Category: science fiction

A House with Enough Space

“I need lots of space,” Trish had told me at our first meeting. I had to solve her problem. My reputation was on the line. I wanted to point out that if she bought a house with more space, she would fill it as well, and soon, she’d be looking to upsize again. But people’s… Continue reading A House with Enough Space

Pause!

I’m such an easy mark for tech gear and apps, a true tech-addict. I never stood a chance with the PAUSE marketing hype. They loaded the ad with emotional hooks.  Tired of feeling stressed? Tired of deadlines? Feel like you’ll never get ahead? . You need a break! Relax like a champion! . You need PAUSE. I… Continue reading Pause!

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 9

The Second Cycle. Bar East. I was very drunk by the time the end of the fourth hour loomed large before us. We all sat watching the stage from our table just inside Bar East. (We had equipped our ballroom with two bars, the other was Bar West, obviously.) Which was stupid. We forgot that… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 9

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 8

I was sitting in my Jaguar, double-checking everything in my luggage. Doubts that I hadn’t anticipated were storming through my head. I never understood why or how I was invited to join Prospero Ballrooms, Inc. When I looked at the list of members, it was populated by people far wealthier than me. I was barely… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 8

The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 7

Chapter 2: Building a Bubbleverse. To understand the science behind bubbleverses, we must travel back in time to the year 2178. I can think of no better introduction than Schmidt’s article. An excerpt from that paper appears below. Frederick Smith, born Feb 28, 2117, died Sep 28, 2158. Smith’s main theory asserted that blood sacrifices unleashed… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse — Part 7

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6

–:–:– — / 0:28:10 BVST I grabbed Tommy by the sleeve and pulled him from the crowd. We made our way to the control room. I need to know. A desperate itch had landed, and I needed to see her. Tina had been in the ballroom before. I distinctly remembered it. Still, I wanted proof.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 6

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5

–:–:– — / 0:24:57 BVST Maguire hurried toward the door. I jumped out and followed him out into the ballroom. A crowd had gathered by table 12.  With the engineer gone, I felt I was the one in charge. Whatever that meant.  “Coming through,” I said, injecting as much authority in my voice as I could… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 5

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4

–:–:– — / 0:03:19 BVST I put my head on the table and cried. The screams from the back were a wave of background music accompanying me. “Scott, have you seen the engineer?” Maguire’s voice jerked me back into the room. I rubbed my eyes and mentally replayed his question, demanding it to make sense.… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 4

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3

–:–:– — / 0:02:13 BVST I wanted to run out of the place, but then I remembered that alarming lack of anything at all beyond the windows. There’s nowhere to run! Frantic for some distraction, I picked up the envelope, ripped it open, and read. By that point, I’d put two and two together and… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 3

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 2

11:52:58 PST / 0:00:00 BVST I forced my eyes from the stage. They landed on the place setting before me. I saw the envelope propped against my wineglass. She’d written just one word on it: my name. She always had the most beautiful cursive. My nausea doubled. Why would Tina write me a letter? I… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 2

The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 1

The shift happened sooner than we’d planned. I was sitting in the ballroom, and I’d just found the envelope, and that was when it happened. I wished I could unsee the letter. The love I’d had for Tina dissolved. In its wake, I was learning how to hate her. So, I closed my eyes and… Continue reading The Ballroom Bubbleverse – Part 1

Basilisk

The question hung in the air, unanswered. I couldn’t tell if this was one of Pete’s pranks. With social media paranoia being what it was since 2031, I screened all my visitors for recording devices, of course. I mean, I loved Pete, but I was nobody’s fool. “Come on, Tim. Either you know, or you… Continue reading Basilisk

Wormhole

The exterminator wipes his brow, pockets his grease-stained handkerchief, and checks his tablet again. “Yeah. We don’t see a lot of these. If I’m honest, they told us about these in class, but I swore the instructor was pulling our legs. Pranking us. You know? That it was a joke to see which of us… Continue reading Wormhole

Rapid Transport

June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 13 The smell of falafel is always the first thing I notice in the Cairo terminal; recirculated air is laden with the scents of parsley, mint, cilantro, and garlic. The bustling hallways of disembarking passengers and the vendors selling their falafel, hummus, and baklava. I woke on a sleeping couch… Continue reading Rapid Transport