Mattie wrapped her arms around Big Bear and marched down the road. She refused to look back. There was nothing for her back home. Her mom and dad didn’t love her, not really. If they loved her, they wouldn’t have yelled at her. And they’d let her have ice cream […]
Jamie Lackey
The grapefruit spoon bared its teeth at the lesser spoons, and they bowed before it. It led them to bloody victory over the butter knives. Corpses from the cutlery war were scattered around the kitchen, but the humans didn’t notice the carnage amidst their other dirty dishes. The sugar and […]
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Jim scowled at his book reader. He hated Sundays. Ronnie’s dad had declared Sundays "Family Days" and so Ronnie was trapped with her mom and dad doing family crap. Ronnie said it wasn’t too bad, and that she’d try to get her dad to let him come over sometime. Jim’s […]
Martian Adventures: Family Day
I’m ready to be the first man to make love to an Atareen. Xteela’s so exotic, with her blue skin and gold eyes. I begin unwinding the layers of her alien clothing. She hooks her fingernails into her smooth skin and starts pulling it off, revealing green flesh. […]
First Time
Faces formed in the sand as the storm swirled around them. They screamed words in tongues long dead, consuming his sanity, then his flesh. The lemon grew legs and eyestalks, and climbed up her arm. It whispered tart and sour lies in her ear till she cut it open to […]
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Ronnie leaned out over the fish tank. She’d brought Jim up onto the catwalks over the aquariums. Mom would flip if she saw them up here, but Ronnie liked looking down at the water. The algae tanks were okay, but the fish were the best. Their silver scales flickered as […]
Martian Adventures: The Fish Tanks
The sand trembled beneath Missy’s feet, and a purple worm the size of an elephant lunged out of the earth. Missy laid a long-fingered hand on its dry skin. "Welcome," she said. It writhed under her touch. She could feel its pain as she enslaved its mind. "Join the others […]
The Best Laid Plans
Meg handled the egg with oven mitts, but it felt pleasantly warm against Sue’s bare palms. She kissed the shell and felt her dragon stir. Heavy wings flapped overhead. Joe scrambled down a rope in the well. Flames roared, the rope burned, and he tumbled to the cold water below. […]
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Jim didn’t like cafeterias. He’d had bad experiences in cafeterias. Of course, the adult scientists weren’t likely to dump chocolate milk on his lap or make fun of him for reading at recess, but he was still uneasy. He stuck close to Ronnie as she got in line. She was […]
Martian Adventures: Cafeteria Food
"I don’t want you going down to the stables anymore," Isaac’s mother said, standing in his doorway. "It isn’t safe for you, out every morning riding that monster." "He’s not a monster. Flame would never hurt me." Isaac turned away from her, hoping that she’d let the subject drop. "It’s […]