I was always hungry, my love. I was hungry on the day I descended from the mountain into your cold world. You languished in the darkness, gnawing at roots and berries, tearing at raw flesh with rotten teeth. You huddled under the skins of the other animals, almost dead … Continue reading
The trenches stank of death. Even after all these months the smell made James want to retch. He fought the urge. He needed his strength for tomorrow. Tomorrow he was going to die. He worked away carefully at the hard biscuit from his ration, dipping it after each nibble into … Continue reading
0 Seconds Remaining Three bombs in three separate suitcases exploded simultaneously. The shock wave cut through the snaking lines of people waiting to be checked and scanned. The great glass ceiling of the airport shattered into powder. Shrapnel tore through Michael’s chest and belly, perforating his heart, intestines, lungs … Continue reading
Sir Roderick lost his left hand in the fight with the mouse, and it took him most of the next week to find a replacement. It hurt like the dickens the whole time, because he could feel his old hand seeping in the rodent’s stomach acid. His old haunts were … Continue reading
Alice was still breathing when Oliver checked at sundown, but it was raspy, hard to hear over the harsh wind that howled through the great plains. The air was cold and getting colder now that night had fallen, and despite the thermal grid in his gloves his fingers were starting … Continue reading
T-Rex and Robot are fishing in the bathtub. Robot doesn’t want to put the worm on his hook. He doesn’t like the way the guts pop out and get all over his fingers. “I don’t want to do it,” Robot tells T-Rex. “Then I guess you don’t want to catch … Continue reading
Just a couple of things to start with. First off, thank you for coming, we hope you’ll enjoy the tour, but we ask you to remember that the factory floor is an active workplace and health and safety protocols are more than just suggestions. Also, those with weak stomachs might … Continue reading
Johnny shivers, bone cold, his hands shoved in his pockets. The chemical handwarmers he has in there diffuse heat into his fingers, but the chill air nips at his face and seeps through the thickness of his coat. He desperately wants to stand up and move his arms, stamp his feet, … Continue reading
Mr. Boots was missing. Ecila tried to find him. She looked everywhere. She looked in the basement, and in the cupboards, and under the stairs, but he wasn’t there. “Where is Mr. Boots?” she asked the mother, but the mother did not know. She lay awake that night in bed … Continue reading
“The Sea and Little Fishes” by Terry Pratchett was published in 1998. By then, Pratchett’s writing had matured from his early explorations, but it was still before the spectre of Alzheimer’s reared its ugly head and sucked away some of his effortless genius. Terry Pratchett didn’t write many short stories. Some … Continue reading
