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Latest Stories

March 19, 2024
Fantasy Stories Wondering Monk

Just My Imagination

The alarm clock went off and started playing an awful tune. Tom opened his eyes and closed them back, squinting. He reopened one eye and stood up to stop the torture. The phone was on the desk, in the furthest spot from the bed. Although he changed his way of…
March 19, 2024
Science Fiction Stories Ocelotlzin

Earth Is Dead

Recording… It doesn't matter who I was; I probably lived a long time ago, and I am now just a voice someone added to the audio-visual records. What is essential is the recollection of events that lead to the current state. So, a little history needs to be…
March 08, 2024
Flash Fiction Benoit

Some Enchanted Evening

It was a rugby tackle with tears: Chrissy burst in, sobbing and babbling, hugging James. Her face was all wet, eyes wild. What…? My parents split up, Dad has moved in with his boyfriend and I cannot join them. I am shut out. I have lost my dad. Torrent of…
March 08, 2024
Horror Stories Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

In The Hands Of My Legs

The car pulled up in front of the large salon. The neon sign, that sexy broad thing, on the salon'sroof read "Mr. Gil's All-night Salon". The exhaust pipe of the car was pumping solid smoke, theswirls moving from the car and towards the salon.…
March 07, 2024
Mystery Stories Vanessa Leigh Giles

Casualty of Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Chapter 1 Until Death do us Part ‘Ring, ring!’. I answered the telephone and asked, “Hello, good evening. Who’s this? “Hello.” This is Dr. Smith from Red Cross hospital. “Is this Mr. Locke, John?”, he asked, hesitantly scratching his bald head. “Yes, doctor.…
March 07, 2024
Crime Stories Robert Pook

Bar Room Trigger

Another return journey on footpaths so familiar. He strides across each crack in each paving stone. Regular loose drain covers sidestepped. Mapping long ago mapped in Richard’s desolate mind. His pace hastened by the sight of the oncoming storm. Quickening…
March 04, 2024
Horror Stories Ano Chinemerem

Sanctity

Where should I begin? I could begin by telling you about this comely boy, whom every notable person around the streets agrees his smile could charm the bills off one. Between one smile, there was his goodness, his dreams and humanity—a little far ahead?— but…
March 04, 2024
Flash Fiction Emanuel Diaz

Et Mortui Partium

As Rafael stepped out into the rain, it wasn't the ordinary drops that fell from the sky. Instead, it was a storm of souls, each one taking the form of shimmering jewelry as it cascaded toward the ground. Rubies, diamonds, and sapphires twinkled amidst the…
February 29, 2024
Poetry Jing Li Ava

London

‘Am I in London?’ "I am." Where is Elizabeth? Happy living story All of your chapter Bounlance joy Please my heart Power hand Wise mind Our baby Vow vow Love all love Miss I miss Endless wonder Bring us together Love all love Miss I miss For everything My…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Rob Pook

Life Sentence of The Smith

Born nine months after his country won the World Cup.A child prodigy.Cast off at age twenty-four.Husband, father, emigree, away on the other side of the world.The blue-collar life.The dreams of success.The search for fulfillment.The long years of empty…
February 29, 2024
Mystery Stories Joshua Lowther

The Operator

Jason looked over to his right, his eyes barely able to focus themselves on the subject of his attention. His neck ached terribly from the strenuous movement. He was tired. The captain’s gaze came to rest on the rookie sonar operator sitting tense at his…
February 29, 2024
Flash Fiction Salvatore Difalco

The Chute

At dusk, we left our unit with a soft pink bundle. I carried it through the wet streets and into the black woods. I said I’d take it all the way, the bundle, but that we had to drop it in together. My wife’s green eyes flashed. “Don’t make me do that.” I…

I’ll keep it short: If you wanna go to Earth, don’t.  Only reason I went was a deal I found where you could see the whole planet for under a thousand credits.  I could’ve spent it tearing up the dunes on Mars getting trashed on Luna brew, but no, I fell for the whole “Gotta see Earth” BS, and blew half my savings waiting to feel that precious connection with the “Homeworld”.  Homeworld, my ass.  Whole planets a big, fat, money making scam.

I’ll start with the weather -- it sucks.  One minute you’re freezing your ass off on some mountain ‘vista’, the next minute you’re getting a heat stroke in some ‘scenic’ desert.  It’s like a little planetary theme park:  One part Mars, one part Neptune, one part Europa, all balled up into one miserable rock of an existence.  Even if you like these little Environments, they’re so jam packed with tourists from every armpit of the galaxy, you end up sharing the Amazon and the Pyramids and the Great Wall (not so great, by the way) with a bunch of hicks from Epsilon who were born without volume control.   I spent more time trying to get out of these places than I did getting in them.

Don’t even get me started on the transportation.  There’s no Aero-rail -- just cabs.  Worse, they're not even automated!  Soon as you leave port, drivers swarm you like a pack of zombies who won’t leave you alone till you get in one of their speeders.

“Where you headed, boss?” they say.  “Hop in, chief!”

Hop in.  You believe that?  Felt like I was stuck in the 20th century.  Asked one of them if I could take a Travelbot instead.

“Sorry, pal, no bots on Earth -- all part of the experience.”

Part of the experience?  I guess getting charged 500 credits to have your driver get lost in the Dubai sprawl is part the experience, too.

Oh yeah.  They don’t shut up, either.

“Where you from?” they say.  “How do you like the Homeworld?” they ask.

Just drive, pal, a robot could do your job.

“Come on, relax, pal,” they cry.  “People lived like this for thousands of years.”

Yeah -- they also lived till they were 70 and died from every form of cancer in the medical lexicon (and with the crap they ate, no wonder).  Hamburgers?  Kung Pao Chicken?  Were these people asking to die?  Give me some Tritan Rice and a bottle of Neutrinine and you got yourself a happy man.  Of course, they don’t have any on Earth – they gotta keep everything “authentic”.  And nothing’s as authentic as the all you can drink “fresh water” springs.  Springs?  SPRINGS!?!  You can’t drink any of it without hacking up your intestines!!!  Locals don’t even drink the stuff.  Only thing I could drink was a bottle of Terraquor that barely got me tipsy enough to forget I was on the sorry rock in the first place.

You want my advice, save your money and go to Saturn.

Earth’s a tourist trap.

 

Bio: When not surfing the net for a living, Noah Griffith enjoys reading, writing, more reading, and enjoying Asian food in his Koreatown neighborhood.  He lives in Los Angeles.

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