Obsession
CHRIS DOTY-DUNN
I know you love me, even though you can't say it.
The signs were always there: the way you looked at me, the tension in your voice when we spoke.
And I love you. Have since the first moment I saw you, when I knew we had to be together.
Maybe I tried too hard.
Maybe you shouldn't have played hard to get.
Your face is serene as I crawl into bed next to you, savoring what's left of your warmth.
I put the gun in my mouth. It's still warm, too.
At least now we'll be together.
Forever.
—Chris Doty-Dunn
Child
CLAUDIA WYSOCKY
i chew gum to force myself to not eat.
i wrap my tongue around the taffy.
i feel my belly empty and rumbling. i remember
the times i have eaten too much, my stomach
expanding, and i have been forced to vomit.
i am a child, i think. i am a child who has
been neglected. i am a child who has been beaten.
i am a child who has been taught to hate
myself for eating. i am a child who has
been taught to hate myself for being neglected.
i do not hate myself. i love myself. but i cannot
love myself when i am so hungry. how can i
love myself if i am never full?
but i do not know
what love is.
—Claudia Wyscoky
The Hawk
DS MAOLALAI
on the motorway
one of the streetlights
has flipped up its topcap.
it looks like a hawk
perched in silhouette, watching
the slow moving traffic
of commuters in the evening
as they wind into dublin
from warehouses in business
estates. the light's never on. I guess
rain has got at the filament.
it's been months. it would probably
be expensive to fix. there are plenty of lights
and the traffic that moves
goes slow as spilled honey
under bridges, past the hard-
shoulder exits. long-stemmed wild flowers
waggle from cracks
in the median central
divider. I look at the mirror
of the car right ahead of me –
see a man's eyes, like a hawk
on a lamppost, looking back and directly
at mine.
DS Maolalai's most recent collection is "Noble Rot" (Turas Press, 2019)
Splurge
ADRIENNE REX
“Is it even worth it?” Dorothy stared ahead at the supermarket shelf, thinking hard.
The shelves here shuffled the stuff you were likely to buy right in front of your face according to the height on your biometric tag. She’d been about to grab her usual choice when this high end goodie was shoved in front of her nose instead.
Max leaned on the shopping cart, drumming her fingers along the handle. Advertisements scrolled in holograms under her hands. “I mean it’s not a necessity but—“
“So we shouldn’t get it.” Dorothy looked down at the price tag again. It flashed happily, not understanding she couldn’t afford what it offered.
Max sighed. “You know what? I’ll get some extra hours at work. Put it in the cart.”
Dorothy perked up. “Really?”
“Sure. It’s my apartment too.”
Dorothy mentally promised to cover takeout the next three times her and Max ordered in. She hefted the container into the cart, careful not to squish the grapes.
‘Quality air! Ultra filtered’, the label promised. The company said this stuff came from actual living trees, but Dorothy knew that was probably just a marketing gimmick.
“It’s nice to have a little luxury,” she sighed, and adjusted the straps on her respirator.
Adrienne Rex is a writer, a Texan, and a weirdo. Find her here: https://adrienne-rex-writes.carrd.co/
Mortal Malware
MEGHAN MURPHY
The first sign there was something wrong was in the eyes. They were unblinking, vacant, hollow. Then came the violence.
Typically, when individuals are deep in the memospheres, they remain active and alert. Merely an augmented, augmented reality simulator existing entirely in the public domain.
No one had considered a virus embedded in the highest directory files of the Memory Library.
It began with historical data of popular files being ominously missing, seemingly deleted. But when they came back online, no one identified the corruption until it was too late.
We didn’t know it was possible to hack a human brain.
—Meghan Murphy
Looking Back
KENNETH M. KAPP
“Damm it, Kitty, stop sniffing.” Chuck pulled on the leash, turned to Hank who was patiently waiting two steps ahead, “Dumb dog wants to smell everything. No wonder we’re both getting fat. Can’t call our start/stop battle exercise.”
Hank came back and extended his arm. “Want me to take her? You can power walk ahead and back and meet us at the corner. It’ll give you and the dog a break.”
“Thanks, it’s not necessary. You’re the go-ahead-guy. You’ll end up choking the mutt. Me, I understand her. Guess I’m impatient with myself too, always looking back, thinking what if…
“Damm it, Kitty, you’ve already marked that tree; we’re not going back!”
He tugged on the leash, appealing to his friend, “What did I just say. Now she thinks she’s missed something and wants to go back!”
Hank smiled and reached out once again for the leash. “Chuck, why don’t you let me try. At least to the corner. At this rate, we'll miss Happy Hour—even tomorrow's.”
“Yeh, OK. Good luck. Still, it’s funny, me and my pooch always looking back. Why do you think that is?”
“Can’t answer for you, Chuck. But for Kitty I’d guess she’s just looking for where she took her last dump.”
“Yeh, maybe life’s like that too!”
Kenneth M. Kapp lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, writing late at night in his man-cave. www.kmkbooks.com
Judging Josiah
ALAINA HAMMOND
“Who the Hell are you to judge me? Bunch of judgmental judges, that’s what you are!” Josiah snapped.
“Come now, Josiah. I’m sure we all can come to a reasonable agreement,” said Nicholas.
“Here’s an agreement: You can all kiss my ass!”
“There’s no need to be crude.”
“Whatever. My outfit was basically regulation. It was only SLIGHTLY modified. I really don’t see why everyone’s so bent out of shape about it.”
Robert cleared his throat. Maggie audibly sighed. Sarah covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her smile. This whole thing was just so patently absurd.
Nicholas resented that he was the only one—besides Josiah—who was speaking. He rubbed his temples.
“Josiah, while it’s true that the Batman cape you were wearing blended in relatively well with your robes, the Batman mask was highly inappropriate.”
“Ugh. Fine, you win. If I’d known being a judge was gonna be so boring, I never would have joined your ranks. You guys are lame.” Josiah jumped on his skateboard and exited in disgust.
Claudine articulated what the rest of them were thinking. “I’m beginning to think he never should have been appointed to the Supreme Court.”
—Alaina Hammond
Justice Endured by the Madness of Mind
CHRISTOPHER COLLINGWOOD
Waiting for the chrysalis to open offered its own form of madness, an insanity which inspired William to go further and further into his worst nightmares.
Time seemed to conspire with the prison cell, slowly torturing William with its strange shadows and distant sounds, causing his thoughts to completely consume him.
A telepathic shiver reached Williams’s mind, as the cell compartment opened and a large creature slid into the room.
A huge tentacle slowly reached the chrysalis, piercing the mucus membrane, allowing a hand to become free, then slowly breaking the exterior of the pod, enabling William to push his way out of the chrysalis.
There had been a time when the creature lived in memory, a psychic torment that allowed it to feed off its prey, it knew the power and the terror of the mind held in judgement.
The creature suddenly gave a violent scream, retreating to the edge of the chamber, its death sentence had finally been revealed, justice by the tormented thoughts of a mad man.
Chris was raised in Sydney Australia, devoting his spare time to writing and illustration.