When I stepped off our ship and onto Proxima G.2, I was far from prepared.

Training was meant to take three years, but we were running out of time if we wanted to save this ecosystem from destruction. As it is, this place is likely too far gone. We may have to be satisfied with documenting these creatures for scientific posterity.

This planet hosts three species that score high enough on the G...

“One cannot hope to end one’s life with nothing but a butter knife.”

Mirabelle, deep in the throes of a perfectly awful dream, jerked awake with that Edward Gorey line in her head. She sat up straight in the bed and was completely startled to see the cat sitting on the dresser and staring at her with bright green eyes that glowed even in the dark of the bedroom.

“What the hell? A cat?” Now Mira...

I don’t know how he got in here. My night nurse promised me that new security had been added, but I was leery.

And I was right to be. Here he was, in my room staring at me, his expression emotionless.

His movements were quick, and he threw my blankets off my bed. Clearly, he was looking for something.

“It’s not here, Tom,” I whispered.

Our divorce was thirteen years ago and all of our assets ...

Winter was early, but that was no excuse: I was weeks behind, no matter what the lunar cycles said. Mother would worry; Father would smirk. In my defense, my distraction came from a good place: My mind was constantly seeking, searching; I simply got sidetracked.

No sense in worrying now, I thought. Time to catch up.

First thing to do was to build a shelter. Materials were normally plentiful, but...

Penelope Grit was a lovely girl with a terrible habit of losing things. It started with her pencils in the third grade. The hair ties started disappearing soon after that. And then of course the occasional sock would vanish in thin air, but who’s never lost one of those?

When she started freshman year at Union High, she started losing friends. I suppose a lot of people lose friends in high schoo...

Drip….drip…..drip…. “Is the faucet broken again?” Austin thought as he reached for the pull string on his bedside lamp. He hadn’t heard his alarm go off so hopefully he could find a bucket and get a few more hours of sleep.

Only his hand didn’t find the pull string, it hit a stone wall. A cold, rough stone wall. “That’s not right” he slowly realized as his sleep addled brain tried to catch ...

Along the bend of the one lane road emerged a single mail truck, made small by the grand trees that lined the road edge. The truck cruised through the forest as if it was itself as excited as it’s driver for the last stop. Jack, in agreement, tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in a cheery way. His Bluetooth speaker wobbled atop the dashboard.

On Jack’s lap sat two items: Jack’s phone and t...

“All hail the Queen.”

That haunting echo kept resounding in my mind, tormenting me. Just as much as my families ghosts.

I am the new queen.

I do not understand the magic that chose me, the magic that murdered my family when i was chosen, or the magic that ties me to this throne for the rest of my life.

I do not understand why the ancient council bound all of us—the people—to this cruel nightmar...

It started off like any other boring weekday. Andrew went to his job, sat down at his desk and worked like the good worker bee he was. He didn't mind his work, it wasn't flashy but it brought a paycheck that was hard to argue with. He sat in at a desk in a large office space with an open floor plan. The light hum of a few of his coworkers mingling in the break room around the corner. Sometimes he ...