You slide the bag across the table, the hooded figure opposite you peers inside. “Where the hell did you find this?!” “Never mind where I found it, it’s what we’re going to do with it now that we have to figure out.” “Well, we’ll sell it, of course.” “Sell the most valuable gemstone known to man? This thing is worth a fortune, and the second it gets into the wrong...
I never thought I’d be leaving the garden to go off and hunt for someone in the barren wasteland of the city we’d departed years ago. They said he was seen heading East, toward the city, and I pictured him picking his way through the rubble of skyscrapers and dodging the sinkholes where bombs had landed in the streets or on top of buildings. Then I wasn’t picturing it, I...
When she heard them stirring in bed, she raced up the stairs to greet them. She licked a forehead, she pounced on feet, she meowed them both wide awake and then bounded downstairs for her breakfast. She was a good girl, and she knew it. They were always holding her, petting her, giving her love and affection that some need in abundance, and some need none at all. She needed...
I miss you, dear one, it’s cold and dark out here among the stars. I miss the green and blue Earth and seeing the moon glow above us, but now I see no planets, no moons, only stars and other space stations. I’m sorry, dear one, that we destroyed your home before you got a chance to enjoy it, and I’m sorry I didn’t take you with me when I...
They bowed to to the machine, marveling the shine of its black plastic exterior, the long cord that came out of the back. They were particularly interested in the two metal prongs coming from the end of a cord, they were quite tasty. Things went in light and soft and came out dark and crisp, and they didn’t even need fire to make it happen. When the aliens came, our...
