The alien invaders were dead.
This was our world after all. Men were once again free to work out their own destiny, for better or worse, without interference.
Man might fail, but if he does he will fail on his own terms.
If he succeeds… The universe will surely weep.
Justin Moody lives in Texas with his wife and three sons, and is a reader and writer of short fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Like a doppelganger, he emerged from the 1982 Datsun hatchback dressed as a pizza delivery guy. Complete with greasy pizza box, he sleazed his way across the street and up onto the front porch and rang the bell.
“Pizza for Tony Rizzetti.”
“I didn’t order a pizza.”
“You’ve been served.”
The literary works of Forrest Whitesides have been rejected by some of the most respected publications in the world.
Ketcham Creek is cresting, so what’s one more tear I ask to God and to you.
I skip a stone across the rushing water, then a handful thrown in fury. I will pray for you, but mostly I will pray for him.
Tears and spring floods cleanse my broken heart.
Jeff Switt is a retired advertising agency guy who loves writing flash
fiction, some days to curb his angst, other days to fuel it. Check out his newest venture, A Story in Three Paragraphs.
Strutting down the street, Bubba yelled scornfully at the lesser humans scurrying into neighboring buildings. He had honed his 300-pound body into muscular mastery, and he knew it would handle any wind the hurricane could throw at him.
“Uh oh,” he whimpered, when he saw the Winnebago flying towards him.
Michael Coolen is a pianist, composer, actor, writer, and performance artist who lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
The North American Automated Missile Response System analyzes 1,542 sensors of all kinds. Final testing involved over a billion random simulations.
The combination of a power failure in DC, a fire in Chicago, an earthquake in Iowa, and a solar flare was one of the vigintillion conditions not tested.
Oops.
Harry Demarest has retired after careers encompassing scientific research, teaching at a university, software development, web application development, and voter database compilation and distribution. He is now spending his time with his grandchildren and writing memoirs and short stories.
Bobby heard grumbling coming from under his bed. He looked under the bed and saw his own face staring back at him.
He was consequently sucked under his own bed and devoured, bones and all.
Bobby does all his chores now! Bobby’s parents love the new Bobby.
Whoever he is…
Doug has contributed to all three issues of Demonic Visions: 50 Horror Tales.
It’s her.
I long for the coconut scent of her chestnut curls, but I still fear her when lips meet bottle.
She turns the corner.
Not her.
I do not know if I suddenly felt my world drop because it was not her or because I wanted it to be.
Marisa is a graduate of Providence College with degrees in psychology and theatre.
A middle aged man climbed atop a stool and screamed, “This is my world, get used to it!”
Everyone stood around petrified. A small child walked over to the man standing on the stool. The boy pushed the man off.
“This is our world,” the boy said standing over him.
Brock Burns is a college dropout, who does freelance writing. Recently he has started writing stories for fun.
I pour the pale figure a steaming mug.
A smack of the lips; a sigh.
“It’s the only thing I miss,” in a wistful contralto. “They don’t make it right up there. All these caramel and mochalatto and Sumatra roasted subtleties when I want diner grade black. You’re an angel.”
Dee Maselle writes steamy romance. She makes her home in infinite alternate universes.
His life filled with words he hated. Cancer. Radiation. Chemotherapy. Inoperable.
He hated that everything should be compromised to have a chance.
He hated that everybody told him how sorry they were, like it was their fault somehow.
Above all, he hated that what he really wanted was another cigarette.
J.D. Hager lives in Northern California with his wife and a small collection of farm animals. When not writing short stories he goes undercover as a middle school science teacher. His code name is Mister Hager. More of his words and wisecracks can be found at jdhager.wordpress.com.