Prompt: Someone works on a space ship monitoring the ship’s heartbeat with a pair of headphones, but one day the headphones break.
The beat had been completely regular for more than a month. That was a month by the computer’s calculation of course, as none of the crew could keep track with so many stars and planets whizzing by. They were in for the long haul, one arm of the galaxy to the next, and any unscheduled stops could cost their employer trillions. Continue reading
Prompt: Two cougar pilots argue over the pronunciation of an alien word that could prevent the self-destruction of an ancient abandoned alien craft.
There were many titles that could’ve gone in front of her name. Major. Pilot. To some, savior. At the moment she was too full of venom to embody any of them. She was just Paula Babcock: a shouting woman with wild bedhead throwing things down the corridors of the space-faring vessel she commanded. Continue reading
Prompt: Telepathic aliens kidnap a sample group of humans for a zoo, though some aliens object to their treatment.
They couldn’t read any of the signs. They didn’t even know they were signs. All the imprisoned humans saw were light green bars surrounding their transparent enclosure. They were blank, just like most of the walls. The only details they were allowed to see were each other’s faces and the bits of vegetation their captors had brought from Earth to make them feel more comfortable. Continue reading
Prompt: A tivas (galactic tennis) player from a planet similar to Earth plays in the biggest tournament while having to cope with the big war the planet is having and its dangers.
Tivas is the ultimate sport. That’s what my grandfather always told me. That was an interesting sentiment, considering he’d never played it himself, even as a hobby. All he did was watch it. When the tournament package became a little too expensive on the networks in our system, he enrolled me in classes for it. I’ve never really looked back. Continue reading
Prompt: Jamba, a Polish man visiting Australia, is a victim of a series of floods.
He watched the salty water rise to the tips of his toenails and then recede. The tide was rising. He would have to scooch back a few feet if he wanted his swimming shorts to stay dry. That was the most pressing concern he had. The simplicity of it was beautiful. It was what he had sought, what he had traveled half the world to find. Continue reading
Prompt: A boy hiding in the attic of his family’s old house finds an intricately carved wooden laundry hamper and discovers it has a genie inside!
His family didn’t own anything nice. His parents were trapped in the nineties, obsessed with colorful plastic, and they never bought each other jewelry or fancy dishware. They lived in a small house, hoarding their money, waiting for the inevitable car crash or cancer that would suck it away. Continue reading
Prompt: A Girl and her familiar run a medicine shop in a WWII-like era. She returns after an air raid to find her family and familiar gone. She joins the military seeking vengeance.
Amelia stood in line, a miserable limp thing of defeated bodies and wills, and trudged forward only when someone bumped her back. She’d lost everything. No. She was still on her feet, so there had to be a little hope left. Everything was simply misplaced. She hadn’t even been the one to misplace them. Continue reading
Prompt: Three allies on a cliché journey to save the world from an evil god and all three can turn into animals.
Gwen, Rupert, and Odric were dispensed from the tiny township they’d always called home in order to be heroes. They weren’t the only ones of course. Opportunities for heroism didn’t come up very often, and when they did every village with a population housing more than one family offered up at least one candidate for the quest. Continue reading
Prompt: The old master of martial arts entered Kowloon. Desperately he sought his star pupil; together only they could close the inter-dimensional portal to the frosted caramel ‘ice cream demons’ of a new dark aeon.
Kowloon had gotten worse since the last time he’d seen it. Master Ten had been off in the western world, tricking foolish white men out of their money by feigning weakness and then besting them in combat. He had planned only to return to China upon the bending of his back that would undoubtedly come with his imminent sixties, but he had received a request he could not refuse. Continue reading
Prompt: The world was on fire and where he walked the blazing flames died.
The seas were dry. All the creatures of the water had been reclaimed by the rain, sent into the aether, and then into the forever so they could make a desperate swim for a new world. The creatures of the land, without feather or fin, were not so lucky. They could not travel in the rain at all. Continue reading
Blaine Arcade 