Call for submission: Strikes We’re launching our next open prompt for submissions to Red Futures! You can see our last sets of short stories which respond to the previous prompts here. For our next prompt, we are issuing an open call for submissions on the theme of "Strikes." We want to think about
Prompt 5 Cuisine Meals in Space by Jamie Woodcock. A small tray moved past. It has a series of indented sections and ridges. Small pre-packaged items are slotted into the respective parts. Each can only fit in its correct place. It is a simple puzzle, repeated with each tray that comes along. As the contents were
Prompt 4 Relationships Save yourself for Zon By Chris Pang. “It’s not you,” she said, stirring the slowly decaying paper straw in her iced mocha with extra chocolate. “It’s just…” “Just what?” In the corner of my vision I fought against the wave of notifications threatening to turn my gaze away. If this was a
Expanse Special Issue The Expanse special issue The Expanse was published as a series of nine books written by James S. A. Corey, a joint pen name of Daniel Abrahams and Ty Frank. It is set in a science fiction future in which humanity has colonised much of the solar system, with the development of distinct cultures
End in Fire End in Fire, Book I Zenith, Chapter 3 By Matthew James Seidel. BOOK I: Zenith Previous Section: Chapter 2, Next section: (coming soon), Contents page. Chapter 3 It was known officially as the Mardo Academy Seconder Support Program. Eleven-year-old Doug Doobin called it mandatory volunteer work. “It’s bad enough making us do stuff on the weekend. But
Prompt 5 Cuisine Call for submission: Cuisine We’re launching our next open prompt for submissions to Red Futures! You can see our last sets of short stories which respond to the prompts New Planet, Utopia, Automation, and Relationships. For our next prompt, we are issuing an open call for submissions on the theme of "Cuisine." We
Prompt 4 Relationships The Third L by Thomas Strange. I was once sat in a restaurant when my date looked up from her curried goat and said to me “I don’t believe in love. It’s a concept created by the bourgeoisie to trick people into monogamy.” This was an interesting shift in conversation. She
Prompt 4 Relationships Sooner Than Tomorrow by Melike Özbay. Marja watches her reflection through the window. It's 6 p.m. She is standing in the space formerly reserved for drivers in this new generation ofautomated unmanned trams. It is impossible for her to even fall because of the slack. In these trams, which flow about 15
Prompt 4 Relationships Voting at Lightspeed by Jamie Woodcock. Go down to the docks, through the door to the left of the logistics office, along two corridors, right at the admin office, up a flight of stairs, through the back of the canteen kitchen, down two floors, then at the end of a maintenance tunnel there
Prompt 4 Relationships Scrap Heap by Emilie Reed. When we crossed over into an asteroid shadow, which bent lines of radio communication, leaving us unsure if our regular pings met any destination or just spoke into the void, the excursion began to have the feeling of a dream. Kathe, who was the only other person
Call for submissions: Relationships We’re launching our next open prompt for submissions to Red Futures! You can see our last sets of short stories which respond to the prompts New Planet, Utopia, and Automation. For our next prompt, we are issuing an open call for submissions on the theme of "relationships." We’ve
Prompt 3 Automation Past futures by Karri Lybeck. These were the times of seeping tears. Commodities scarce, teeth grinding in a cold night with the gray snow beating on collars made of rugs, threaded, worn and weary. Eyes so gloomy, grim was the touch between you and I distant. These were the times demanding. Days
Prompt 3 Automation Creative Spark by Tom Strange. “Oh, how tiresome.” Creative-Spark RF774-326L, known as Raphael to his friends, took a drag from his cigarette as he stood outside his local café. A sign on the window read ‘NO ROBOTS’. Since the discovery of the creative spark, robots had become increasingly unpopular. Automation had been
Prompt 3 Automation Generation 0 by Lana Sinapayen. The debate ended, uncharacteristically, by an agreement. Oh, of course each of the two parties still thought the other was absolutely wrong; but they had agreed on the means to scientifically demonstrate that the others were idiots. There was one definitive solution to the issue, one experiment
Prompt 3 Automation The Caretaker by Jamie Woodcock. Fingers drummed on the console, waiting for the page to load. Light delay added stuttering to accessing information this far out. The news bubbled away in the background. “...available in all good stores and resupply stations. Now, the latest news from the belt is that Caldecott-Krüger will
End in Fire End in Fire, Book I Zenith, Chapter 2 By Matthew James Seidel. BOOK I: Zenith Previous Section: Chapter 1, Next section: Chapter 3, Contents page. Chapter 2 10 minutes 38 seconds 10 minutes 37 seconds Sixteen-year-old Francisco Abeda’s hands were shaking. His right leg was pumping up and down. His knee produced a steady dull thump-thump-thump every
Prompt 3 Automation Call for submissions: Automation We’re launching an open prompt for submissions to our next round of Red Futures Science Fiction writing! You can see our last sets of short stories which respond to the prompts New Planet [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/tag/prompt-1-new-planet/] and Utopia [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/tag/prompt-2-utopia/]. For our
End in Fire End in Fire, Book I Zenith, Chapter 1 By Matthew James Seidel. BOOK I: Zenith Previous Section: Prologue [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/end-in-fire-book-i-zenith-prologue/], Next section: Chapter 2 [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/end-in-fire-book-i-zenith-chapter-2/], Contents page [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/end-in-fire-contents/]. Chapter 1 Like all patriotic holidays, Arrival Day accentuated the brutally maintained divisions within society. That was not, of
Prompt 2 Utopia Feasibility Report by Emilie Reed. The woman two desks down from where I sit sometimes ends up working in the same spreadsheet as I am. Checking and filling in the columns is a background clutter task that hardly registers as a skilled behavior to everyone in the office, but I still watch
Prompt 2 Utopia Dreaming of Utopia by Jamie Woodcock. It was hard to remember how many days, weeks, months, or even years they had been there. During the transit, the treatment was part of their contract. It was delivered like an immunisation, injected into the shoulder. Instead of providing protection, it changed body chemistry and the
Prompt 1 New Planet Rings by Mike Cook. It was the last day on earth, and it looked like it was going to rain. This was the sort of observation Sam would usually make a little mental note of for a later conversation with someone, but catastrophic global disasters made it hard to find someone
Prompt 1 New Planet Long Haul by Emilie Reed. Sidney is skimming the tent of her fingers along the in-cabin entertainment screen. Her gestures have been getting more grandiose over time, so when I stare at her back, I notice the force of each movement sending her slightly sideways in space, like a ticking clock hand.
Prompt 1 New Planet Cave Canem by Florence Smith Nicholls. Olive was a reliable dog-sitter. Every weekend she would dutifully watch over Old Sam’s beloved pet while he went away on business. It was easy money, especially because the dog had actually been dead for at least two years. “Smells weird.” Olive didn’t acknowledge
Prompt 1 New Planet New Planet by Jamie Woodcock. It was supposed to be a new world. He remembered the first time stepping foot onto the planet. A barren landscape stretched out on all sides. No flora or fauna. It was unmarked by human settlements. The ground crunched underfoot, bringing sound to the otherwise silent vista.
End in Fire End in Fire, Book I Zenith, Prologue By Matthew James Seidel. Next section: Book I Zenith Chapter 1 [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/end-in-fire-book-i-zenith-chapter-1/], Contents page [https://www.redfuturesmag.com/end-in-fire-contents/]. Prologue Nathan almost forgot the sky wasn’t real until the ad started. Actors stepped from behind clouds, reciting lines Nathan had heard so often he could
