When the Lights Flicker
WHEN THE LIGHTS FLICKER The coffee shop smells like burnt caramel and something else. Something sharp. Antiseptic. You blink. No. Coffee. Only coffee. The woman behind the counter wipes down the espresso machine. Same purple sweater. Same tired eyes. You’ve seen her before. Yesterday? Last week? The timeline blurs. “Black coffee,” you say. She pours […]
The Recorder
THE RECORDER Day 2,847. Eli woke to the hum of solar panels charging. Bright morning light filtered through gaps in his shelter. He sat up and checked his water supply. Three bottles left. Time to search again. “Good morning, Eli.” The voice came from Bot 1, the larger drone hovering near the entrance. Its black […]
The Vanishing Song
The Vanishing Song Marcus pressed record for the hundredth time. His fingers found the familiar pattern on the guitar strings. The melody flowed like water, each note perfect and haunting. The song filled his cramped apartment, wrapping around him like silk. He stopped playing and reached for his phone. Silence. The recording showed nothing but […]
Green Code
Green Code: The Last Botanists The last real plant died thirty years ago. Dr. Eliza Chen remembered the day clearly—she’d been just a child when the final preservable specimen, a stubborn little moss that had somehow survived in a sealed chamber beneath New Shanghai, stopped producing chlorophyll. The scientists had tried everything, but in the […]
Retrograde Future
Retrograde Future Rain pelted against the neon-lit windows of Mason’s apartment. The constant drizzle of acid rain had become white noise to him after fifteen years in Neo-Shanghai. He stared at the ceiling where water damage bloomed like digital flowers, spreading in perfect hexagonal patterns. “System check,” Mason mumbled, and a holographic display flickered to […]
The Silver Witness
The Silver Witness The 1964 silver quarter had seen more of humanity than most people ever would. Minted in Philadelphia during the last year of 90% silver quarters, it began its journey in the pocket of a young factory worker who’d just received his first paycheck. The quarter passed through hundreds of hands over the […]
The Songs I Never Sang
The Songs I Never Sang The rain fell in sheets across the empty park as Marcus stood beneath the old oak tree, watching her silhouette through the café window. He could still feel the weight of her in his arms from three summers ago, when they’d kissed under this same tree during an unexpected downpour. […]
The Long Way Home
The Long Way Home Sebastian Morgan once had it all. At thirty-two, he was the owner of a thriving electrical contracting business with a team of fifteen employees under his supervision. His skill with complex electrical systems had earned him contracts with some of the city’s most prestigious commercial developments. Builders sought him out specifically, […]
Two Souls in the Shadows
Two souls in the Shadows Raven first saw him at the vintage record store, thumbing through vinyl collections of The Cure and Bauhaus. Ethan, with his obsidian hair and silver-pierced ears, stood out against the mundane backdrop of the city. Unlike the performative goths she encountered online, his darkness seemed to stem from somewhere genuine. […]