It’s the size of the thing that wrenches George Hall’s stomach at first. The animal’s bulk is something out of a dream, bigger than the city bus George takes to work back home. But he’s not at home, he’s on Ma Hall’s private beach. It’s after midnight, cold wind blowing wisps across the half-moon and whipping George’s loose button-up. George, forty-three, looks back and forth along the white line where the black waves lick, a line unbroken but for the grey mass half in and half out of the surf. The sand glows with infused moonlight. Two glinting dots reflect in the giant’s sunken eyes. Its wheezing fills the night with sighs deeper than the lowest note of a tuba’s register.
Read MoreThe Stone
Bob Patrikson, Ruler of Earth, hasn’t let go of the dry, dirty, football-sized Stone for six months. The leading network has been touting Bob as the holiest man alive: no one’s kept the Stone this long since 2162. But it also reports that Gerald Rogginway and Harry Swile have formed a truce and are closing in on Saint Bob’s position.
Read MoreThe Burglary
I lay low in my van when Mr. and Mrs. Flaherty drive away. I’ve been parked across from their house since 5:30 pm, and now it’s 8:27. Their Buick’s ruby eyes turn onto the main road and I wait five more minutes before twisting my key. The van falls as quiet as the rest of the neighborhood. The elderly couple’s house, garage, and pine tree are all shadows despite several streetlamps. Slipping into the humid August night I walk so nonchalantly—hiding a crowbar in the left sleeve of my hoodie—that anyone would assume I belong. But I still avoid the streetlamps.
Read MoreThe Balancing Act
The Border Guard took note because she wanted to cross the bridge on foot. Officer Stephens, through his bulletproof window, questioned the woman. A few final snowflakes drifted. The other guards stationed at F.D.R. Memorial Bridge—and most sane folks in Lubec, Maine—were sleeping off Y2K parties. The woman wore a parka and wrap-around sunglasses. Her skin was bronze, hair medium-length. But there was something about her that Officer Stephens couldn’t quite place.
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