Issue Forty-nine, December 2013

Read MagazineDownload the .pdf

AetherHex, Petar Simonovic
“Clyde scrambled for the plug. Flow clicked again and tried to speak but she could only loop a stammered vowel in a rhythmic, relentless electric sob. Clyde stretched and searched. Flow clanged. Clyde flipped the power switch. Flow fissured with heat and light. Glass crashed upon metal. A burst of hot air thumped Clyde’s arm as clangs and whomps scudded across the corridor behind him.”

My Sunshine, Stacy Stepanovich
“The man turns his attention to the lit display case where the donuts and bagels shimmer under heat lamps. He grabs a handful of donuts and shakes his fist at the clerk as jelly runs down his forearm. ‘I want more than pie! After all these years, I deserve more than pie!’ the man screams, throwing the donuts over the counter.”

The Sweeper of Flies, Jeff Hewitt
“I crawled and pushed the can towards the incinerator. Flies landed on it in droves, and fell to the floor as the intense heat killed them. Their little bodies pattered like rain. I forced the door open, and the fire in the incinerator roared at me. The heat felt like it was peeling the skin off my face. I closed my eyes and tossed in the garbage bags. I thought I heard screams, but it was probably my imagination. I slammed the grate shut.”

Zombies Near the Fence, Matt Rowan
“A thing people don’t know about zombie invasions is that you will meet the occasional ghost. It’s true. I met the ghost of my brother, who for the most part “lives” with me now. That’s whenever he decides to materialize in his spectral form. It’s nice because otherwise I wouldn’t have much for company.”

Cover art: Forest Thinker, J. Slattum

Leave a Reply