The Lonely Sea
Ian Donato
He had given twenty years of his life to the Research Center and its quest to perfect the lifeform that would inherit the Earth — but somehow, only a single year had passed in the outside world. Going back seemed like the only way forward…
*** Contains adult language ***

A Stormy Night at Wellington Depot
Rick Grehan
Bob had been stationmaster at the little New Hampshire train station ten years longer than the 20th Century was old, and his friend Everett had been postmaster for almost as long. They might not have seen everything, but it took more than a stranger with a box full of odd, changing colored lights to upset them.

Ghost in the Machine
Michele Dutcher
The nanoswarms had rendered Mars uninhabitable in a matter of days. Only the rich and the ruthless had escaped to their orbital habitats and self-sufficient ships. Nothing could be alive on the surface — but routine surveillance seemed to show that something was moving.

God of the Mud
Philip Roberts
Shane's job had disappeared, leaving him with enough money to spend years doing nothing — but nothing else, no friends, no family, no hobbies. But with so much time on his hands, Shane noticed things he hadn't seen before — like the little girl who seemed attached to the pool of mud that never dried up.

Modification Program
Adam Folgers
Jerry was a Correctional Officer in a time when the worst offenders were sentenced to life in a virtual world that was bland to the point where actual torture might have been more humane. Not that his job was any cause for celebration…

Petticoat Lane
Matt Spencer
In Petticoat Lane, the young toughs led by Tommy and Pete ruled with their fists and when necessary with their blades. The strange little man with the pushcart full of oddities seemed like an easy target — until they got a closer look.
*** Contains graphic violence ***

The Quantum Effect
E. S. Strout
Professor Darwin Royal believed that CERN's plan to use the Large Hadron Collider to create a quantum singularity — a microscopic black hole — was a threat to the very existence of the world. Nobody who had any say in the matter believed him… which meant that he needed a way out.

Who's Watching?
Kasia James
Sarah and the rest of the scientists stationed in the habitat deep in the ocean of an alien world thought the huge, tentacled creatures they called 'gluppies' were about as intelligent as the jellyfish they somewhat resembled. Sure, the 'gizmos' — self-directed mobile recording drones — kept going missing, but there were dozens of reasons why they might fail on their own.

A Hell Called Paradise
R. K. Solomon
He had been abducted by aliens (complete with painful tests and probing). But now he was in a strange, garden-like setting, and a guy who said he was God (and insisted on calling him "Adam", which was not his name) claimed he was in Paradise.

Love Bomb
Craig Cornwell
Professor Raif Random's machine — unimaginatively named 'the 4641' — could read emotion interpreting involuntary physiological reactions. Some saw it as a weapon and wanted to possess it. Others saw it as a threat, and only wanted to suppress it. Unfortunately for Raif, both sides were willing to get nasty to get their way!

Shirasawa's Promise
Jay Hill
The maple tree spirits Miyabe and Shirasawa were in love, and Miyabe wanted her to be his bride. But with war against the renegade willow spirits imminent, Shirasawa was afraid.

The Circular Nature of Time
Hollis Whitlock
Francine's clone line was nine hundred years old, dating back to the days before genetic manipulation had resulted in stronger, healthier specimens all but incapable of natural reproduction. The unmodified primitives were considered a resource, maintained as an experiment in case useful mutations might arise due to their harsh lives. But Goliath and his tribemates seemed to be far more sophisticated than expected…

The Hand
Omar Zahzah
You've all heard the one about the transplanted hand with a mind of its own. But have you heard the hand's side of the story?

The Journey to the Serpiente Sea
Hollis Whitlock
The dwarf Minero had had a very good day mining for precious stones. His pouch was filled with small rubies, and one so large that he thought the king would reward him well for it. But first, he wanted to eat, so he set out to find a good fishing spot. Alas, the new road was paved with bureaucrats and soldiers demanding taxes and tolls…

The Sodium Caper
Frederick Rustam
Rudy had the very bad habit of luring young boys into sexual relations with him. The aliens who took over his mind and body had no way of knowing that they were using someone who so richly deserved to be used as their puppet.

November 2012 Forum Flash Challenge

Congratulations to Robert Moriyama, winner of the November 2012 Forum Flash Fiction Challenge. Check out Robert's tale "Hunter's Remorse" and six more stories of monsters racked with guilt

The Chauffeurs' Creed
Joseph B. St. John

Found Reckoning
Jean Jones

Humint
Richard Tornello

Good Day in the Interstellar Tow Lane
Mike Wilson

Nixie
Robin Lipinski

Rabbit's Foot
Clinton Van Inman

Thoughts on Writing #44: I Don't Gotta Like You To Love You
Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire takes apart the engine of writing to find out how it works, and offers her insights into how to put it back together again.