Environmental Thriller - Stories

When a blizzard traps Arthur and the mall's chaotic security guard Flip in a dark, freezing apartment, they expect a night of awkward small talk. What they don't expect is the electric tension that's been building across the concourse for months—or the discovery that Flip's not as straight as he thought. Two days of forced proximity, instant coffee, and improvised fires spark something neither can ignore. But when the snow stops, Flip has a choice: walk away, or risk everything for the man who made him feel seen for the first time.

In a future where it never ceases to rain, Joel finds himself alone on the streets after curfew. How he got there is not clear, his memory is fragmented. Is it being rescued to find yourself in a sex club? Past, present, and future are interwoven, somehow there must be an answer? Perhaps, he is the answer? And what about the other boys? What about the planet? Is there a future?

Prompt 263: First line: "It's behind me, isn't it."

Centaurus 4 is the latest mission to Proxima Centauri b. Three attempts to reach the distant planet were unmanned. The main reason for that was that Proxima Centauri b (PC-b) is 4.22 light-years (1.3 parsecs) from Earth. Recent advancements in space travel have reduced the travel time to 153 days at ten times light speed. The story takes place roughly two hundred years in our future.

Centaurus 4 has a crew of 16. The first three members of the crew have recently exited the ship and started their survey of the immediate area. What they experience is shocking, to say the least.