Stories — Page 3

Ochre desert terrain crossed by a thin, dark line, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

Mirage

My child’s hand pulls me toward the horizon, points. I pause and stare.

A bright sun above an orange ocean horizon, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

Dance up the Sun

I got out of bed, and shivered. Edith said it was the middle of April, and even I remembered April being warmer than this. The clock had run down in the night, even though I’d wound it up at bedtime.

Sunlight entering a dark cave through a small opening, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

The Diggers

Anna Rivers

I am a digger.

Grey waves rolling towards an empty shore, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

The Ocean, The Monster

Courtney Ackerman

The ocean is a monster, Georgie told Judy when he watched her throw a sand dollar into the water. How many is that now?

A closed wire gate in a dry, mountainous landscape, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

This Is Not an Exit

George Aitch

The café is cold and blanketed masses huddle over steaming cups of weak tea. The bomb blast took out the windows, even in this hamlet miles from the target.

A deserted residential street disappearing into fog, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

Remains

Matthew Blissett

I had to go out. That meant a full hazardous materials suit to avoid the possibility of airborne contagion.

A small wooden cabin beneath snowy mountains and a star-filled sky, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

Phantasmagoria

Brenda Anderson

Space split from time, the future began pulling away from the present, and tents appeared.

Pale turquoise waves breaking beside a low rocky barrier, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

After the Deluge

Zayaan Ali

endings

A grassy track winding through a dark green forest, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

After I Watched Her Die

J Askew

When the bright green light left her eyes, I had no idea of the pain that would come after. I held her body in the forest, on Planet GJ 357 in the Hydra constellation.

An empty institutional yard behind razor wire and a locked fence, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

Death Sentence

Aaliyah Cassim

It’s early evening when you finally get home. You look at the place where your rear view mirror used to be and wonder whether you should get it fixed soon.

A wooden cabin at the edge of a snow-covered forest, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

The Cabin

Christopher Moore

It’s the silence that gets to you.

An empty stone corridor with pointed arches and pools of light, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

The Gentle Man

Michael Casey

The emptiness of the library was as unsettling as always. Most of the books lining the shelves around her had been written by academic men, a seemingly extinct breed.

Rows of bare orchard trees standing in snow, interrupted by broad digital fragments and small coloured blocks.

The Last Cherry Orchard

Phillip Berry

Bastian sat heavily in the angle formed by tree trunk and crust. He pushed a hand through the topsoil, and cried at the unnatural chemical balance revealed in the narrow, pigmented furrows.