I received a letter about your illness, and though you’ve been a beast to me most of your life, became determined to do right by you. I subletted my room, negotiated two months leave from work. I took a train to a bus that lurched and jostled its way down dirt roads, then walked the…Continue Reading “Goatmother”
Digital Disability Allowance – Assessment Interview Assessor: Driffield, Tina Client: Wludzik, Piotr Appointment Time: 09:00 Description of Digital Disability: Client’s skin is ‘glitched’ and intermittently transparent. During an episode this reveals skull, musculature, organs, eyeballs, etc. Notes: Client is a waiter at a restaurant, currently on sick leave due to his ‘glitch’. He became irate…Continue Reading “The Administration of Disability Benefits in a Simulated Universe”
I once met a girl who would travel the world by use of a balloon. It used to be she would only travel alone, but one day she decided she would take me with her, forcing my heart to float along with hers. We stood there by the water, just us two, and she took…Continue Reading “The Mile-High Mistletoe”
If you listened closely, you might have been able to hear the sing-song cadence of the Aurans conversation, or the clackety-clack of the Hyatas footsteps – but generally you wouldn’t notice much of anything beyond the cacophony of the space station as a whole. The sound of the station was like a roar made up…Continue Reading “Joyful Accidents”
The boy stares at the white page in front of him. On it is a single question, “Why have you come to Earth?” His eyes roll over the words, savouring each letter. There was a time when he and the other kids used to think that writing was hilarious. Talking and singing was another one…Continue Reading “Nine Hundred and Twelve Days”
The Argyle Cemetery in the mountain town of Cervantes, California houses a grave whose occupant is not human. I know because I put it there. I didn’t kill it, of course. I merely buried it, after seeing it crash into the woods near my home. The ruckus it caused was something mighty, but all that…Continue Reading “And the Dark Replied”
i. Ours is a small planet, about the size of our god’s fist. Everything is water and sand. If it weren’t for my lighthouse illuminating the oily sea, the entire world would be a dark, solid mass. In such pure blackness, one does not know one is alive. I make up one half of the…Continue Reading “Lighthouse”
The wine arrives in small barrels that bang down the chute. It’s red. They only drink red, so they only sell it, and as employees we have the opportunity to buy it, bottled and heavily discounted, as we leave our shift. I don’t buy it. It tastes like vinegar. Then again, I’m not exactly a…Continue Reading “Too Much Horror”
I am sorry for everything. I was chosen, you see, to be a new voice, a guide, a successor. I was there with them, in that place that was not a place. I have been in the Beyond. From the Beyond, I saw everything. Every atom, every molecule, every mot of dust. Every universe. As…Continue Reading “Sorry for Everything”
The human male lies on his back in the incubator, squirming and moving his limbs around in a chaotic, unpredictable manner. His blue eyes are focused on those of us who are present in the room. We observe him in return, our sophisticated sensors scanning every square centimeter of his skin, every hair, every drop…Continue Reading “Coming Closer”