To Be Struck by Lightning Mikki had never been struck by lightning, which was a shame. She’d heard it gave you such a nice energy boost. She craved that now. She was 48,564 meters from home and her reserves stood at 6%. She chewed two 9-volt batteries with her tungsten teeth, sucking out every possible…
Tag: Science Fiction
Muse on Monday – July 24, 2023
Can you believe that July is almost over? It’s going fast, at least for me. I hope this week goes well for you. Happy Children’s Day in Vanuatu. Part of the mission of this site is connect young people from all countries, large and small, so it would be wonderful to have some submissions from…
Yesterdays’ Alchemist
Yesterdays’ Alchemist “Did anything notable happen today?” Dr. Yarrow asked. She looked at Nikolai over the top of her pad. Nikolai did not want weekly therapy session and he suspected that Dr. Yarrow did not want to see him either, but those were the rules. The higher ups thought that historical adjustment and the associated…
Beauty Killer
Beauty Killer Every day I go destroy the most beautiful things in the world. I’ve seen murals that made me cry from sheer awe, moments before my flamethrower melted them out of existence. “Eighteen buildings cleansed,” I say. My boss nods, impassive. “How many new occurences?” “48 yesterday, just in your area,” she says. We’re…
A Bunch of Triangles
A Bunch of Triangles “What were you thinking?” I blushed. “It was an art project, sir.” “Art? What about the Prime Directive? We do not interfere with cultures that haven’t made extraterrestrial contact.” “It was just a bunch of triangles . . .” “Yeah, 500-foot-tall triangles! That’s not going to go unnoticed!” “It was mostly…
The Origins of Brownyz
The Origins of Brownyz
Hail Mary 1230
Hail Mary 1230 The world looks peaceful from up here, the irregular polygons of the old fields and forest divisions looking like they’ve been cut by a toddler with a pair of stolen scissors: straight lines, weird angles. But this is the exclusion zone and the people have gone and left their straight lines behind….
Tethered
Tethered “Come on, it’s New Year’s.” Maria’s tone was pleading. “Show off those new cybers. Put my dancing to shame with your robot legs.” My new upgrades let me bench press 800 pounds and run a 3-minute mile, but I couldn’t afford good batteries. The club said its wireless electricity for fully T6 but what…
Sui Generis
Sui Generis I needed something unique. Groundbreaking. Twelve hours before the science fair and no ideas. Last year’s winner, my sentient rhinocopter, buzzed around the room looking bored. A living cup that produced milk and sugar for your coffee? Not enough time now. A catbird? I might as well make a baking soda volcano. I…
Muse on Monday – November 28, 2022
This is the last week of AI-generated artwork month for the Muse on Monday posts and we’re ending with an epic space battle. Of course, the story doesn’t have to be a war story: it’s up to you to write what you think of when you see this. Story Prompt: November 28, 2022 Write a…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 