“Panne d'Essence” • by Andrew Jensen

“A ‘pan of essence’ sounds like some Existentialist French cookbook. What’s it mean?”

“‘Out of gas’.”

“Mille Bornes is too French.” Jerry packed up the game. His increasing boredom sharpened his permanent edge. “We had enough français back in Montreal. Why’d you move to New Brunswick?”

I gestured at the gorgeous view from my porch overlooking the Northumberland Strait.

“Pretty, but Alberta’s magnificent. There’s action and money. We have real mountains, not these crumbling Appalachians. You’ve moved to the 1950s.”

I had been an Anglo refugee from Quebec separatism and my Acadian neighbours welcomed me to their gentle pace of life. Some created stunning art with few resources. People lingered at the store to share gossip and jokes. They cared.

“Life here is sane,” I summarized.

Jerry rolled his eyes and headed for the guest room. “Boy, you’ve changed.”

Haven’t we both. Goodbye, old friend.

________________________________________

Andrew Jensen has moved to New Brunswick with his family and too many dogs and cats. He has retired from the ministry, but of course, clergy never really retire. His stories have appeared in Canada, the USA, New Zealand, and the UK. This past summer, his work appeared in both Amazing Stories and James Gunn’s Ad Astra. 

If you enjoyed this story, you might also like to read his author profile, Six Questions for… Andrew Jensen, as well as these other stories.

“A Can of Piskies”

The elves’ latest plan to overthrow and conquer humanity was flawless and foolproof. All it required was the active cooperation of a large number of cats…

“Chapter 7”

There was a community uproar when the Golden Sandworm closed its doors… well, for a given value of ‘community.’ The guy with the bat’leth seemed pretty upset, but one mention of the police calmed him right down…

“Waxing Crescent”

25 years ago, the Moon disappeared. Really, is there anything more boring than commemorating something that happened to your parents? What can we do to make this interesting?

 

“Happy Anniversary?”

For some, the disappearance of the Moon was a prayer answered. For others, it was a heartache that would never go away.

“Running Away with the Cirque”

Even in the far future, even on strange new worlds, some people will still find their worlds just a little too small and dull, and dream of one day leaving it all behind and running away to somewhere else that’s fun and exciting.

STUPEFYING STORIES 24, by the way, is free to read on Kindle Unlimited. Check it out!

 

 

---

The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted, usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries, determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.

You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link. 

This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length, inspired by and using the phrase, “out of gas.”

Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge!

Read More

“Once With a Blue Moose” • by Lori Jensen

Eighty-five percent of New Brunswick is forest. 

The land is broken by the lumber industry. Still, the trees loom. They swallowed the road I was driving.

I was lost. True, I was on the only road, but I needed a gas station. I needed people to stop me obsessing about moose. “Watch for moose!” everybody said. “They’re unpredictable. They’re everywhere! They’ll take your car off the road with their antlers before they kick it to rubble.”

My car sputtered, then stopped; and a moose walked out of the forest. Its antlers spanned the hood of my car. In the moonlight, the moose was blue. It moved forward as its head wove down toward my window. It tapped the glass. I don’t know why, but I rolled the window down. I could smell it; count its teeth; feel it’s breath on my cheek as it enquired, “Are you out of gas?”

________________________________________

Lori Jensen has been an Adult Protective Service Worker, teacher, Presbyterian minister, children’s book reviewer, psychotherapist, karate sensei, artist, and bead-weaver. She plays guitar and sings. She has lived in New Brunswick for months and is still waiting to see a moose. Her speculative writing has appeared in Illumine magazine and Bards & Sages Quarterly.

---

The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted, usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries, determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.

You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link. 

This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length, inspired by and using the phrase, “out of gas.”

Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge!

Read More

“Parting Ways” • by C. L. Sidell

Some places can only be found when you run out of gas.

Solilee, one mile.

Melanie locks the car and leaves the road, red container swinging. 

§

Like unnumbered travelers before her, Melanie discovers a memento on the path. A tattered bunny that summons memories of her long-dead sister, Paige. 

§

Solilee appears differently to everyone. For Melanie, it’s ramshackle buildings, vacant streets, a playground. 

She pushes a swing. 

Recalls her last interaction with Paige twenty-five years ago—guilt, still heavy as an anchor. 

§

Paige, materializing on the merry-go-round, skips toward her.

“I’m sorry I let go,” Melanie says.

“You haven’t let anything go.” Paige, wearing her favorite carnation-pink overalls, remains unaged. “Let go.”

§

Each encounter ends the same, with Solilee dissipating.

But do you continue grieving? 

Or do you move on?

§

Casting a final glance over her shoulder, Melanie picks up the gas can and walks back to the main road.

________________________________________

A native Floridian, C. L. Sidell grew up playing with toads in the rain and indulging in speculative fiction. Her work appears in The Cosmic Background, Dark Moments, Dread Machine, Factor Four Magazine, Impossible Worlds, Martian Magazine, Stupefying Stories, and others. You can find her on various social media platforms @sidellwrites

If you liked this story, you might also enjoy:

“It’s In His Kiss”

Go ahead. Kiss the frog. What could it hurt?

“Long Distance Call”

She’d discarded everything after the funeral, except his phone…

 

“Release Me”

Carrie and Vanessa just wanted to find a good spooky story
to tell on Halloween. They got more than they bargained for…

 

“Planting”

Things planted in the offseason here
grow real different, they truly do. 

---

The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted, usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries, determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.

You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link. 

This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length, inspired by and using the phrase, “out of gas.”

Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge

Read More

“What Fuels Us” • by Richard Zwicker

Thaxxon gazed at his freighter’s viewscreen of stars, imagining planets teeming with fools.

His calm shattered as a ship of unknown origin appeared. A ripped-off client? When it refused to identify itself, he radioed: “I sold all my weapons of mass destruction except for the one pointing at you. Back off or die!” It was a bluff, as he frantically set his engines to maximum speed. A wail rose from the three imprisoned Doracens whose life force fueled his ship. “Do your job!” he shouted.

The lights dimmed. Silence.

The ship was on emergency life support! He stormed to the engine room. The energy capsules were undamaged, but the Doracens were gone! A material transference, but how? The Doracens didn’t have space technology. Who would bother to save them?

Back on the bridge, he watched the unknown ship vanish, leaving him to drift, out of gas, among the sea of fools.

---

 

Richard Zwicker is a retired English teacher living in Vermont, USA, with his wife and beagle. His short stories have appeared in Stupefying Stories, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Dragon Gems, and other semi-pro markets. Two collections of his stories, Walden Planet and The Reopened Cask, are out now. A third, The Sum of its Parts, is due out soon.

In addition to reading and writing, Richard likes to play the piano, jog, and fight the good fight against age. Though he lived in Brazil for eight years, he is still a lousy soccer player.

Richard first came to our attention with “Stellar Dust and Mirrors,” which appeared in the now out-of-print Stupefying Stories #5, and “Riddle Me,” which first appeared in Stupefying Stories #7. Richard was kind enough to let us reprint “Riddle Me,” so you’ll find it at this link. As well, you’ll find “The Slings and Arrows of Childhood” and “Talking Turkey with Tom” at these links, and his most recent contribution to Stupefying Stories magazine, “Possession is Ten-Tenths of the Law,” in Stupefying Stories 26.

---

The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted, usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries, determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.

You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link. 

This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length that was inspired by the phrase, “out of gas.”

Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge!  

---

Did you enjoy this story? Then check out our magazine. It’s free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and you can get the four most recent issues with just one click.

(Or get just one at a time, if that’s what you’d really prefer.)

Read More

“Do Not Go Gentle” • by Karin Terebessy

I am very young, barely out of my hydrogen years, and almost out of gas.

“Is this death?” I ask. 

Magnesium and Oxygen, teenage stars near me, just split with Carbon. They are in their post-breakup glow-up phase, cavorting with Neon. This has made them bold.

“Commoner,” they taunt. “Stick to your own class. Leave the upper classes be.”

Rotating, I spot the middle-aged stars, Sulfur and Silicon.

“Will I disappear?” I try.

Sulfur sniffs uncomfortably. Silicon awkwardly scratches an itch.

“We are too busy to think about nonsense.”

They sound afraid.

Ancient Iron, so close to death herself, lumbers nearby like space debris.

“Will you remember me?” I manage.

With extreme effort, she lifts a rusty smile.

“There is a red giant asleep within you.” Her voice is flinty. And kind. “Remember you? Little one, unleash your potential and you will light up the sky.”

 

---

Karin Terebessy likes to write speculative flash fiction stories. Her work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Stupefying Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Sci-Phi Journal, and other ‘zines. She is currently attempting to write a novel based on her short story “Mood Skin” which appeared in Stupefying Stories in 2016. You can follow Karin on TikTok @karinbendsreality or find her on Instagram at karinterebessy.

Her most recent appearance in Stupefying Stories was “Chasing the Moon,” a story that placed very high in our Top Ten of 2024 list. Coming in right behind it was one of the most powerful and disturbing stories we’ve ever published, “Broken.” Before that she gave us “Bandages” in Stupefying Stories 26, but she’s been with us since “The Memory of Worms,” in the now out-of-print Stupefying Stories 16. In addition she’s given us many SHOWCASE stories, including, “Robin’s Egg,” “Not Quite Ready for Armageddon,” “The Finder of Lost Things,” “Mood Skin,”  “The Real Reason Why Mrs. Sprague Came by Her House So Cheaply.”

If you liked this story, check them all out. It will be time well spent. 

 

 

---

The Pete Wood Challenge is an informal ad hoc story-writing competition. Once a month Pete Wood spots writers the idea for a story, usually in the form of a phrase or a few key words, along with some restrictions on what can be submitted, usually in terms of length. Pete then collects the resulting entries, determines who has best met the challenge, and sends the winners over to Bruce Bethke, who arranges for them to be published on the Stupefying Stories web site.

You can find all the previous winners of the Pete Wood Challenge at this link. 

This time the challenge was to write a flash fiction story of no more than 150 words in length, inspired by and using the phrase, “out of gas.”

Special Thanks to Paul Celmer: for going above and beyond to help with this challenge!  

Read More