Dead Man’s Lake

By J.B. Polk Denis Burbank checked and rechecked his canvas rucksack decorated with what seemed like a zillion pockets and zippers to ensure he had everything he’d need during the trip. The rock hammer. The reactive strips to measure the levels of salinity in the lake. The Ziploc bags and glass tubes to put samples…

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Devil’s Bargain

By Denise Longrie “I’m not worthy. I—I’m not a virgin.” Gods help me; it was the truth. A few gasps escaped from the people gathering outside our front door. Other people tittered. My beloved Vane, the cobbler’s son, stepped away toward the edge of the crowd, but he did not escape Papa’s glare. “The lot…

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The Bodark

By Leland Hames Gregory burst through the back door followed by four dirty, and excitedly barking dogs. What had been a peaceful Saturday reading time in the kitchen was suddenly a cacophonous chaos. “Dad! Dad!” There’s something in the woods!” Gregory yelled looking around for his father. Mike sighed and closed his book. He quietly…

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A Situation in the Relda System

by Paul Stansbury “Ludlow, I have a situation in the Relda system—something requiring your talents… and discretion to resolve.” “Nice to see you again, sir,” Ludlow said, eyeing his old boss on the wall screen. He ran his hand through his black wavy hair as he studied the face of the former Chief of Security…

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Salvador Dali and the Convergence

by Douglas Kolacki Paris, 1966 Outside the restaurant’s back door, where I had to hold my nose to go in or out, I spotted a rat. It was sniffing around our four grimy trash cans, nose twitching until I ran up and kicked at it. It ran out of sight. Just before it disappeared around…

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The Visitor

by Bela Seitz What makes you human? I ask everyone that when I first meet them down here. I’ve heard so many different answers at this point. Perhaps it is our mastery of technologythat sets us apart, the great cities that we have built which invade clouds and continue to expandoutwards and up. As a…

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Not Gone Yet

by Ryan Steven Reed Edmund leaned against the split wood fence and watched Isabella shoe her horse. He spit tobacco flake into the soft, persistent prairie wind and exhaled a line of smoke to the east.  The October sun, diligent in its watching, puddled shadows below the feet of Edmund, Isabella, and her horse, Ozy. …

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Cold Comfort

by Carol Willis Summer barked and scratched at the back door. The dog’s woofs rattled the windows in their little farmhouse. Maia glanced at Dan, still asleep next to her, his breathing even and regular. She reluctantly peeled the covers off and set her feet down on the cold hardwood floor, wrapping a robe across…

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The Graveyard Gardener

by C. K. Bickford Sunset was the only time Rose understood what others meant when they said the cemetery was spooky. Shadows reached out from the tombstones like fingeres, searching for loved ones who had lost track of time. The pinks and purples of the sky clashed horribly with the grey stone, like a skeleton…

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Born Under a Bad Sign

by Lannie Pihajlic I stood there drenched to the bone in my underwear, with only a tenuous hold on reality. For some reason, I thought back to meeting Ronni. It was totally a random thing, meeting Ronni. She would say that it was Destiny, with a capital D. I didn’t believe that kind of thing….

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