplane window, keen to move us to something less existential. “Speaking of unkillable,” I segued, “they’ve come a long way

Green Apples

by Liam Hogan The orchard was merely a hundred trees. A hundred and twenty, counting the malus sylvestris—crab apples—that fringed the sides.  “Why so many?” I asked, shivering in the February cold. Old crones made hedgerow jelly from the stunted apples, despite the wince-inducing tartness, despite their

The Lotus Operator

by Gull Ditta The villagers called her Mehnaz, a name borrowed from the river that refused to keep her. She knew herself as a sequence of sensations: the prickle of dry earth between her toes, the pressure of a monsoon cloud, the shimmer of starlight caught in a still pond.

ART of the Solar System #10

by Cody Schell

Glass Coffins

by Andrew Kozma I did not want to be attending the living memorial service for my mother, but there I was, the spiritual officer’s voice droning on like a TV left on in another room. My mother was in a coma, kept on life support for only pennies on

Error: Visual Database Defying Analysis

by Jetse de Vries Research nano-swarm employed: spread evenly across the globe;  Finding: uttermost majority of civilization’s remnants are on land (remnants at sea bottom are mainly transport vessels);  Second nano-swarm employed: aimed at most promising remnant sites;  Check: tools, appendages, and similar appliances;  Filter out: those