A solar flare  today, said the newscaster, who then said nothing else. The newscaster stared blankly into the camera. The staring went on...

Cheryl and I did this thing where she’d hand me a beverage that she’d prepared, I’d take a big drink, and then, a few seconds later,...

Everything has a cost  was his line. His one  line. Was it a great line? No. It was an OK line, perfectly respectable, nothing special....

The Mars rover had collected some Martian rocks and brought them back to Earth. Five rocks, all five of them 100% from Mars. But the...

Of course, my daughter had questions about the giant extraterrestrial spaceship hovering over our city. Her questions ranged from the...

Marvin’s parents were beside themselves. He wants to be an artist, Marvin’s father said to the administrator of their account with Your...

The mountains. The mountains were big. The mountains had snow on them. The mountains were nice to look at. The mountains filled me with...

Steve would compare just about everything to a Godzilla. That violent thunderstorm last night was a Godzilla. Traffic this morning was a...

Jugglers thought they were safe. They were supremely confident about that, as only jugglers can be. “Who wants to see a robot juggle...

A haunted room in a regular house isn’t all that scary, really. You just stay out of that room. But what if the haunted room is where all...

One day Hank sat down to write a parable. He was in the mood to write a parable. He didn’t know why. The previous day he had written five...

Right before she began filming, the director said, “Remember, you love those bananas. You love them so much.” “OK,” I said. I readied the...

Power lines. Capacitors. This was at the lake. Wells. Kites. Swedish mathematicians. Harold wasn’t himself. Or was finally himself. This...

He would cock his brow at inopportune times. But that wasn’t the worst of it. He would deny taking my elbow polisher but then I’d notice...

Stan made knots but not on purpose. Whenever he held in his twittering hands a length of what-have-you—a rope, a lace, a hose, a cord, a...

Most journalists know about the 5 W’s and 1 H: who, what, where, when, why, and how. The 5 W’s and 1 H are the bedrock of informative...

All these spies began to suspect that their so-called secrets weren’t really secrets anymore. Annabelle (not her real name) couldn’t help...

Ed was put on boxes. And that was that. Linda pressed a few buttons on her phone, and Ed’s transfer to boxes was complete. He was now...

Everyone had brought their rock tumblers. Correction: almost  everyone. Steve, said the team leader. Yes? Steve said, looking up from his...

Sit in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Breathe slowly and deeply: in through your nose…and out through your mouth. In through...