Contributor: Nick Marcantel - - The submarine was making its last run in the depths of the Baltic Sea after a long day of finding nothing of any interest. The crew had become restless and longed to return home after their disappointing voyage. Peter Lindberg, the submarine’s captain, gave into his crew’s wishes and decided to return. “It’s okay, boss. We’ll just come back next week,” a jolly man by the name of Stephen Richards said as he patted Lindberg on the back. “Yeah, of course,” Lindberg replied as he swallowed back his discontent. He wanted to find something in the Baltic Sea that he could be proud of, but after weeks of searching nothing even remotely impressive turned up on their sonars. “Lindberg, do yah’ want some Vienna sausages,” another crewmate piped up struggling to speak as he had his mouth full of the sausages. Lindberg...

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Author: Nick Marcantel

Contributor: Andrew Mang - - The man in the white mask and mechanic’s jumpsuit has been lying in the back of my vintage automobile for two hours. The masked man is patient - much more patient than I could ever be. The masked man has been all over the news for breaking into cars and murdering the unsuspecting drivers after the ignition sparks. Unsuspecting is the keyword. The problem is I am not an unsuspecting victim. I have been watching the masked man lay patiently in the back of my classic vehicle for two hours. The scene is set: the air is frigid, the ground is wet, and the street lamp is dim. I believe in fate and this must be my fate. The masked man chose my car because of these perfect conditions. If I would have parked a few feet forward, or a few meters backwards, the street lamp would be beaming its light directly on my vehicle,...

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Author: Andrew Mang

Contributor: Tyson Hinz - - Cyrus began his ascent up The Great Tree. This tree was all he had known. Life beyond the tree was unimaginable. As he scaled the tree he thought of falling. How amazing it would be to free-fall thousands of feet to whatever it is that is below the clouds. This was something that his kind thought of quite often, and quite often did they take that leap. Cyrus thought of the joy they must have felt while falling. But was it worth it? They would die at the end but the fact of that last adrenaline rush being worth taking your own life astonished Cyrus. He could not understand how someone could take his own life no matter how hard it was to live it. Cyrus, during his long life, thought that everyone on the tree should think in the same manner that he did. He could not understand how and why they did not think...

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Author: Tyson Hinz

Contributor: Brian Coyle - - The day started as any other day. Frank makes his normal trip through the streets of Boston to his job at the docks. Passers by wave good morning and birds call out from nearby trees and power lines. Shopkeepers flip their signs from closed to open. Drunkards spill out of the local tavern and stumble into the cold, streets still wet from the morning dew. A middle-aged man sits on a stoop listening to a radio news broadcast. Frank can overhear the radio as he walks by. “It is the dawn of another beautiful day in America. Albert Reilly, our beloved dictator has just announced his newest decree to increase restrictions brought in place by the recent embargo on... Frank walks out of the radio’s range. Upon arriving at the docks, he notices something strange. The large wrought-iron gate that encloses the dock...

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Author: Brian Coyle

Contributor: Jerry Guarino - - “Sam, remember when we were in 4th grade, that night your sister Susan went to the college dance?” “Sure do Joey. Why?” “I was just thinking. We didn’t know why she was dressed that way or what goes on at a college. In just a couple years, we’ll be in college too.” “Hopefully” said Sam. “Well, yes, hopefully. It’s kind of funny how life has changed in just five years.” “You said it Sam. I wonder what life will be like five years from now.” “Yeah, I wonder.” “You’ll probably still be dating Sarah, maybe even getting engaged.” “And you’ll probably still be dating Mary, if you’re not married by then.” “Could be. We’ve been going out for six months now. Unless I’m playing college football. You know those guys have lots of girlfriends.” “Yeah.” “Hey, you still want to be a doctor?” “Sure....

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Author: Jerry Guarino

Contributor: R. F. Abercrombie - - “I don’t know what to do exactly,” she said. “I know what I want to do but I don’t...” “It’s your choice,” he said. “No one can stop you.” “You’re not helping.” She turned her coffee cup with long, tanned fingers. “We could wait another year.” “You could wait a hundred years,” he said. “You’re only delaying your decision.” “Again, not helpful.” She chewed on her lower lip. “What would he want?” “He doesn’t want anything. He doesn’t care.” She pulled her hands from the table and let them fall into her lap. “I’d like to think he cares a little.” The man laughed. “He’s only following his programming. He’s not sentient. He doesn’t have feelings.” “He does care about us.” She stared at her hands. “We’ve taught him so much.” “He’s a learner bot and a house bot, that’s all. He doesn’t have emotions and he...

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Author: R. F. Abercrombie

Contributor: Victoria Elizabeth - - The kite tugged, held captive between chubby fingers coated in sugary loam. Silk paper fluttering, it dove beneath the wind, turning cartwheels across an azure sky. The eastern breeze blew, whipping the delicate crepe basilisk into a frenzy of color. Even the most tenacious of sticky fingers could not contain the power of a wayward wind, and so released the truculent string. The dragon rejoiced. The child cried. The east wind blew on. - - - Victoria Elizabeth Ann is a lifetime student of the arts, literature, and life as a whole. She is currently studying Creative Writing at Full Sail University and aspires to publish a novel in the near futu...

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Author: Victoria Elizabeth

Contributor: J. M. Tompkins - - I waited for her next to her black Honda Accord at two in the morning in the damp parking lot. Still, even after my stomach curled watching her strip on stage, I had a thing for her. Tall, lean and confident, she was everything I wanted to be. And everything I hated. With a clanging, the door of the windowless building swung open as Mandy appeared, walking over to me like a runway model. Passing me without a word, she flung open the driver’s side door and slid in like liquid. I hurried to the passenger side, not wanting her to wait for me. As I clicked my seatbelt, she lit a cigarette and put the car in reverse. “It was a shitty night making shit for money.” She blew smoke into the windshield and I watched curl in the street light. “It’s just temporary, like you say.” I looked straight, directly out...

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Author: J. M. Tompkins

Contributor: Benjamin Goodwin - - This was going to be the start of a whole knew life for Roger. He had put in the time and seemingly endless hours at HyperTech International and now he was on his way to interview for his dream job. That morning, Roger had gotten up two hours earlier than he usually did. This was odd for Roger who had always been a man of very strict routine. He coordinated his days almost to the minute, leaving only a little time for scheduled daydreaming and free play. Roger believed that every wasted minute was one more minute he could be working toward his future. It had all been leading up to this. This was the moment he had been working for. Their lobby was charming and ornate. They had a neat little koi pond with small fish swimming around. Roger approached the elevators and saw a lot of people had gathered...

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Author: Benjamin Goodwin

Contributor: Brian Coyle - - Victoria arrives at the train station late one evening as she always does: her hair tied tightly back into a bun as to stretch back any unsightly features that may hang from her face and dressed in sleek, thoroughly-Ironed business attire. She takes her phone out from her purse and begins a text, all the while reading aloud what she is typing. “Just got to train station. Be there in thirty.” Normally she would make this trip alone: no one in their right mind wants to take a train this late, but for Victoria it was her only means to get to her downtown job on time. However, this time was different. She could smell him before she had seen him: an elderly man dressed in rags sitting quietly in the corner. Her perfectly painted eyes meet his sad and tired eyes for an instant before she looks away in disgust....

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Author: Brian Coyle

Contributor: Jake Johnson - - So much time. So much time, so much time. David sat in his study and pondered the universe. At some point it would go on forever, without him. He wanted to live forever, like so many men before him, but he couldn’t even fill a day with anything meaningful. Eternity was the most frightening thing he could imagine. Outside moved the ordinary people- farmers and workers. None of them would have to bear the cross of the philosopher, of the thinking man. This deep solitude, demonstrating hope, comfort and assurance as a trio of traitors against the mind. Those people out there were lucky: their deaths could sneak up on them, and take them quietly. David thought of centuries beyond his own: a twentieth, a twenty-first, and a twenty-second. If technology improved, and the common man worked less and less, would...

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Author: Jake Johnson

Contributor: Ray Daley - - Another lonely day in space. Just me and the crocodiles so far. Oh, and Buddy. Where ever the hell he is today. Probably hiding because he knows it's his turn on waste disposal today. It's not a hard job, cleaning out the crocs. They can still get a bit feisty but they've gotten used to the very low gravity on board and the water changes. We flush out the ponds, shovel the shit (almost certainly his least favourite part and definitely the reason he's avoiding the job yet again), hose everything off then recycle the water back for them—all nice and clean. It's one of the very few jobs that Lucy can't handle. We lovingly call "her" Lucy, our station computer system. L.U.C.E. - Living Under Created Environments. That's our little home, formerly known as Her Majesty’s Space Station Ark Royal. There have been...

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Author: Ray Daley

Contributor: Donal Mahoney - - The priest had been there earlier and the rosary was said and relatives and friends in single file were offering condolences. "Sorry for your troubles," one by one they said, bending over Maggie Murphy, the widow silent in her rocker, a foot or so from Paddy, resplendent in his casket, the two of them much closer now than they had ever been. A silent guest of honor, Paddy now had nothing more to say, waked in aspic, if you will, in front of his gothic fireplace. The moon was full this starless night and the hour was getting late and still the widow hadn't wept. Her eyes were swept Saharas and the mourners wanted tears. They had fields to plow come morning and they needed sleep, but the custom in County Kerry was that no one leaves a wake until the widow weeps. Fair Maggie could have married any man...

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Author: Donal Mahoney

Contributor: Lindsey Barlow - - He was following her now; he had seen the gold in her pocket. It was two o'clock in the morning, and the child was six, and the gold was shimmering like honey on a tongue that whispered, "You've never seen anything like this before." And for a homeless man, that was sublime. So he stumbled, following her ribbons and bows while they fluttered over the shimmering streets, and then the gravel, and dirt, and grass, like birds and butterflies and bees and bats in the night. Fear, for once, never occurred to him. He knew she saw him. He had caught her emerald eye, and she giggled, this girl with gold in her pocket. Just after an hour of walking, they had reached the woods, and he set his rum down - the bottle had grown so heavy as he walked. And when he stood again, the forest was transformed. The rocks were...

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Author: Lindsey Barlow

Contributor: Michael Plesset - - On a train, looking out the window. Wheat and people go by. Time to think, and remember, what we wish the past was. Time to think, and wonder what to have for lunch, and what our great grandchildren will be like, and their great grandchildren. They’ll understand the universe, they’ll know what happens when we die. They’ll wonder how we got along knowing so little, and why we spent our time the way we did, sitting on trains with so much time to think. It was a visit he wasn’t looking forward to, relatives with no common bond, postponed many times, until excuses have run out. Two more hours, to get to where he doesn’t want to go. Why haven’t you called? We missed you at the holidays. What have you been doing? A wedding of one of their children, one he really doesn’t know. They’ll be happy, their big...

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Author: Michael Plesset