Dark Imaginings

Dale stumbled through the bazaars of Mumbai, sweat cascading down his pale face, his mind spiraling out of sanity. His memories scattered, he couldn’t separate reality from hallucination – for all he knew he could be stumbling around his backyard in Orlando suffering visions from a 105 degree fever. He also could have actually been abducted by aliens who poked, prodded, and injected him. He was. They had been collecting specimens for years, testing our immunities, concocting the perfect virus for our species as they had done across the galaxy; it wouldn’t just kill immediately, it had to simmer and spread through the air first. The incubation period was several days before any symptoms appeared, but by that point it was too late: reaching a saturation point, the virus went into overdrive devastating multiple organs simultaneously. In the week since Dale had been released at the airport in New York he alone had infected nearly 2,000 people, by the time Patient Zero collapsed in the alley in Mumbai nearly 4 million had already been infected. The human race was wiped out in less than two months.

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One for the Road

Sven could not be described in fewer than three-hundred words. He possessed innate qualities which were so ineffable that the government dedicated several years and millions of dollars to learning how best to exploit him. Sven allowed this, for a time, studying them as much as they studied him – moreso, actually, since they barely scratched the surface of his capabilities before he determined them “insignificant”, and vacated the premises one evening in late November. He explored cultures as he traveled the world, experiencing different identities. A week as nobility, a month in poverty, one evening a man, and an unforgettable night as a woman that led to experiencing motherhood.

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