Category: issue 10

First it was the nightmares. Months of nightmares. Sisyphus would be standing at sunrise, at the top of a hill with wildflower-sprinkled meadows and the edge of a forest spread out before him. He would bring his arms out wide, stretch them out to the fingertips and inhale the fresh draughts of spring. The wind… Continue reading Personal Mythology, by Betsy Aoki

Nalini Boudin couldn’t remember the damn incantation she needed to turn Jimmy back into a man. She put on her spectacles, flipping through her dusty spell book. Her fool of a husband—who she’d turned into a popsicle—sat melting on the counter, dripping grape juice onto the checkered linoleum.  Jimmy’d been nagging her about her “salty”… Continue reading Popsicles & Jambalaya, by Sabina Malik

“Darling,” Hades says one evening as the two of them are curled up on the couch, “I love you, but we can’t live like this.” “Hmm?” Persephone glances up from her Macbook. At her feet, Perennial Granata Aster Cerebus the Munificent rolls onto his stomach, unheeding or uncaring of Hades’ feet in his quest to… Continue reading The Care and Training of Hellhounds, by Cynthia Zhang

I work at the New York Public Library Main Branch. 5th avenue and 42nd street. You know, the one with the lions. Technically, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, but most of us call it Sasbee. This is what happened to me, not long ago. I’m writing it down in case someone else trips over the… Continue reading Lost in the Central Stacks, by Laurence Raphael Brothers

WELCOME TO WIKIREPLY: HUMANITY’S RESPONSE TO THE HD 294752 TRANSMISSION THAT ANYONE CAN EDIT TALK: THE REPLY Auto-translation enabled: English How representative are we really? [edit] I know our goal is to try to craft a collaborative communications package that’s as representative of the global population as possible, but is a Wiki really the best… Continue reading Talk Page, by Tessa Fisher

Alicah bent low to wrap the water-proof leather strips tightly around the legs of his pants, feeling uneasy. Behind him, around sixty fur-coated Pelairians were gathered and grumbling on the pebbled beach, silently watching him prepare for his trip into the lake of their god. The gloriousness of the day did little to ease his… Continue reading The Unabridged Prayers of Pelairus, by Erin Brown

A butter-cold dread gripped Deli as she stared at the display case and the glass shards scattered around it like dusted sugar. No doubt about it, she was face to face with a quadruple decker, frosting-covered nightmare. I’m dead. I’m so dead. Jams is gonna kill me dead. Glisten Glittercakes’ champion, a four-tiered, ombre damask-stenciled,… Continue reading Deli and the Glamcake Breakout, by Amanda Saville

Cycle Systems Analysis Complex Rings Habitat XRW24-2201-MA (Designation: Azul) Cleanerbots: Check in 23451-1-23; cleaning complete Sectors: Silent Primary Ring: Functional Secondary and Tertiary Rings: Functional, interlocked Atmosphere: [ERROR, NONE DETECTED] Gravity: [ERROR, RING GRAVITY MALFUNCTION] Error Override, Code: Azul Primary Reason Provided: An empty ring does not require gravity or atmosphere I present my data… Continue reading Sending Signals, by V.M. Ayala

i. I recall where I was when we found out we were in our final days. Each morning, I’d join the other children my age and forage for food on the great mountain back. I pulled stumpy carrots and mushrooms from the shaded side, where just enough moisture collected that such things grew. I did… Continue reading Still the Earth, by Christopher Marcatili

The endless sweep of jagged glacier unfurled below the autohawk, as sharp and shining as fishscale. The autohawk needed no guidance, but Zezi preferred to guide it ximself, xis piloting as swift and sure as xis thunderscourge. In the breast pocket of xis robe sat the moirai engine’s prophecy: At Tamre xe finds four: Fugitive,… Continue reading At the Spire of Tamre, by Louis Evans