Category Archives: Short Fiction

“Phlejimalitonitis. Had it since I’s born.” “Spell that.” “No.”

Sounds like quark, the particle no one can see, or quick, which also defines a particle no one can see. Sounds like a punctuation mark, an accent. Sounds like a cipher. Sounds like a computer problem—“users, we’re experiencing a quirk at the moment, but service will be back shortly.”

Why do the most rationalistic people in the world periodically go wild in the streets? An American expat decides to explore the Cartesian heart of darkness, with unexpected results.

America’s top-rated show, American Orphan — “the show where you decide who gets parents, a home and a future” — has wrapped its first season, with outcomes that no one expected.

Tourists in Rome will learn that dudes in period costume may be free-lancing but their lancing isn’t free.