It took NASA three months to verify that it was indeed a message and not interstellar scintillation. The communication repeated regularly and was clearly the result of intelligent composition. It took a further four months to isolate which solar system… Continue Reading
Mommy bursts through the door. I jump up from the bottom step. “You got one!” I squeal, spotting the box she’s carrying. She’s panting and shaking. She slams the door shut and slides the bolt across just as something crashes… Continue Reading
I let the children play with the lions because I decided that it was part of their education to examine life from another planet. This was after I ordered a box of domestic cats but many of my students, the… Continue Reading
“GREENVILLE,” read the sign. “POP 1,624 HUMBLE EARTHLING SERVANTS. HAIL ZORDOK!” In spray paint, below: “DON’T RAZE US, BRO!” Sheryl frowned. “I think we took the wrong turn. We’re supposed to still be in Spring Grove.” “Qroocha znuk!” Emperor Zordok… Continue Reading
Silver tobacco fields streak by under a cloudless night sky. The road stretches on ahead, flat and straight. Hot air whistles in through the cracked window. My eyes flit between the rearview mirror, the speedometer, the road. Only a few… Continue Reading
The insistent ringing of the telephone on my bedside cabinet wakened me from a deep sleep. Fumbling in the dark, I looked at the alarm clock and groped for the receiver. “Ullo,” I slurred. “Hi, you called for a plumber,”… Continue Reading
I thought aliens were interested in medical experiments but this one wouldn’t shut up about Hamlet. Just before the abduction, I’d been in the middle of a student conference in which a freshman was introducing her emotional support ferret, so… Continue Reading
“I said it was aliens from space what took her.” Detective Southby looked away as if I had said something really stupid. He stuck his spiral notebook and pen in his coat pocket. The blackened circle of grass centered in… Continue Reading
A family of Bou Sain Guo floundered nearby, struggling in the thick mucus ooze of the swirling river. Somah hesitated, transfixed by the fires illuminating the boxy stick-like bodies, their rake-like hands outstretched and pleading. “Keep moving, kiddo.” Pavel pushed… Continue Reading
Star Shaker’s scales glittered and shone with rainbow colors under the spotlights. Her barbed tail swayed, and she flapped her tiny vestigial wings as she sang into the mic. With the backdrop of stars behind her, she looked like a… Continue Reading