When the quake killed thousands of his subjects, the king took it as a declaration of war by the Earth itself. Swearing vengeance on an ungrateful ally, he ordered cannon aimed at the soil. Soldiers stabbed their bayonets at the oaks, and sappers crumbled the mountains. There was no surrender.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
The charmer plays his melody, rolling and reedy. The crowd sways along, seduced by the man’s earnestness and the golden warmth of sunset. Their heads bob in time with his, their eyes fixed on the carpet and the basket. They all see what they came for. There is no snake.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
Ruth looks much older than her 70 years. Infirmity shrinks her flesh, leaving a canvas of taut skin, applying time like sallow make-up around her eyes and neck. She brushes her hair before getting into the bed – in case of visitors. But until they come, she will sleep a little.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
They say the watchmaker on Church Street is so talented, his clockwork can slow time. Certainly, Mr Larson seems young for a shopkeeper. But he only smiles wearily when people ask him his secret. So many come and go that nobody notices he’s been working there since long before Dickens.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
If I am to die, let it be in Paris. Surround me with smoke and noise. Hide me in the flickering light from cheap picture houses. Let lovers on their Haussmann balconies glance away and smile over Beaujolais as I sag into the street, folding on myself like a crêpe.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction 2018 and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
Mr Roper paused at the TV shop window, clutching the pink slip announcing his redundancy from the factory. The severance pay didn’t even cover the 32” model he’d helped assemble there. They had TVs in prison, he’d heard. Three hot meals and sitcoms before lights out. He raised a brick.
Dave Bradley is a writer and editor from the UK. His short stories have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction 2018. His non-fiction work has appeared in places like Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide and various pop culture magazines and websites.