The Magazine of Science Fiction Drabbles
“No two are the same,” said the girl, one of three children playing in the backyard as the first snowflakes of the young winter floated down from a sky filled with gauzy gray clouds. Giggling, she and her two friends extended their tongues to catch the December snowflakes. Inside the house, cocoa and oatmeal cookies …
Continue reading Catching Snowflakes by Gregory L. Norris
Assured of a flat, unobstructed landing surface, an alien species agreed to set their spacecraft down on the 50-yard line of a football stadium for first contact with Earthlings. One-hundred-thousand spectators were present. The extraterrestrials were late. “You gave them GPS coordinates?” an organizer asked an aide. “Incompatible with their navigation system. I described nearby …
Another day hustling for work in the Squid capital; another fistful of gaudy local currency; another day closer to Earth, and revenge on her ex-partner; another night in her Alientown shanty, among miserable fellow-humans and a menagerie of extraplanetary riffraff. The knock came, as always. She answered the door without hesitation. Thrusting most of the …
"Failed," said the ship. Its transmission burst into jagged waves, a white noise elegy. But the station didn't understand. "Greetings, Generation-32! Welcome to Centauri Colony!" It beamed yottabytes of data, everything from advertisements to statistics suggesting a critical population shortage. "Please share these exciting details with your passengers, and--" The chirping auto-welcome fizzled. A tired …
What’s your favorite science fiction book? Among the oldies, I’d say Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series and Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. I read these when I was young and they left a major impression on me. Contemporary sci-fi novels I’ve enjoyed include Ann Leckie’sAncillary Justice, Becky Chambers’s Wayfarer series, Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, Charlie Stross’s Neptune’s Brood. I also like most work put out by John Scalzi and Nnedi Okorafor. Do you think science fiction lends itself well to …
At first, we rejoiced at the newcomers’ arrival. We had always been alone, interwoven, a gentle silent web within the sea. Beneath us, the laminae of our ancestors, never truly gone or forgotten. The sea, pulsating with our thoughts, past and present as one. But the newcomers sought something; what, we did not know. Their …
Lens call from my clone. Two blinks to answer. “Finally,” I said. “I’ve been busy.” “Pauly called, you haven’t shown up for days. What gives? You know I didn’t register you and he’s cuttin’ us slack lettin’ you work nightshift.” Cheekbone tap to trace: overseas. “Exactly where you callin’ from?” “About that. I met a …
