Letter from the Editors:

Dearest Readers,

Here we are, in the present, which was once the future, but is just as soon to be the past. When we asked you to send us future pieces you wasted no time in giving predictions, and omens, robots, societies that have crumbled, science gone wrong, science gone weird!
In this issue we tried something new and dare we say futuristic? We’ve divided the pieces up by theme: The Prophecy, The Fall, The Wasteland, and The Zenith.

“Dear 21st Century,” we have here prophecies flown from lighthouse fires, intelligences emerged from growing plastics. We are assembling hopeless wastelands delivered piece-by-piece in Amazon packages. But what’s “In the Cards?” A “Time Trilogy,” “The Pharaoh’s Orchid” and “A Future from the Probability Cloud.” You might say we are “Lost in Space,” “S.A.L.,” high on “Medicine 2180” or “Reefless Madness,” or that we are literary drones of “Jane, Inc.,” but might “Take Refuge in the Sky.” We will tell you reader, we speak to you from the “Dew Point,” from futures passed, from “The Hymn of Sweet Soul,” from “Summits and Depths.” Lend your ear, “My Dear Astronomer,” and we will tell you “The Price of Getting Old.”

And now we turn from the Future and try our hands at… Magic. Submit your magical piece by August 31st.

Yours, for now and always,
Deep Overstock Editors



(Cover art: Robert Eversmann)
Robert EversmannMole drawings

The Prophecy

Amy Van DuzerThe Pharaoh’s Orchid
Karla Linn MerrifieldIn the Cards
AJDA Future from the Probability Cloud
John Grey My Dear Astronomer
John DelaneyThe Price of Getting Old
Kate Meyer-CurreySummit and Depths
Kate WylieDew Point
Timothy Arliss OBrienTime Trilogy

The Fall

Arnold B. CabdriverHyper-Intelligence
Michael SantiagoBoston, Light the Way
Bob SelcrosseBlood of the Machine
Eric ThralbyThe Collider

The Wasteland

Ben CrowleyThree Pieces
Bogdan GrozaS.A.L.
Nancy HayesReefless Madness
Walter MoonGod’s In His Heaven, And All Orders Will Be Fulfilled
E.T. StarmannThroat Sounds
Eric ThralbyThe Student

The Zenith

Mickey CollinsI Hope
Lynette EspositoMedicine 2180
Yuan Hongri, translated by Yuanbing ZhangThe Hymn of Sweet Soul
Karla Linn MerrifieldLost in Space
Kate Meyer-CurreyHawthorns
K. B. ThomasJane, Inc.
Jonathan van BelleDear 21st Century
Nicholas YandellTake Refuge in the Sky



Editorial

Editors-In-Chief: Mickey Collins & Robert Eversmann
Managing Editors: Michael Santiago & Z.B. Wagman
Poetry: Jihye Shin
Prose: Michael Santiago & Z.B. Wagman
Additional Copyediting: Vicky Ruan