Short Science Fiction & Fantasy

As you whirl around the room amidst glittering reflections, you whisper when he is close enough, “Do you know, Mr. Citizen Scientist…there is another room with mirrors…the King’s secret place…only his closest friends know where it is.” His whole delegation is fascinated by the mirrors and other fruits of modern French technology, and they have…

Your mind is full of plans for the Dark Planet con on Saturday and you fumble the key in the lock. Finally you get the door open, tossing your Chillin’ Chikkins cap on the hook and heading to the bedroom to put the jacket away. You haven’t tidied up yet from last night’s game session,…

Crowds are noisy things, but this mighty throng is silent. Waking, you would know its size without thought, but here you cannot count the people. And for some reason, this scares you, in your dream, as little would in real life. This uncountable crowd, on the bank of the river, is waiting for you, waiting…

Ditchingham, 1646 You hear them up ahead. They are quieter than the wind in the grass, their dark clothes and hooded faces invisible in the gathering shadows, but their hungry anticipation shouts out their presence. You would love to stop and play with them, but you have an appointment. …read more on Medium.

Ditchingham, 1626 You wake early, a sharp prickling under your skin — something in the world is not right, some hazard intrudes. You check your wards, but none are triggered. The demons you track are nowhere near, not even on this plane. Your brother and sister are puttering about, their routines unchanged from the last…

There’s a boy searching the piles of rubbish by the road dejectedly; he’s been up the road and down, without success, and is about to despair. “What are you searching for?” you ask him, although you already know. He turns, disconsolate, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks up at you. “I’ve lost…

Albion, ca. 1,150 BC You are on a wide moor, featureless apart from low vegetation. It is silvery grey in the moonlight, but there is no moon in the sky, only stars, strange stars, curious constellations that you do not recognize. A horse is ambling towards you over the heath, old and sad and tired,…

Genova, 1415 “There is a place,” you tell the little girl, “Where the world ends, not a sudden cliff or a hole, you understand, just an end, everything fading away until there is no color, no sound, nothing. “And lost things collect there. If you have ever lost a sandal, it went there. If you…

Not a story, but a plea to my fellow authors! 99% of the horror stories I’ve read on Medium start anodyne and end with the death of the protagonist, as though that’s some kind of plot twist. Most of the science fiction, too Why? Is death the single worst thing we can possibly imagine in…

I have several stories teed waiting up for review by various Medium publications, so here’s a quickie while I’m waiting on those: The Drowned Lands “Gram,” you say, as you sink into the hot water, “I had a dream.” Gram is in bed, as usual, but you hear a sleepy response. “I was at the…

“The villagers think I am going to kill you,” you tell him. He looks at you again, and you can feel his disbelief. “And how will you do that?” he demands. “Oh, I doubt they have thought that through. They probably expect me to give you a poisoned apple, or maybe call down a thunderbolt,…

There is a girl sniveling by the side of the road, huddled against the wall. You prod her sharply with your toe. Without looking up, she sticks out a dirty hand and rattles off her liturgy in a tired chant, “Food, please, food, I have not eaten in days, please, if I do not eat…

You rise from the bed and go to the balcony. Out on the point, the castle is free of the flies and stink that bedevil the town. The sun is just beginning to rise, lighting up the clouds before you in a red filigree. You lean out as far as you can, stretching your arms…

“They tell me you want to live forever.” The old man blinks at your directness. He was expecting the customary social pleasantries, a leisurely discussion of the weather and recent events, at least three cups of tea, before either of you addressed the reason for your visit. You are well-versed in those things, though, further…

The prisoner is slumped against the post, battered and bruised, his eyes swollen. It takes him a few minutes to see you in the dim light, and then to recognize you. “Witch!” he roars, “You said you would be by my side in my hour of need!” “I am here, my lord, am I not?”…

A little girl is watching you. “Hello, what’s your name?” you ask her, but she just stares at you mutely. “That’s a nice shadow you have,” you tell her. She looks at it with little interest, but you pick it up in your hands, pulling it this way and that, turning it into a rabbit,…

The bell without a handle chimes, a very tentative tinkling that nevertheless cuts through all the doors and floors and walls of the villa. It rings again, clear and certain, and you realize today will not be the day of lazy nothing you had planned: your demon trap has snared a victim. Two, perhaps, if…

So, let’s talk about Cinderella. Every child wonders how anyone could possibly wear glass slippers without risking serious injury from the ensuing broken glass. But since before Roman times, people have been telling the story of a downtrodden girl whose distinctive slipper matches another and brings her a royal marriage. Over time and distance, the…