The cold winter air whipped past the buildings as thousands of people trudged through the snow-covered streets. The tall buildings cast long, imposing shadows over the citizens as they went about their last day on Earth. Few wandered with purpose; most were lost in the thick haze of confusion that […]
October 3rd The police are calling it a “behavioral crisis cluster,” because they don’t have a better word for a statistical impossibility.It landed on my desk at the Federal Center for Disease Control this morning. I’ve spent fifteen years as a senior epidemiologist dealing with outbreaks that make people bleed,
Where the World Gets Quiet Read More »
An old truck came wailing through the autumn. The truck had once been white, but years in the rough had degraded the thing into an ugly gradient of browns. Now on the first asphalt in many long miles, the truck serpentined through the cursive country roads of some rolling land
Running from the Devil Read More »
I want to be upfront about something: I am a VFX artist. I moved to New Jersey eight months ago so I could have have a reasonable commute to a mid-sized effects house in Secaucus that I’d been doing remote work for. I have spent the past six years of
There’s an Ocean in My Basement and it’s Ruining My Life Read More »
“What’s up my lovely archaea phonic cosmic sonics? Rocking with the robo electronic bionics?” I.R waved as he entered onto the wooden platform. The crowd cheered for the tall awkward lanky man. I.R was written in a blue patch on his coat. His hand up to his wrist a heavy
When my mother was alive, she was quite the storyteller. My brothers and I were constantly told stories of her youth, how she met our father, what we were like as babies—but those were never our favorites. No, what we loved were her scary stories. She was a master of
The following files are all concerning Project Icarus Rising and are considered highly classified. Icarus Rising was an attempt to build a ship that could travel around the sun. The ship was equipped with state of the art engines and outfitted to deal with extreme heat. The trip lasted 36
Project Icarus Rising Read More »
Now I’m gonna start this saying I’m not the smartest man in the world. I never did well in school, always getting in trouble of one sort or another. I barely graduated and that was only because there was a teacher who saw some glimmer of hope within me and
Confessions of The Crawler Read More »
I stepped out into the quad, salted caramel latte in hand to savour the brief moment of peace between my lectures. The air smelled faintly of salt and seaweed that drifted in from the bay and a light fog had settled overhead leaving droplets of condensation on benches and the
Entry 1: Phonemes There is something peculiar about Phillip, one of my 9th graders. He used to be exceptional at English. I am an English as a foreign language teacher in Germany and I taught the same class last year, and that means I already know him well. But after
The Language that spreads Read More »
SILENCE IS GOLDENREMEMBER THIS RHYMESILENCE YOUR VOICEWHEN IT’S YOUR TIME At sixteen, you must decide. Our doctors say it doesn’t hurt a bit. They use a local anesthetic for the procedure, and it takes less time than filling a tooth. Your throat is sore for about a week afterward. Then
The squeal of worn rattling wheels dwelled and droned into my drifting attention. In this moment, as so many before, my task took its own pace leaving me as just another system in its completion. My cart, save for the noise, hovered steadily across the unblemished metallic path beneath me,
It started with a photo; it was dark, the moon was golden against the sky, the stars were out, and I thought that my iphone and filters were all that I needed to be a master photographer. So I pulled over on the side of the highway last Monday night
A Wrinkle in the Eye Read More »
1905, late autumn. The fog that rested upon Greyport Harbor was no mere weathered veil, but a suffocating presence that clung to the flesh like sodden wool, steeped in the reek of rotting kelp and the corroded breath of iron buoys long abandoned to the tide. Each inhalation drew it
The Lighthouse That Doesn’t Guide Ships Read More »
I felt it that day, something in the air wasn’t right. The morning heat was setting in, and the bugs were eating us alive. The men were tense as the sun rose on another godforsaken day. We had been up on nightwatch and hadn’t had a moment of proper rest
Things Best Left Buried Read More »
We moved into the flat above the butcher’s two months ago. It was a step down from our old place; John lost his good job and we had to make adjustments. The place wasn’t exactly the Ritz, but it functioned. The wallpaper popped and flaked when you scraped a nail
The Floor is Sticky Read More »
As I sit here in this damp, dark cell, my only friend the warmth of the flickering candlelight illuminating this scrap of paper, I have to wonder how I got here and why I just couldn’t stop when I had the chance. Every few minutes, I find myself freezing, perfectly
“Why does a writer write? Because they must.” -Anton Richards These words have been repeating in my head for the last week. They pound in my brain like a jackhammer. They prevent my mind from resting and keep me awake at night. That is why I am here at 3am.
The Curse Of Imagination Read More »
I remember the day that the red angels came. It was a hot, scorching day. So hot that the roads began to melt. So hot that it was dangerous to go outside, lest you pass out from the heat and die of a heatstroke. I was at work when it
I was born into this world made from the Earth from soil and bones, from that which is dead and that which is living. My creator formed me in the crude shape known as man, but I am not like them. My form is coarse, jagged, with no warmth to
That Which Is Molded Read More »
Year after year, after year. Resolutions are made and broken in moments. “I’ll start tomorrow.” “I have plenty of time to finish.”“Oh well, I’ve already failed. Might as well try again next year.” It’s the same every single time. People make their resolutions or their “goals” for the New Year.
Breaking Resolutions Read More »
The squad car kicked up dust as it rolled down Ashbury Lane, one of the last streets in Seneca Vale that anyone still called home. Deputy Dale Hargreaves watched the Vesper estate emerge through the windshield, once the pride of the town, now a rotting monument to better days. “Probably
What Crawls Within Read More »
The driver talked the entire way to the shore, seemingly unable to keep his mouth closed. He blabbered on and on about how shitty the weather was, how hard his life was and, his favorite topic, how weird I am. He said that I’m way too thin, my eyes look
In the direct aftermath of World War II, two major meetings among world leaders were held: the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference. We view these meetings now with hindsight and the knowledge that they would go on to shape the post-war world order. What is not widely known is
THE HARRIMAN FILES: 1945 [DECLASSIFIED 1987] Read More »
