Adrian Stolecki

“An Interview With Alpha-Man” by Adrian Stolecki

They called me a god, once, long ago. Did you know that? When they witnessed my power before recorded history began. When they saw that I did not experience the pull of gravity. When they saw that there was no limit to my strength or my speed. Have you heard the Epic of Gilgamesh? The Legends of Heracles, or Achilles, or Beowulf? They're all true, you know? To some extent, anyway. They're all about one man though, not many. Well, not a man, man, obviously. You know what? I'll start at the beginning, hm? The earliest thing I can remember is...

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“The Beast of Skowronka” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #101

"They say that a monster lives here," Pawel said between heavy breaths as we loaded the last bale of hay onto the back of his father's wagon, "Did you know that?" "I've heard the story," I said, peering at him quizzically and wiping the sweat from my face. The sun beat down hard on us that day and both of our shoulders were glowing red, "What about it?"  "Do you think it's true?" He hopped up onto the back of the wagon and I joined him. My feet ached. I looked down at the battered boots on my feet, the soles coming apart, and ...

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“The Bunker” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #99

In the year 2042, the world was annihilated in a storm of nuclear fire. Humanity, the dominant species of a dying planet, chose its own destruction over cooperation. My great-great-grandparents were two of the lucky thousand chosen at random to survive extinction. When the bombs fell, they and their peers were taken to The Bunker, a massive underground city built to sustain human life indefinitely in the event of nuclear war. The holocaust came and went and all communications from the surface world ceased. That was it. The end of the human r...

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“The Child in the Forest” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #96

It was Midautumn when father found the child. The girl that would change my world. My father was a hunter and had gone out with three other men from the village to hunt boar. The leaves had all but fallen from the trees already and there was a chill on the wind that seemed to press down on the village, forcing everyone to stay in their homes huddled around their hearths and bundled in their wool and furs. The harvest was over, and the lord in his stone keep on the hill had gotten his due, despite the village barely having enough for the wint...

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“The Contagion” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #95

"It has to be done Commander," said the stern, hard-faced woman on the viewscreen, "I am sorry. Containment protocols must be observed," Commander Aaron McKenzie had tuned her out long ago. His ears rang. He felt ill. "Commander, do you understand?" "What?" His attention was drawn back to the viewscreen, "I'm, er, I mean, yes ma'am. Of course," "Good," the look on the woman's face was skeptical at best. The harsh lines around her eyes and mouth made her look like a corpse. Her cold indifference made him sick. The viewscreen did not show colo...

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“The Song of the Sky” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #94

Luna sat and stared out at the endless black water, sparkling with countless speckles of shimmering light. Pinholes in the perfect velvety blackness of the calm ocean. A soft wind blew, her raven hair flowing behind her on it like a cloak made of pure night. There was no sound except the whisper of gentle waves as they crashed against the rocks far, far below, and the brush of the breeze against her face. Peace. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of clean, crisp night air, and then let it out slowly and deliberately. She savored the ...

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“The Thing” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #58

No one else seems to see it; the creature lurking in the background of my life. Its presence is obvious sometimes, at least to me, but other times it slinks back into the dark corners, its shadowy form peeking at my life from the very periphery of my awareness. It's always there though, even when out of sight. This morning, it had decided to come at me in full force. I awoke just before my alarm to the gentle pitter patter of raindrops on my roof and the omnipresent chill that surrounds the month of November. I did not get up immediately, i...

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“The Void's Justice” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #57

The oil ran out in July of 2083. Once there was nothing left to extract, Earth's governments stockpiled what they could, rationing out their precious reserves as needed, clinging to whatever they could. Coal mines began to dry up shortly afterwards. Solar, wind, and nuclear fission power generation efforts struggled to keep up with the energy demand of nearly ten billion people. As worldwide markets crashed, and food production began to slow, the riots began. In a desperate attempt to fuel humanity's growing energy needs, a team of Earth's m...

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“Those Emerald Eyes” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #56

"Adam, this is Dani," my new manager, Walt, announced, pulling me over to the only other intern in the office as he gave me the grand tour. I was never sure why managers always insisted on a ‘grand’ tour. Just show me the 4" by 4" box I'll be living in for 8 hours a day, I thought to myself. The girl with the short, golden hair, Dani, turned from her desk to face us as we approached, and it took everything in my power not to spill my coffee. It was her. She had gone by Elle back then, but I was sure it was her. She still had the same de...

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“A Little Secret” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #55

"So? Can you keep a secret?" Eddie asked me again, as I sat, puzzled, wondering why he was so excited. I felt apprehensive at first. Eddie was 15 now, always busy with friends or track practice or some girl. He rarely wanted anything to do with his little 8-year-old brother anymore, so this visit to my room in the middle of the night was more than a little suspicious.  "Um," I hesitated, sitting up in bed and looking around the shadowed bedroom, "I guess so," I finally mumbled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "C'mon, put your shoes...

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“A Second Chance” by Adrian Stolecki

Submitted to Contest #54

Day 1: The launch was today. I still cannot believe that I have been chosen to carry out this mission. I am nervous, but also very excited. Along with official scientific data and automated daily system logs, this log will serve as a personal accounting of my mission. I will not fail. Day 3: I was able to get a lovely view of the moon today as the ship went past. It was beautiful. It is hard to believe that only 62 years ago, that was the farthest humans could go. It seems like only a stone’s throw from home, as they say. Day 7: The sh...

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