An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Hot Chocolate for the Unicorn and Other Flights of Fancy, December 2024
SPOILER WARNING: Denise is not the killer.
When a series of people are brutally murdered and gnawed on, inconveniently one full moon after Denise is first bitten by that wolf, it will LOOK like she’s the killer. And it will be heartbreaking, because she’s just so awkward, nerdy, and sweet. But don’t give up. Keep watching. It’s not her. Continue reading “Spoiler Warning”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Theme of Absence, September 2021
Blake had heard octopuses were smart, but it was hard to believe, looking at the blurring mass of muscle. He scooped the hand net into the cold water of the storage cell, like a plastic tub set into the deck of his small fishing boat. Tentacles writhed in a squirming reddish brown mass below. He couldn’t even make out a single individual creature in there. Just limbs. Squishy, slippery limbs. Continue reading “Eight Ways”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Kaleidotrope, October 2022
@UnicornGirl231: O MUH GOD i jus saw a zombie eating sumone’s arm and the ARM FELL OFF #zombiesarereal #zombiesarehere #evenincrestcity
@KarenCane: You’re in Crest City? How do you know it was a zombie?
@LiteralGhost1: Is the zombie virus airborn? Will a mask protect me? Do I need to hold my breath around zombies? Maybe I’ll just stay inside… Continue reading “Safe Here in Crest City”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally serialized in Daily Science Fiction, November/December 2022
Part 1: Comfort Animal
The wide timber frame arch rose high above Dr. Miriam Loxley’s head, presaging the size of the animals kept in the enclosure. All the movies, books, and games came rushing back to her — she’d grown up with the Jurassic Park franchise. She knew all of the paleontologists and geneticists involved in The Prehistory Zoo had too. Somehow, they’d taken those stories as a siren’s call, instead of heeding them as a warning. Continue reading “The Prehistory Zoo”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Electric Spec, Vol. 13, Issue 2, May 2018
Hanna steered the spaceship with one arm, punching buttons, turning knobs, and flipping switches. Her other arm was wrapped tightly around her young son. His face was buried against her shoulder. He wasn’t crying any more. His breathing had stilled. He was sleeping, but he still clung to her with his arms and legs that seemed so long and gangly compared to when he was a baby. Continue reading “The Blood Portal”
by Mary E. Lowd
Not every gryphon
Has an epic story to tell
Because not every gryphon
Lives an epic life Continue reading “Some Gryphons”
by Mary E. Lowd
What if
I’m the Klein bottle
And I’m the ocean Continue reading “Message in a Klein Bottle”
by Mary E. Lowd
I look for you
And keep in mind what you’re up to
Remembering to tell you
What I’m up to, too Continue reading “Relationship”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Hot Chocolate for the Unicorn and Other Flights of Fancy
The Unicorn stretches his snowy neck, leaning his nose down to taste the dark liquid in the mug before him. He’s been blowing on his hot chocolate, quietly nickering, to cool it, but it must be too hot still. He lowers his translucent horn to the surface of the drink. Cold suffuses. With the lightest touch, the chocolate is cool enough to drink.
“Will you tell me a story?” the Unicorn asks. Continue reading “Blaze the Fire Monster”
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Hot Chocolate for the Unicorn and Other Flights of Fancy, December 2024
Seven riders on six horsebacks and one mechanical contraption, each of the seven blessed with wings, flew toward the sea.
The horses’ wings were made of tawny feathers, golden when the sun hit them right, downy and angelic. The mechanical contraption’s wings were less wings and more of a spinning rotor in a tarnished shade of silver, held above the rider by a jointed, metal arm, heavy with bolts. It didn’t look air-worthy, but it was. Continue reading “Seven Riders and Six Horses”