Conrad Rice

Pretty Butterfly Donald stood by the side of the road watching the supply trucks go past. Their exhaust hung heavy in the cold February air, creating a miniature cloud that ...

The Rose It sat in one corner of the park. It sat untouched by the playful rampages of the children. Most plants on that playground didn’t last for very long ...

The Deconstruction of Falling Stars As the cradle gently rocks and the fire starts to grow Let ashes turn to ashes Let the wind begin to blow Time and time ...

Behold A Pale Horse “Think we’ll make it?” Larry asked. Murry shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Don’t know, man,” he replied. Larry opened up the cooler and pulled ...

The Last Time A dead kangaroo was lying about a hundred yards from the building. A truck must have hit it as it passed through. He paid it no mind ...

Dandelion Season He buried her beside the house. She was the only one who got a decent burial, for she was the only one who meant anything to him. The ...

Running. The slapping sound that dirty white sneakers make when they strike wet pavement. The cold feeling that I get when the rain hits my hands and face. The fire ...

We get so lonely anymore. Most baby shoes have some kind of wear to them. Not us. We are still as stiff as the day we were made in the ...

Rated R for foul language. He turned and kicked his computer, hard. That couldn’t do it or anything else any good, but it felt good to him. He was frustrated. ...

Daniel walked up the lighted path towards the front door. ‘It’s a beautiful night,’ he thought to himself. Then again, prom night was supposed to be beautiful, was it not? ...

Cheryl sat on the couch, the worn and ancient book open before her. Her hands trembled as she turned the pages, searching for one certain phrase. It was a thing ...

The house burned in the night. The firefighters hung back, kept at bay by the ferocity of the inferno. They didn’t want to just sit there. There was someone inside, ...

He felt another boot between his ribs. It didn’t hurt as bad as the many others before it, but it was enough to make him caw with pain. This raised ...

Sam pedaled his bike down the street, in a hurry to get a good distance from his house. The evening air rushed past him, chilling him beneath his black jacket. ...

Sam put his pants back on and stumbled to his feet. Muir had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep, for all of the world to see. Sam reached down ...

016. Prayer I sailed out on the ship with Stetson. We went up the swollen river, to the peoples of the interior, to trade for some goods that we could ...

006. Maverick Gillie sailed through the ancient structures on her little boat. It hung together by wire, rope, and faith; a derelict amidst ruins. Yet it sailed true and never ...

“So, what are we going to do?” Ted asked Brant. “Does it really matter?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, yeah,” Ted said. “I mean, when something like that shows up ...

The Masquerade: Part 1 Melanie poised herself on Adam’s arm as they walked up to the entrance of the ballroom. The soft lights and the orchestral music of the masquerade ...

“So,” Chloe said, “What are we doing after this?” “Why do you want to talk about that?” Melanie asked. “I only just got here. I want to enjoy the party ...

insanity scratched on tabletops amid the coffee rings and the cookie crumbs fallen from errant lips into the laps of pretty girls Scritch Scratch Scritch Scratch it's still getting carved ...

*I have always tried to create an overarching mythology for a lot of my stories. The Deep, a mystical sea in which the multiverse floats, is one part of that ...

The streets of the town were lonely, save for the dust that the breeze stirred up on occasion; forming into tiny vortexes that waltzed down the abandoned thoroughfares until the ...

When the light faded, Draper found himself lying on the floor of the abandoned building. Night had fallen, blending the shadows of the place together. Something cold was pulling itself ...

It was an ordinary burlap sack. A little on the small side perhaps, but ordinary just the same. I almost didn’t look into it. At first I thought it was ...

At last comes the comedian Lover’s pal and cynic’s friend to laugh aloud at all the world through pain it’s blindly hurled What’s so funny, laughing man? ‘I still laugh ...

The rain poured down from the blackest of night skies. A thin man, with only an umbrella for protection, rushed through the deluge; splashing puddles as he hurried. The dark ...

The tombstones stood in the grey mist like shades upon an otherworldly field. He paid no mind to them; all his thought was bent towards the patch of ground before ...

The tall florescent signs cling to the buildings, illuminating their heights. He walks among the bases of them, as he always has, shuffling his feet as he goes his way. ...

The pale lighthouse hunched on the cliffs. Beneath it, Elenna’s arms were crossed over Muryk’s waist, where his human features became a black-scaled fish’s tail. Their eyes looked at each ...

The bishop doesn’t look quite right. It’s curved, like what matter is supposed to do as it reaches the event horizon of a black hole. But there are no interstellar ...

The hill was very high. Johnny pushed down on the pedals as hard as he could, striving to get to the top. The anniversary was today. He had made a ...

The Annabel glared at the fleet before it. The ships of the Anzari Empire were arrayed at the edge of the asteroid field, weapons primed, shields charged, exteriors glinting in ...

Hell is noise. It is a cacaphony of vicious sounds, the screams of the damned, the roar of demons, the thrashing of torture. And it is the quiet spaces in ...

I remember that, when I was small, I found a baby robin beneath a tree. It had fallen from its nest, though where that nest was we could not see. ...

The twisted shapes of the wooden animals looked different beneath the moonlight. Hallie could almost sense a mystical aura about the whole affair, sneaking into the old park just to ...

Mulholland wandered down the long dark hallway. It was silent and very cold, its air chilling his lungs as he breathed. He did not want to be here on this ...

I am running in the shadow of a dream. A very long dream. A dream that spans countless corridors of this spaceship from nowhere, every nook and cranny filled with ...

Tessa shook as Gina held the gun. Her hands had a death grip on the sheets of the bed, and she said silent prayers for safety. All of this was ...

They were coming up slowly, one by one, some shambling, some shuffling, but all moving slow. The only person moving quickly was John. His hands flew as he scanned their ...

Five bootsteps is five more to the goalFive footfalls more makes the distance closerBut what is five anymore?Only a number to measure the progress;a way to tell me I'm moving ...

And where shall death find thee, oh high plains drifter, when at last a bullet finds itself in your back?Killed by a coward- not a man fit to fight,he'll put ...

The wind blew softly through the garden, its confines lit in the golden light of evening. A flower or two was disturbed by its passing. They were dislodged and blew ...

*This short piece was inspired by the painting "The Dead Poet Borne By A Centaur" by Gustave Moreau* It was a sad sunny day. For a day as sad as ...

The Antigone hung in the atmosphere of the gas giant. Its long boxy form loomed between the purple clouds of nitrogen gas, providing an imposing sight to the crew of ...

The alien paused, and his face turned in an expression of disgust. He began to wipe his boots off on the floor, in an attempt to clean them of the ...

The painting behind this was "The Mermaid" by John William Waterhouse She combed her hair with a wistful glance as the waves came in around where she lay. She looked ...

The train had not yet arrived at the station. The thin fog of the morning was only just beginning to fade. Juliana hoped that it would not leave before she ...

What is a phone call?What is a letter?What is an email?What are these things?They are what separate little,but to you,so much.Too much.

Cheerney sat at the wheel, fingers drumming out the rhythm to Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung” as he drove down the road. It was an essential part of his listening canon. He ...

Are we all not yet the horrid oneswith fits of neurosis and melodrama?Stumbling about with our heads full of ideasof our own self worth and individuality,we fail to see the ...

Once there was a journeyman who wandered the roads near Halifax, doing the odd work of the wives whose husbands were at sea. He was a lean sort, yet had ...

She found herself on a far western shore,with the ocean before her;like a giant that pretends to slumber,until it wishes to ravish the town.There was no Jack in sight,she would ...

The sounds of gunfire and laser weaponry dominated the waterfront. The soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division were doing their best to hold the city of New Orpheus against the ...

Rob and Nathan stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the old hotel. It seemed somewhat reminiscent of a decaying body, with the skeletal framework showing through in the places ...

tonight we cannot stop the partyocean promenade beneath the wavesit's a dolphin marriageand it's a lively affair, my friendsthey chirp and laugh so loudlyyour ears are ringing but it's okaywatch ...

Smitty found himself in an odd place, or at least it was odd considering where he had been moments before. He was standing in an office, whereas he had been ...

They met on the bridge, as they always had, the man in white and the man in blue. They had done this almost since the beginning, when the stars themselves ...