Something Different Emma May Barnes never would have noticed she was dead, if one of the other ladies hadn’t pulled her aside. “Pardon me,” the woman said, as if she were going to mention that Emma May’s slip was showing, “There’s no good way to say this…” Emma May’s slip was not showing, and her
The Footnote by Karen Lynn “Let’s be honest. You’re not really marrying the man. You’re marrying the library.” My cousin knew me well. The viscount’s library was the work of generations. His family was known for the eccentricity that drove them to collect the world’s most obscure texts, and for the legendary reserve that kept
She needed the money. That was the long and short of it. Land of opportunity… maybe. But opportunities cost money, and she was living out of a suitcase, and eating her last few dollars. When she left home, those meager savings seemed like a fortune. Now—two weeks into New York City—she could see they wouldn’t
Megan’s Virus By the time she dragged the last piece of her mother’s ancient computer out of the garage, Megan was sweaty and sore, and there were spiderwebs stuck to her hands and face. She connected the cables, flipped the switches, and held her breath. If it didn’t work, she might as well have spent
The Cloud A computer glitch, she thought. A file that came with the machine, a crystal-clear something to show off the display, or a piece of bloat-ware fluff that never got erased, and wound up being sucked up into the cloud with the video of her family and the pictures of their vacation. She changed
So, I found–a little late, there are three days until the deadline, including today–a short story contest in which the prize includes a trip to Japan. Here’s the link to the story in Wired: https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2017/06/seat-14c-jets-future/ And here’s the link to the contest, itself: http://www.seat14c.com I’m not sure if I’m going to get something written in
The Past Tastes Better Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, my job is nothing. Forty or fifty years, or in rare cases, seventy, but never much more. A quick nip in time, back to some church dinner or Bar Mitzvah to pick up gramma’s secret recipe—whatever it happened to be—and back to collect the check.
He caught up with her after lunch, outside the restaurant where they’d had their first date. He’d scraped together a little cash–enough for a drink or two–but he was relieved when he didn’t have to spend it. His last job had been a while. “Well?” he asked. Kathy shifted her weight. “Well, what?” she said.
I don’t know why I took the pills. It wasn’t smart. Just a moment of try-anything desperation, and a gulp of water, and two slightly luminous capsules the size of castor beans went sliding down my throat. Half a second after I swallowed, I decided to put my finger down my throat. That was the
It’s early in the morning on a Saturday, and I am awake. I mean, it’s early, even for me. I’m being punished for letting my schedule go to hell on my days off, and for crashing yesterday. Somehow… no matter how hard I try, or how long it’s been, I just can’t wrap my head