Discomfort Food I pushed the scooter as fast as it would go. A shadow loomed on my left and momentarily the buildings around me seemed to run with blood. Then I was past it, and normalcy returned as the Horror’s mental influence faded with distance. I hate people. I hate Horrors more, but I hate…
Tag: fiction
Build For What You Want
Build For What You Want In my culture, hospitality is life. And hospitality fills the space it is given. Build a 2-man tent and you can only have one guest. I wanted a tent for a hundred friends. No one makes tents for a hundred people. Merchants scoffed. “You need a palace,” one said. “I…
Jumping Day
Jumping Day The Flea has just started lowering, preparing to jump. And now, as the Springmaster, everything is up to me. “Thank you for coming,” I say to the assembled inhabitants of Kirppu. There are seven hundred of us in the small city built on the back of the Flea. “As you know, we are…
A Real Vacation
A Real Vacation Allison woke to the sun shining through the tent door. She made breakfast and sat looking out over the valley. This is what I need. A real vacation. The breeze smelled like pine. Too much? No, just right. Relax. You are alone in the Scottish Highlands for four days. Enjoy it. The…
Nip and Tack
Nip and Tack 48 Peacock Lane was breathing comfortably. Structural anesthesiologists were monitoring it, and the surgery crew moved in. “Anything major?” Jim asked the lead surgeon as he assembled a reciprocating saw. “Nah, just light touchup work. Some rotten siding. Cosmetic stuff.” “It’s a new world.” Jim shook his head. “Sometimes I wish houses…
Broken
Broken I’m almost done the dishes when the unthinkable happens. My hand, slippery with suds, grasps my glass and it slips, falling onto the floor with a sharp crack. I stare in horror at my only glass, lying in four large pieces and a scattering of shards. Immediately I start gathering them together, trying to…
Creeping Things
Creeping Things Footsteps creep by outside, military-style boots. Breathe slowly. Militia, looking for conscripts. Or target practice. Stomach rumbles. It’s been hours. Low voices. So hungry. Moving away. Something creeps across your hand. You grab it instinctively. It squirms. You stuff it in your mouth. Crunchy. Suddenly you’re a kid again, hunting crickets in the…
When our World Moved
When Our World Moved Could I move the glass telepathically? Pure fantasy, but so was this date a year ago. Anything to impress her. I chatted superficially, willing the glass to move. Bang! Glass and water flew everywhere. My face exploded in pain. Despite everything, my spirit glowed. I was telekinetic. Later, as I was…
Three Books
Three Books There were three books that had a big impact on Hudson. The first was Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. Hudson picked it out at the library during one of their reading periods in fifth grade. It was the first time he realized that books could actually be interesting. After that, he read…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 