Recent Stories
I can tell by the distracted look in your eyes that you're barely paying attention to me, but that's perfectly fine. You're among friends here. Every man, woman, and occasional child who walks through those doors knows exactly what you're experiencing. There's no shame in being one of the people gifted with a forever-repeating piece of music in your head.
When this was only a transitory psychological phenomenon they called it an earworm, but the type we have is a little different. The incorrectly-named "Euterpe Virus" is caused by prions, which look more like holes than worms. What are prions? Twists of protein in your brain, neither bacteria nor true virus. Historically, most prion diseases were caused by a faulty gene or the consumption of human brain tissue. I hope you haven't done any of the latter! This outbreak, however, seems to stem from an unidentified environmental trigger.
I went to the gym on the day before the world ended. No one greeted me at the door when I came in, but I scanned in my member number anyway, surprised that the place was open.
The bank of elliptical machines was empty except for a young woman in a college sweat shirt and pink running shorts who worked the pedals hard, pushed the handles quickly, efficiently, sweat dripping from her chin and elbows.
"So," the prince said. "To break your enchantment, you need a kiss from your true love."
"Yes," said the princess, unable to keep the note of irritation from her voice. "And naturally, I get you."
The apocalypse happened to Singapore at 3 am EST on a Thursday. The bridges linking the tiny island-state to Malaysia were severed in half. The few cars on the still-existing side of the bridge crawled to a halt before the void. There were screams. Images were tagged on Instagram. Some went viral. #ApocalypseLAH.
The international news media descended. Sweating in the equatorial heat, they took photographs and interviewed local people.
by J Mark Matters
Declaration of Armistice in the Time War
All human combatants must read from top to bottom.
Published on Jul 16, 2019
by Erica L. Satifka
Published on Jul 15, 2019
by James Van Pelt
Published on Jul 12, 2019
by Mari Ness
Published on Jul 11, 2019
by Mary E. Lowd
Published on Jul 10, 2019
by Anya Ow
Published on Jul 9, 2019
