The old man sat down in his arm chair and waved a hand. “Gather around, children. Grandpa wants to tell you a story.” He waited, slowly unwrapping a mint and popping it in his mouth. The wrinkles that lined his face were cast into stark shadow by the singular lamp on the other side of […]

The factory stood in the center of a slum, although whether the slum was actually part of the factory or simply one of its many products was up for debate. Likely, it was somewhere in between. Multistory tenements held the squalid and destitute workforce that manned the behemoth structure are their center that every eight […]

“Are you sure this is–?” “Quiet!” “Do you want to get caught?” “No, I just—“ “Then stuff a rag in it!” Sergey huffed but didn’t say anything else. John knew he would hear it all again, later. Hours of complaining and huffing and accusing in exchange for a couple minutes of blissful silence. Granted, those […]

The sky stretched out in front of him, the perfect frame to the setting sun straight ahead. Below were only clouds, and above he could see the stars starting to come out. It was the stuff of stories. “Lieutenant Hannigan. We have what we need, you can turn around and bring her home.” The voice, […]

“I’m sorry.” Smoke drifted up slowly from torn ground. Dead were strewn about much like the toys of a child, forgotten where they fell and without order. The field was silent, though. There were no dying, just the dead. One could almost close their eyes and imagine none of it was there, that this was […]

Dust drifts down in the beam of light, a galaxy of motes drifting in the otherwise stagnant air. Her eyes adjust to the light, and she rises to a single knee and squints out into the darkness. The air smells of dust and old paper and forgotten stories, and as she stands, her boots scrap […]