Thunderous clouds block our path. But these clouds can dissipate. Mine can’t. Mine seep into my brain, misting my memories, casting shadows where I need the light to shine brightest. My daughter sits opposite me, squinting as our air taxi bursts through the cloudy veil into the light. It’s always sunny somewhere, I’d whisper to…
He gripped the sword in both hands as he crept up the stairs, wishing for the thousandth time that the prophecy would let him use a gun. The council had been firm on this point, offended he would even ask, but swords didn’t go with windbreakers and jeans. Mentally he reviewed the speech again: I…
Once a year, my mother catches the cosmic bus from Over There and we meet at the parking lot of the cemetery where she’s buried. The reincarnation insurance scheme she bought into has turned out to be the real deal. Every year Over There, she becomes a year younger and she’ll keep aging in reverse…
Death did not come as a surprise to me. What surprised me was my appearance in death. Gone were my wings and beloved serpents. Instead, my soul had a maiden form with useless, limp, unthinking hair. Hermes appeared to escort me to the Underworld. He was achingly beautiful with the confidence of one who knew…
Baleful red light crackled across the sky, outlining a mushroom cap atop tentacles, stretching down into the clouds. Conditions were perfect for the abominably misnamed “sprite” to discharge the shards that powered the airship Jubilee on long-range journeys. “You saw where it struck?” Tali asked. Her pilot, Rowan, rolled their eyes. “Yes, Captain.” Tali nodded….
Secretary of State Juan Quarez knew the only thing worse than a visit from the Voltaran Ambassador was a visit to the Voltaran Embassy. That made preparations like opening every window and amping up the State Department’s air handling system an easy decision. The ambassador arrived promptly at 9 AM. Juan drew a last breath…
“Sex is overrated. Like pumpkin-spice latte.” Gala sipped her espresso. Her date’s foam mustache flinched. “Really? Then why are you here?” “I like the playlist.” She smiled, listening to an old jazz song. Most patrons had left the coffee shop when the dusk turned windows into mirrors so the murmur of voices couldn’t spoil Gala’s…
“One of these days, you’re going to kill me.” “I know,” she murmured, breath brined with salt and green weed. Her eyes held mine, inhuman and unfeeling, slitted and narrow, yet they drew me in. I never welcomed the chill of midnight on the water until I met her. She froze my bones with her…
I first learned about my father when I dyed my hair blonde and it came out fluorescent. And not fluorescent as in the brightest of blondes, lemme tell you that, but fluorescent as in a xylaphor blast all the way to our neighboring galaxy. Which was, incidentally, where my father lived. “You have to understand,”…
Day twenty-seven. Minah wakes to a tepid dawn. Amay Patel’s skies are the colour of weak tea, the air pregnant with humidity. As sleep falls away, her heartbeat rises. She switches on her tablet and checks the news. Nothing. Her breath leaves in a knife-cut rush. Then, as usual, she opens the hologram. Jade’s pixelated…
