Will the Christmas spirit come with us as we travel to the stars. — He looked out from the habitat and saw the pink colored sand dusting the outcroppings outside the pressure dome’s panoramic window. It reminded him of the snow blowing in the canyons around his home in Utah. But here on Mars it was so much more desolate. The climate-controlled habitat sat…

What would happen if Trump died? A speculative fiction satire. The king is dead, long live the king. He lay in repose in an orange taffeta lined casket, draped in multiple American flags. Garish? Yes. Unexpected, no. The bloom on his cheek, drawn on as in life. …

What is witchcraft, really? — “She shines by day and into the night. Daughter to a mother both chaste and bright. A moon and star upon her cheek. Make this scrying stone find its site.” The 12 women stood in a closed circle holding hands. A large obsidian stone floated in the air over a…

Some connections are not meant to be. — The package was larger than she had expected. Its torn brown wrapper looked old and scruffy. With a quick look over her shoulder she checked to see if her husband, Logan had noticed the mail truck. She shouldn’t feel so secretive about this package but the thought of someone else…

When all the words are gone — Nightmares we live. She looked at his old face as he lay in the bed, their bed. Her hands went over to tuck the covers around his shoulders so he wouldn’t get cold. This bedroom had known them for fifty years. She was going to paint the room before the…

A funny day in the Army. — Memories. It didn’t seem that funny at the time, but now that I’m older and don’t give a damn, it’s freakin’ hysterical. And anyway, most of the participants are dead. I was in the Army when they called the women’s army the WACs. It was a bygone time when they…

Sometime the answer is complicated. — The scene was a chaotic mess with medical personnel, a search and rescue team and three officers searching the area. The lead detective, John Maxwell found Mrs. Brook Daniels still holding her cell and staring blankly into space. …

Lost and found. He appeared on my doorstep in early October. A mangy, sick Shepard mix without a collar or, apparently, a home. It was not a good time for me. …

of the Book of the Dead — It was sweltering in the small tomb. Every inch of her skin was coated with sand and sweat. She still felt herself lucky to have obtained a spot on Dr. Becker’s team. He had assigned her to a small tomb on the outskirts of his larger dig. It was the…