I pull the lever as the whistle blows, and the press comes down. Low gravity makes the seal on the components produced on the moon superior, so my quotas have increased again. I heft the pieces into their crate roughly, but the shift is over, and it’s been a long day after a crazy week ...

A crowd of hopeful Arizona State University students gathered around the bulletin board outside Dr. Isis Nassar’s lecture hall. She posted the semester’s final scores. There was a cluster of students who anxiously waited to scan for their grades. Hopefuls who wanted their scores to be high enough to get selected for the internship slots. ...

Sometimes in the car, or in the moments before falling asleep, a recollection of him appeared. Maybe it was because I saw someone in his liking. A tall, thin stranger with his head down and hands in his pockets. Or, the radio played Green Day’s “When I Come Around.” So much time had passed. The ...

My mother had a faulty sixth sense that flickered like a dying light bulb. She called them “bad feelings.” Often, her premonitions came too late. If we got lost driving, she’d say she had a bad feeling about the road I had taken. If I didn’t get a part in the school play, pass my ...

We called them The Untouchables and had code names for each one. There was Herman, The Mountain, and Jeeves. Those were the names of our crushes, and our freshman intro classes were large enough that at least one of us had classes with them. The Mountain was my crush. He was tall, seemingly unapproachable, and ...

I turned the key to my front door as the familiar click echoed in the quiet morning. With only the occasional hoot from the nocturnal predator, the atmosphere was eerie. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed movement beside the big sign announcing the neighborhood watch. However, the closest thing to security in ...

The city of Tucson took on a surreal atmosphere in the wee hours of the morning. I loved this side of Tucson because it was like being transported to another world when I got off work at 2:30 AM. I hated the 5 PM rush hour traffic drive to work. But the streets took on ...

The sound of urgent footsteps and panicked voices jolted Roxanne awake. Surrounded by empty seats, she sat alone in a bus that could accommodate seventeen people. Outside, the other occupants were busy packing up their belongings as they dismantled the beachside campsite. What’s going on? She lazily stretched her body and tried to shake off ...

Years had collected into decades before Zach and Gina returned to their parents’ unfinished basement. The constant smell of mildew had kept them away during countless visits home. Once a refuge for friends, it now served as a time capsule. A chocolate-colored shag rug segmented the area as a rec room. Two ancient, faded plaid ...

Leaves of scarlet and gold covered the street and sidewalk. The neon signage of the Italian restaurant, Pomodoro, shined blurry on the asphalt. The eatery consumed most of the block. It shed its warm interior into the wet outdoors. A large chalkboard menu visible to onlookers boasted happy hour specials in block letters. Amidst the ...