Category Archives: Fiction

Fiction

SOLITUDE RIPPLES FROM THE PAST by David Reagan

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It’s that time of month again, when we at Futurismic unleash another fine piece of fresh short science fiction on an unsuspecting internet.

This time it’s the turn of Futurismic repeat offender David Reagan, who delivers a story about where the ultimate results of China’s one-child policy might lead her people – “Solitude Ripples From the Past”.

Don’t forget to leave David some feedback in the comments, and then go and check out his saucy Futurismic début, “Only The Neck Down“. But first …

Solitude Ripples From The Past

by David Reagan

1984

Qui Nuoshui finished her breakfast with grim determination, though she suspected her stomach would soon rebel. Her husband read the paper and paid her no heed, so he asked no uncomfortable questions about diminished appetite.

As he did every morning, Qui Changbo looked from the newspaper to his watch and grunted in mock surprise. “Oh, dear, I must hurry or I will miss my train,” he said. He folded the paper and tucked it under his arm, picked up his briefcase and hustled for the door. He made a slight detour to peck Nuoshui on the forehead and then was gone.

Nuoshui knew his bustling nature was hollow — her husband took a later train than he claimed. Every morning, he walked down a narrow alley, knocked on an anonymous door, and spent an hour playing The Game of the White Dove. She resented his unneeded lie most mornings — his gambling was of no concern as long as he continued to provide — but today she relaxed at seeing him leave.

Already her stomach gurgled, and she knew that even this morning’s small meal would soon reappear.
She hurried to the bathroom and made it just in time.

Even after vomiting, her eyes streaming and stomach muscles strained, Nuoshui smiled. Soon she would be a mother. Continue reading SOLITUDE RIPPLES FROM THE PAST by David Reagan →

Fiction

MALLORY by Leonard Richardson

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A new month means a new story here at Futurismic … and this one has got everything.

Seriously – geek hackers and classic arcade games, electronic Darwinism and domestic espionage, venture capital and Valley-esque start-ups … and a healthy dose of intellectual property panic. Leonard Richardson‘s Futurismic début is quite a piece of work!

I should also point out for the benefit of the easily-offended that there’s a generous sprinkling of profanity in “Mallory”, right from the outset. Still keen? Good – you won’t regret it! Click on through and read the whole thing … and please leave comments for Leonard to let him know what you thought of the story.

Mallory

by Leonard Richardson

Vijay had been playing video games his whole life, but he’d never really become addicted to one until the first incarnation of Fuck Me. Adding an element of real-time strategy to the already-frenetic Gestalt Warrior combined construction, emergent behavior, and blob-themed violence in a way that both Vijay and the Selfish GAME found satisfying.

Continue reading MALLORY by Leonard Richardson →

Fiction

UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel

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As promised, original fiction returns to Futurismic – and how! We’re incredibly proud to be publishing Eliot Fintushel‘s story, and we hope you enjoy it too. So please use the comment form at the end to tell us (and Eliot!) what you thought of “Uxo, Bomb Dog”.

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Uxo, Bomb Dog

by Eliot Fintushel

My bomb dog Uxo, my sweetie, my pal, he sweated and huffed, tongue unscrolled, forelegs folded. His fur was matted and dripping.

I held Mumps back with both my arms around her shoulders. The kid had lobbed stones at old Ux and tied soup cans to his tail, but now she’d jump mines to pet him.

“Stay put, little one. Uxo’s pacing himself, is all.”

“You can beat that pile of tin, Uxy.” Mumps’s chin was tear wet. Her voice choked and tumbled over the words. “Damn Volkovoy! Damn him! Cheater!”

We stood on a hill overlooking the meadow. A bunch of other kids ambled behind us, rags and bones, scruffy faces, some little ones on the shoulders of the bigger. Bit by bit, as Uxo and the damn machine cleared the meadow, we’d advance to the new safe zone for a better look. Continue reading UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel →

Fiction

THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton

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April’s story, “The Towers of St. Michael’s” from Futurismic alumnus David Walton is a pensive piece about the sensory world and the barriers between two people separated by sight. Check out David’s earlier “Diamond Dust” afterwards, if you haven’t already read it.

The Towers Of St. Michael’s

by David Walton

Paul watched Bartalan Varga slash egg-yellow paint across his canvas, adding a sparkle of reflected sunlight to a traffic scene from his native Budapest. On Paul’s fMRI screen, Bartalan’s visual cortex lit up, just as if he were seeing the colorful buildings and buses and pedestrians in his painting. But even a cursory glance at the stunted buds where his eyes should have been contradicted this. Bartalan Varga was totally blind. Continue reading THE TOWERS OF ST. MICHAEL’S by David Walton →

Fiction

A LIFE IN PICTURES by Mark Ward

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We’ve got a new story from Futurismic alumnus Mark Ward – his “Cycle Thieves” was published here around this time last year.

“A Life In Pictures” manages to be absurd and touching at the same time, a buddy movie of an entirely different story.

A Life In Pictures

by Mark Ward

“Let me see if I understand,” said JJ, knuckles white as he made fists to stop his hands shaking. He looked between Frankie Hornbluth sat behind the desk and Pip reclining on the arm of the other chair in the agent’s office. “You want to cast Pip here, a squirrel, as the leading man in my movie.”

“I do,” said Hornbluth. “It’s finishing what Tim Burton started with Charlie and the whatever.”

Hornbluth turned to the squirrel. “Pip, honey. It’s the perfect role for you.” He clenched his fists. “Gritty. Urban.” He cupped his hands over his heart, then wiped away an imaginary tear. “Tender. Warm. A breakout role. You’re made for it. And it gives JJ here something to do.” Continue reading A LIFE IN PICTURES by Mark Ward →