Pondering Prose

Speculative Fiction

A single molecule, born in the ancient breath of a dinosaur, weaves a timeless tale of its journey through life, Earth, and the cosmos.

I was born in the belly of the Earth, exhaled by a fiery volcano during an age when titanic lizards ruled the land. My first journey began as part of the warm breath of a Brontosaurus, who swallowed me into her vast lungs and released me into the humid air of the Mesozoic jungle. For millions of years, I wandered—dissolved into rivers, frozen in glaciers, cracked free by time, and carried by winds over endless landscapes.

Eons later, I found myself drawn into the lungs of a human—a hunter wrapped in furs, crouching beside a fire. I felt the warmth of his body and the rhythm of his pulse before he exhaled me into the icy air of the tundra. My adventure continued, through…

The destructive nature of shame and religious extremism begins to take root in Thomas’s soul, as he navigates a world where every mistake is met with condemnation, and love is replaced by fear, shaping the man he will become in ways even he cannot yet understand.

Thomas sat in the small, musty room of his grandparents’ house, staring at the worn carpet beneath his bare feet. The air was thick with the smell of stale incense and old leather-bound Bibles. It was the only place he knew, the only world that had ever been his. The room, small and dark, was a prison of sorts — a place where love was scarce, and every mistake was met with harsh punishment.

His grandparents never told him they loved him. He could never remember a time they had embraced him, wiped away his tears, or praised him for anything. No, in their…

In a future where love is no longer defined by gender, one woman grapples with her deep-seated beliefs about relationships as she confronts a world that challenges everything she thought she knew about love.

Amara had always been sure of one thing—love had a specific shape. A shape defined by her attraction to men. She was raised in a world where that simple truth was universal, celebrated by families, by communities. Heterosexual love was something to be proud of, something that didn’t need to be questioned.

But in the year 2142, everything had changed.

Society had evolved beyond binary notions of gender and sexuality. The fluidity of love was not just accepted—it was encouraged. Children were taught from a young age that love was an expansive spectrum, one where any connection could form, whether between two people of the same gender, different genders, or any combination thereof. The concept of…

A poignant story about a transgender woman in her 70s confronting her past struggles and finding hope through the memories of a supportive friendship.

The apartment felt quieter than usual, even as the hum of the refrigerator and the occasional car passing by outside broke the silence. Bella sat at her small kitchen table, an old journal spread before her, its leather cover softened by years of handling. Her hands trembled slightly as she traced the edge of the cover with her fingers, as though touching the past would bring it to life.

She was in her 70s now. A lifetime had passed since she first moved into this apartment, and yet, it felt as though time had done nothing but pile on layers of memories and unspoken words, dusting over everything she had lived through. The world, she had come to believe, would never truly understand her—an old transgender…