“They say a creature lives beneath the surface of the lake,” Beth whispered as she stood with Louis, gazing at the moon’s gently distorted reflection.
“I thought this was supposed to be romantic,” chuckled Louis. “Wait here. I’ll get champagne.”
But when Louis returned, Beth was nowhere to be found.
“You ever have a religious experience?” Rob interrupted Jerry’s silent musings.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, divine intervention, a miracle, anything like that?”
“I used to have a severe allergy to cats. But one day it just went away. My doctor said it was a miracle. You?”
“Nope.”
I guess this is it, William thought as consciousness drifted away. I’m dead. At least I’ll know what it’s like.
William awoke to the sound of rain… but that was wrong. Dirt. Burial! I can’t move, can’t even breathe. I’m dead. Trapped. So this is what it’s like.
Annie used to imagine that her thumb and forefinger were a raygun. A responsible girl, she never pointed her raygun at others. It was a good thing, too, because one day her imagination won. Standing amidst raining rock rubble, she vowed to user her powers for good.
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose.” Aaron was a master of foreign language clichés, and with Jim, his best friend, moving away, he was in his glory. “Qué Será, Será.” But when Jim punched him in the nose, he was speechless. C’est la vie.
Jenny cursed as the car sputtered to a halt. Out of gas! She’d forgotten to check the gauge. It was dark, and had been miles since she’d seen another car. With a sigh, she stepped out of the car. She saw headlights! Not headlights. Eyes.
Misery Moms was a breakout hit. Who would’ve thought that soccer moms could do hip hop? But the teenagers loved them. Tapered jeans were back in vogue. Rich kids got minivans on their sixteenth birthdays. But their own kids wouldn’t be seen with them.
Nikolai was the best watchmaker in town. Sometimes, he would repair clocks, but it took dedication and talent to work on the scale of a watch. Such tiny gears, levers, springs. Clocks weren’t bad, but a watch was something to be proud of.
Tonight, Dr. Schmendrake would rule the world. He had succeeded where everyone else had failed. He’d created microscopic nanobots that would secretly live inside people’s brains. Nobody knew they were there, but everyone would be under their — and under Dr. Schmendrake’s — influence!
The phone rang as I signed for the delivery. “Hello?”
“Open it now!”
“Excuse me?”
“The package.”
“How—”
“I’m watching you now.”
I cut the connection and dialed the phone company.
“Ma’am? The call is coming from… inside the package!”
The Madagascar hissing cockroach can reach three inches fully grown. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is usually found in rotting logs on the island of Madagascar. But tonight, the Madagascar hissing cockroach could be found in Judy’s bed. Lots of them.
“Where’s Adams today?”
“You didn’t hear? She got fired.”
“What? Why?”
“She wasn’t being a ‘team player’. Apparently, she’s been driving a hybrid car. If you work for National Oil, you need to show your support of the company!”
My heart skips a beat as the train pulls into Midtown station. This is where she gets on. Always this car. I’m always there to return her smile. It would be easier if I lived on this line.
My office is in a rough part of town. Most of my clients belong there. But not this classy dame. Even being here at all… she must be in serious trouble. And I was gonna help her.
Every day is the same. Wake up, shower, drive to work. Work is the same. The same people, the same stories, the same problems. Drive home, eat, sleep. Again. Again. Soon I can stop thinking altogether.
Such a union as this was doomed from the start. It was an affront to the laws of nature. What kind of love could a policy writer and a claims adjuster ever hope to share?
Hawkins couldn’t contain his excitement. Ancient computers! Proof of a society even more advanced than our own. How could they have been so far ahead? Their keyboards, all of them, used the Dvorak layout!
Darkness fades, revealing the outline of a backlit head. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” I try to answer. Can’t. My body convulses with the attempt to speak. Coughing blood.
I do know.
The headaches kept getting worse. Aspirin was useless. His wife suggested a cool towel over his eyes. But after his head fell off, she thought perhaps they should have called a doctor.
Jerry woke with a start, his nightmare fading into the recesses of his mind. Sighing, he flicked on the bedside lamp. No light came.
There, barely visible in the darkness — movement!
He ran. It was too dark to see, and he heard nothing above the crush of gravel. He knew only that it followed. And it would tear him to pieces.
You don’t know these guys, and they don’t know you. But if they had the chance, they’d kill you. So kill them first. They’re not people, they’re threats. Targets.
“Why is Marty so freaked out this weekend?”
“He hasn’t realized it’s a ‘murder mystery’ vacation yet.”
“You haven’t told him? But aren’t you supposed to die tomorrow?”
The physics engine was working to spec. The input parameters were the same. But the result kept coming out differently. There was only one explanation: free will.
“He’s cheating on me!”
“Honey, you’re overreacting. He wouldn’t cheat on you. Why do you say that?”
“I saw him leaving your house yesterday morning.”
“Oh.”
They laughed when Mary enrolled in barbecue school. But today, she alone prepared every last hot dog. She was rooting for the skinny Japanese kid.
Martha hummed tunelessly while sweeping out the shed. Her breath caught as the sunlight revealed a missing floorboard. What’s Joe been doing in here?
Jeff beamed as he presented his newly-unearthed pile of rare coins to the dealer. “So, what are they worth?”
“About seventeen cents.”
See how proudly Williams displays his “employee of major distinction” award? I don’t think he realizes it was meant to be sarcastic.
Julian had suffered a horrible defeat. Tomorrow, he might not have a career. But for tonight, he was just a dad.
The legal battle was long. The Morris family was destroyed, and might never reconcile. But Grandma’s jewelry was finally Shannon’s.
Anthony didn’t hear, didn’t understand, but he didn’t mind, either. It was peaceful here. No loud noises, no pain.
As John talked to Anthony, he wondered if, somewhere behind the vacant eyes, his brother heard and understood.
The natives told Paul that the volcano was dormant. Too late, he realized the truth: virgin sacrifice.
Stranded in the past. I went back too far. They hadn’t invented the time machine yet.
It’s time to change tactics. The “happy cop, sad cop” routine is getting us nowhere.
“Don Mangione! You really want me to…?”
“Take a dive, yes.”
“But… it’s ballet!”
I prefer building with my hands. Molecular transmutation devices are just so… impersonal.
Sir, we’ve lost contact with the probe. But there is… something else!
What would the world be like if superheroes didn’t actually exist?
