The back of his throat tasted bitter and his mouth was dry. His head throbbed. He rolled over and grabbed his last cigarette, an empty bottle from last night clinking as it rolled away. The cigarette had been hidden behind his ear and was only slightly bent. Lighting the fragile[…]
Read moreTag: flash fiction
The Museum of Selfies
“Since the first caveman stuck his finger into coloured mud and smeared a stickman on his cave wall, man has desired to capture himself,” the speaker was a well-dressed gentleman walking in front of a modest crowd, “Think of the painters of yesteryear painting self-portraits as well as the portraits[…]
Read moreManufacturing Stars
There were so many lights flashing that it looked like a cosmic event. Haloes exploded over her as she walked down the red carpet-lined corridor, smiling at the flashing lights and the soft roar of fame. Hers was not a vocal fame and few opinions she shared publicly, so questions[…]
Read moreThe Sister Who Never Existed
My twin was stillborn. It is all I can think of as I hear the footsteps. One by one, they are the patter of little feet; wet on tiles across the kitchen and then slightly softer as they move up the stairs towards the bedroom. There is a soft clanking[…]
Read moreThe Benjamin Tree
“Oh, the tree comes with the apartment,” the Estate Agent mentioned waving at it as they moved through the lounge area, “The previous owner considers it part of 307’s furnishings.” The tree was small–head-height–and had a trunk that was made up of what looked like thick, gray, twirling vines that[…]
Read moreUnintended Consequences
The laboratory was filled with buzzing and the Scientist had to shout to get his message across to the rag-tag collection of journalists, politicians and PR crew trailing behind him. “It is a mechanical, self-replicating bio-equivalent microbot!” he shouted, waving hands in all directions, “It will fill the ecological gap left[…]
Read moreCold Lights
“What gets me about the Lights is how they are silent,” he said, lying back in the snow and sighing at the beauty overhead. Above them, as it had done since the dawn of man, the magical aurora borealis danced through the Finnish night skies. Green and white light flowed[…]
Read moreWhat You See
“What you see?” the caveman asked the other, who grunted back at him, “Yes, yes, see death. But what you real-real see?” They were standing in the mouth of a large cave down the southern part of what millions of years from now would be called Africa. Through the cavern’s[…]
Read moreFlowers of Oblivion
“I can’t save you if you don’t want to save yourself,” said the voice on the other side of the phone. The line crackled and monotonic voice softly said that there was one minute left before her money ran out. She closed her eyes and sighed. Her lips were dry and the air[…]
Read moreChildren of the Cosmos
“I can still remember the stars twinkling above us in that field,” she thought, electrical impulses being captured by the chip in her brain and cast over the ultraband straight into another’s brain sitting on the far side of the cosmos, “I hope one day to lie there with you again.”[…]
Read moreField of Corpses
The air had a honey-glow to it as the dry dirt permeated his nose. In the distance, the Sun was setting as half-pregnant clouds drifted teasingly by him. “We need rain, ” he said, dejectedly chewing the tip of a blade of wheat, “We need rain or we are not[…]
Read moreWatcher in the Wastes
“You know they thought it was a god, once? Used to pray to it for good luck and everything,” the speaker was a pinprick of light. A second pinprick of light floated next to it. Their brilliant, unwavering points of light stood out amidst the darkened wasteland around them. “Really?[…]
Read moreAnother Name for Life
She raised her eyes to the mirror and saw the mascara running down her cheeks. For some reason, it made her smile. It might have been the wine or the day’s events, but she was done crying and ready to move on. However brief that future may be. She walked[…]
Read moreSuicide Note
I do not expect you to agree with this. I do not expect you to condone it. I only expect you to do the maths. And, after that, I hope you understand it and, perhaps, even consider it yourself. Now, about the maths… There at least two-hundred and fifty billion[…]
Read moreJefferson
He struggled forward–one step after the next–as he absentmindedly wiped his hand on his spacesuit’s pants. The blood had long since wiped off and the bodies were far behind him but all he saw was his goal. It was just in front of him. At this altitude, distance from the[…]
Read moreThe Thing That Matters
God, Lucifer, Buddha, Shiva and all the angels, demons and mythological beings of the cosmos looked very worried. Each and every one was scared. They were lined up sitting, lying or lurking on one side of a great table just around the corner from reality. On the other side of the[…]
Read moreSilverwood
Silverwood slept peacefully while the countryside burnt. It was not her fire. It was not her countryside either. Anyway, the villagers had always thrown stones at her when they saw her. She slept peacefully and awoke to the sound of the troll groaning. She had forgotten to water him! She[…]
Read moreTim’s Demons & Other Friends
When humans evolved and got superpowers, not everyone got a cool power. Of course, there were the super-strong people, the super-fast, super-tough and those that could fly, teleport or read minds or throw fireballs, or pretty much do anything cool. Then there were the uncool or odd powers. Some people could[…]
Read moreThe Conversation
“How did you think it was going to end?” “I–I don’t know, I thought maybe–” “Well, it ended badly.” A silence hangs between the two for a moment. The first speaker is dressed in black with few other details that stick in your mind. Even your eyes tend to wander[…]
Read moreThe Apple
His wings lay to the side. The act of tearing them off had hurt more than he could explain but the jagged wounds in his flesh just felt numb. He felt numb. Then he remembered his anger. He remembered why he was doing what he was doing. He remembered who he[…]
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