My Wife Hates Time Travel by Adam-Troy Castro (Science Fiction)
Being the future inventors of time travel wasn’t all bad, of course. It was great to know that we’d never lose anything, never go to a movie that turned out to be a stinker, never buy a book we wouldn’t want to finish...
Gossamer by Ken Liu (Science Fiction)
The ships gave off a dark metallic blue sheen in the sun. They dwarfed the 747s beside them. There were three ships, all identical, with no external protrusions or indentations to mar the smooth cigar shape.
The Pure Product by John Kessel (Science Fiction)
My pulse roared in my ears, there joining the drowned choir of the fields and the roar of the engine. Body slimy with sweat, fingers clenched through the cigar, fists clamped on the wheel, smoke stinging my eyes.
Death Do Us Part by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)
"I love you. Nothing will ever end for us. Nothing.”
Pathways by Nancy Kress (Science Fiction)
"When light of a specific wavelength hits those cells, they will activate or silence, and we can control that by—Ms. Connors, you can still change your mind.”
Uncanny by James Patrick Kelly (Science Fiction)
I awoke the next morning to find the machine in my bedroom, sorting clothes from a laundry basket into my dresser drawers. Not only had it ironed my jeans and tee shirts, but it was folding my panties.
Red Rain by Adam-Troy Castro (Horror)
What did you see on those faces? Was it fear? Resignation? Or apology?
The Trail of the Creator, the Trial of Creation by Paul Di Filippo (Science Fiction)
In other words, there was a Creator, and He or She or It had populated the galaxy with His or Her or Its designs. (Let’s call that bastard God Him from now on, for convenience.)
Comp.Basilisk FAQ by David Langford (Science Fiction)
How does a basilisk operate? The short answer is: we mustn’t say. Detailed information is classified beyond Top Secret.
The Box That Eats Memories by Ken Liu (Horror)
Tendrils of red mist rose from within the box and curled around her, pushing at her nostrils. She took a deep breath.
A Sleep and a Forgetting by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)
Listen to me, Temujin. Think of another world far from yours. There is a Temujin in that world too, son of Yesugei, husband to Bortei who is daughter of Dai the Wise. He is a great warrior, that other Temujin. No one can withstand him.
Itsy Bitsy Spider by James Patrick Kelly (Science Fiction)
I swiped at her and she danced out of reach. I don’t know what I would have done if I had caught her. Maybe smashed her through the picture window onto the patch of front lawn or shaken her until pieces started falling off.
Iteration by John Kessel (Science Fiction)
The next day Enzo’s battered junker wasn’t in the slot outside his apartment. Instead of a car key on his key ring he had a key to a bike lock that released a shining new street bike with cargo carrier on back.
During the Pause by Adam-Troy Castro (Horror)
If it helps you to picture the devastation to come, you should imagine an uncontrolled conflagration, incinerating everything in its path and leaving no life behind.
Antikhthon by Paul Di Filippo (Science Fiction)
The population of Antikhthon continously produced doppelgangers of Earth humans. Or vice versa. In either case, there was a convergence of individuals.