The MountainBy Torn MacAlester Original Photo by Jose Vega from Pexels. Modified to grayscale and blurred using GIMP. I sighed, looking at the grey landscape, trying to estimate the direction to the cabin. I abandoned the mountain, like everyone else, when the ash fell. They didn’t expect us to get a lot, […]
Vignette: Sins of the Son by Torn MacAlester
Sins of the SonPhoto by Brett Sayles from Pexels Sins of the Son By Torn Macalester “Did you hear it?” The patient asked over the cacophony of emergency equipment as the doctor worked on him and six other patients that were nearly as bad. “Hear what?” The doctor asked, placing the gauze pads over the burns. “Make sure we […]
Worldbuilding 4: Articles by Torn MacAlester
Worldbuilding 3: Articles by Torn MacAlester
World Building 2: Articles by Torn MacAlester
Worldbuilding 1: Articles by Torn MacAlester
World Building for Science FictionImage by Snapwire on pexels I wanted to share some insight into the world building process that I am using in my science fiction stories. First off, most would call my science fiction as ‘Hard’ science fiction because of my use of scientific rigor when developing my stories. For myself, it’s […]
Drive to Houston: A New Story by Torn MacAlester
Time to go, the alarm indicated. Jacob Conner dreaded the announcement, regarding it as a horrible turn of events. It meant he needed to get to Houston to support the space station for NASA. As a lead Astronaut, it was his job, forcing him to make the commutes from his home in Dallas. I hate […]
Stranger: A Vignette by Torn MacAlester
Strangerby Torn MacAlester Photo by Christian Fridell from Pexels Alex handed the customer his whiskey in the Lunar-strawed cup, expecting to have a reaction. All the tourists reacted. “Why not a proper glass?” They would ask, not knowing that it was impossible to drink most liquids from a regular terrestrial glass. This man did not. He merely accepted […]
Cold Contact: A Vignette by Torn MacAlester
Cold ContactWritten for: The Fiction Fountain 4 Aug 2019 Photo by Min An from Pexels Frank ‘Cooter’ Ross looked at his books, trying to find information about first contact. Where the hell is it? He thought. I know there is some information here somewhere. “What’s going on Frank?” said the female voice over the computer […]
Robot Friend: A New Vignette by Torn MacAlester
Chris and Doug smiled happily as I held on to them for the picture. I tried my best to smile too, but I had found that my smile frightens most people, so I always tone it down for pictures. Doug’s mom snapped the photo with her phone, then Doug ran off to the left. In […]