They kept him away from the other prisoners. Nobody wanted to be around him once they found out. Which was a little unfair in his opinion. Some of the prisoners that avoided him had done some terrible,

The two politicians stared in horror at the contract in the witch's hand. It stated that whichever one of them won the election would lose one body part for every campaign promise broken, no exceptions.

The fuel was not good. It polluted the environment and the people who sought to control it were often the least capable of handling power responsibly. But bad fuel was better than no fuel in a world with

The ocean is salt water. It covers most of the planet and she had never been tempted to drink a single drop. But somehow this glistening hunk lifting weights at the gym had addled her brain enough to start

Citizenship of Marslandia was by invitation only and cost $100M. Residents had to be sponsored by a citizen and implanted with a thumb-sized metal chip that transmitted location and biometrics to the state

He stood on the pier, two duffel bags of cash in his hands, looking at the water. His boat, “The Salty Sausage” was nowhere to be seen and though the police weren't sure where to look, they were getting

The planet's formal greeting appeared incredibly intimate to him. It was the type of touch almost exclusively shared by lovers on his home planet. The closest example he could refer them to was a kiss.

The cup said, “Clearance”. It was written in a barely legible scribble but you could definitely identify all 9 letters. But having been Lawrence, Lorenzo, Clark and even LARYNX, Clarence saw this version

Jack Sprat looked longingly across the table. His wife had done it again. His plate held a stalk of celery, some brown rice and a lump of hummus. Hers was piled high with burgers, fries, the greasiest

To Gerard, Mathematics was a language with no room for frivolous interpretation based on feelings or planetary alignment or anything of that nature. Sure, the same thing could be said many ways but the

In a tiny shower, an ordinary man poured his soul into ballads from decades ago. His perfect pitch, control and intensity were breathtaking. But all too soon it was over. And he was ready to dress for

The problem with the world, according to Charlene, was that there weren't nearly enough optimists. Sure, bad and good existed everywhere but with the right outlook, even the darkest of clouds could be

His existence was the deep dark secret that his grandmother already knew. He could tell by her disinterest when he explained how his peasant mother came to bear the rightful heir to the throne. And when

People sometimes wondered, how did a rookie reporter manage to get all those pictures of the city's fearless superhero? But money was tight. Folks should learn to appreciate that he hadn't resorted to

On the napkin written in eyeliner were three numbers, a dash and then four more numbers followed by the words “Text me!” Allen looked up at the flirtatious bartender in mild confusion then asked, “Text?

The manatee was waving at him. The older fishermen said this day would come. He knew they were serious but he had hoped he could last at least a few more years. Sadly, it wouldn't be long before the manatees

“I know you're in there! Come out and face me like a man!” No, thank you! Jason thought as he ran semi clothed, through the connecting door from one bedroom to the next. If being a 'real man' meant meeting

To live. Is that not what we all want? Branches stretching up to the heavens, consuming the light from the closest star, the tree wanted to live as she had lived for hundreds of years already. But this

The pictures were all lies. They had never visited the Eiffel Tower or held hands on a gondola smiling into each other's eyes or gone camping together. ‘Cause she was a chatbot. A technological miracle,

“Okay guys, we need to show up classy, maybe a little sexy for this gig. Oh. And, uh, Jesse…just wear whatever makes you feel comfortable…?” He trailed off apologetically. And she nodded with a blank