Imaginings set loose.
Bowl of Souls
by K. Eisert - Senator Heidi Montoya studied the man clad in an orange jumpsuit and shackled to a chair. A guard lifted the black bag from his head.
Irony So Efficient
by Walter Dinjos - There is a reason the mirrors kiss the walls. When my late wife nailed the oakwood-framed one next to my bathroom, she called it a reminder of how far we've come.
Rosalee
by Katie Boyer - She flexes her toes in new high-heeled shoes, feels the press of Earth gravity on her body for one last day, discomfort in the balls of her feet.
The Extractor’s Daughter
by Ken Hoover - On the mesa’s flat expanse, the mine shaft was a crude hole, a soulless eye. As Vallen Doss peered into it, a dank sulfuric breath wafted from the opening.
The Past, Present, and Future of Ice Fishing
by Clay Space - The wind on the frozen ice bit through the hides he wore for protection, but he had long ago learned to forget about the bitter cold.
A Superlative For Goodbye
By Jude-Marie Green One rocket lumbers along to the launchpad. Earth-bound and clumsy now, gorgeous with potential. It’s yours. You’re the last. You should be proud of that.
Changing Woman Gives Birth to Coyote
by Betsy James
Your two-penny face,
bright as your father's,
wrinkled tight.
जंगली गुलाब/Jangli Gulaab (Briar Rose)
by Shveta Thakrar
So red this rose
Brambles burst from my mouth
(Stammers strangled into sterile silence)
Ink for a Verbal Contract
by Sean Monaghan Gemma felt the pain right away. She sighed, stretching, angling her limbs and hips, trying to find a more comfortable position. She blinked, looking at the Arhend side table strewn with folders.
Beneath Red Regolith
by WC Roberts
Striding tall on spider legs it scans the regolith
the ping of refined metal set off
the protocols
antenna disk cocked upward