Eldritch Cutie Why did people automatically associate a writhing mass of tentacles with the word “horror”? Jesse thought. It was cute. She pushed a scrap of sausage towards a questing pseudopod. It disappeared with a slurp. She wasn’t sure if it would grow legs, but she wanted to bring it to school. She’d been having…
Tag: flash fiction
In the Beginning of the Semester
In the Beginning of the Semester In the beginning of the semester, Tod created Cyberworld. Tod saw that Cyberworld was fine and could get him a B in his capstone course. Tod made a garden. In the middle he placed the Lending Library of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then Tod created Mike and…
Movie Night in Kowloon
Movie Night in Kowloon “Looking forward to having you guys over.” “We’ll be there about 7:00. What’s the address?” “Well . . . first you go to Junction and Carpenter Road and go in the 8th entrance of the walled city, heading east. By the noodle shop.” “Noodle shop . . .” “Go in 120…
Sibyl Park
Sibyl Park Everyone knew you could find the know-chicks in Sibyl Park, usually after midnight. “What do you want?” a voice said from a bench. Hoodie, pink hair, pale face illuminated by her phone screen. “I need to know something.” She made a well, duh gesture but still didn’t look up. “What job would make…
Florera
Florera “Go, Florera!” The vase leaps off my arm and flies away. “How does it do that?” my friend asks. “I’ve trained Florera since she was a shot glass.” I shrug. I’m not about to explain the whole history of vasery now. “What if she breaks?” “Florera’s tempered. Sure, there are predatory florists out there,…
The Sprint of Courtney Revere
The Sprint of Courtney Revere It should have been an email, but of course, the Internet was destroyed. This had been way easier for her ancestor: two choices, that was it. She pulled out her cheat sheet. Cheat sheets. One if by land, two if by sea, three if by air, four if directly from…
The Party Exile
The Party Exile I lie in the backyard, kicked out of the house. It’s cold. I can hear the party sounds from inside. I could go ask for a blanket, but that might be awkward. I hear something approaching. It’s my beagle Augustus. He licks my face, and I scratch his ears. “How’s it going…
Browsing the Infinite
Browsing the Infinite The heaven of the AltUni Mall, with goods from every alternate universe, was the choices. The hell was also the choices. “I just want an American flag with ducks instead of stars,” Nel said for the thousandth time. Every muscle in Kylie’s body screamed. “I’ll make one in Photoshop,” she said. “Ten…
The Lexipals Program
The Lexipals Program The good news was that Derek was heading to Spain for a dream vacation in a little over a week. The bad news was that he couldn’t remember any of his high school Spanish except the word bufanda, for some reason. Sure, there were lots of language learning apps, but they seemed…
The Phoenix
The Phoenix Through the salt-grimed asylum windows, I watch the Phoenix enter the harbor to cheering crowds, back from miraculous wartime exploits. I launched that ship. The crowd cheered me then, right up until they stole my crown and transformed it into a ballot box. And imprisoned me here. The door opens. “Supper time, your…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 