Strange Brew
One night in a rural area of South Carolina, a scaly, red-eyed creature paused from chewing through a chrome bumper at the sound of leathery wings approaching. "Hey, Gringo!," said the fierce-looking creature as it descended to Earth. "Why are you...
The Way the World Ends...
**Walking along a deserted street near dusk one evening, I became aware of the sound of footsteps some distance behind me. Although I knew it was foolish, I slightly increased my pace. To my discomfort, the unknown walker behind me did the same. I...
Cruelest Cut
Sylvia was extremely unhappy with the work of the stylist at the hair salon; her hair had been trimmed up her neck far higher than she had desired, a fact she hadn't been aware of prior to inspecting the cut in a mirror at home. Bending to stroke...
Mirror, Mirror...
The mirror was an antique of indeterminate age, one which had been in his family for generations. The ornately carved oaken frame surrounded glass darkened and distorted with age, and there was an old family tale that the mirror...
Apocalypse
**Leonard peered out of his apartment window at the gruesome scene on the street below, and pondered that the humans still living didn't deserve his help. They had, after all, mocked and scorned him all of his life, making him feel like a loathsome...
Jurassic Encounter
**Jurassic Encounter** by ff\_b The image first became apparent to me in the discoloration on the wall of my shower; it was a figure, but not one quite human. My eyes squinted as I tried to understand what I was seeing, when...
Dead, Two...
Alex considered the spirit sitting on his living room sofa watching _America's Funniest Videos_, and wondered what he had done to deserve its presence. While he appreciated that the entity had kept him from getting roughed up and probably killed on the...
The Familiar
**The Familiar** The sorcerer Hieronymous stood by an interior window, considering from the parapet the angry mob advancing on his Bavarian castle, his black cat, Bane, perched on his shoulder. It was a standard group of irrate townspeople bearing...
Regeneration
**Regeneration** Alan had read that your bodily cells regenerate themselves constantly, and that if you look down at your legs, you'll have a new pair in three months! Well, that sounded like a good deal to him since he had hoped for a more...
Frequent Flyer
**Frequent Flyer** by ff\_b Gene's business required that he fly to various locations frequently, necessitating numerous contacts with airport security and passes through countless X-ray scanners. After several years of being a frequent...
The Augment
**The lithe figure moved with athletic grace and speed almost silently through the woods, keeping comfortably ahead of his pursuers from the secret government installation called only, "the Shop." Their scent signatures were readily discernible to him,...
Spare Change
**Spare Change** Terry was awakened from a sound sleep by the sound of hooves on the floor and snorting in the next room; a moment later, the floors shook as a stampede commenced. "Oh no!," bemoaned Terry, "The buffalo are at it...