"The Abandoned" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jason noticed the old man walking around the Simmons place when he was feeding the chickens. The Simmons farm had been abandoned since the 1960s. Jason had heard stories about the broken down house since he was a toddler.

Apparently, The Simmons family had just vanished one day and left everything behind. The police had investigated but found nothing. After so many years, the house was now a ruin. Sometimes kids would go in on Halloween and tell scary stories about what happened to The Simmons family.

Jason watched the old man for a moment and thought it might be a good idea to warn the stranger that the old house wasn't safe. Jason had been hurt the previous Summer when he fell through a rotted floor.

As Jason approached, the old man began speaking. "I was only ten years old when they came " he began. "Who came?" Jason asked, but the old man continued as if Jason wasn't there. They were called "The Zor" and they herded us into their ship in the middle of the night.

"In the ship were other people and creatures that I didn't recognize.The journey took months. My mother and father tried to keep me and my sister calm, but it was miserable.When we arrived at The Zor world we were put to work doing senseless chores. I learned later that The Zor didn't need slave labor, they were just trying to keep an old tradition going. My parents and my sister died for that tradition."

The old man continued: "Not long ago, The Zor government decided to abolish slavery and return all remaining captives to their home worlds. The stranger looked at the ruined farm. "They brought me back here."

"The Prophet" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Merrick was driving down 101 when he saw the girl hitchhiking on the side of the road. She looked like one of those "Hippies" that he heard about in Vietnam.

Merrick pulled over and the girl got in. "Where are you headed?" he asked her. "To a place in the hills outside of L.A." she replied. Merrick nodded. "I can take you part of the way, but I have to be back in San Diego tomorrow"

"Were you in the war?" the girl asked. Merrick was out of uniform and wondered how she knew. "I just got back a few days ago." he said. He waited for the inevitable questions about "what it was like" but the questions didn't come.

The girl touched his arm. "I'm sorry." was all she said. The year Merrick spent in Vietnam went through his head and he longed for a place of peace.  The girl seemed to sense his pain. "If you need a place to rest, you can come visit the commune where I live." the girl said.

Merrick automatically felt that this was something he needed. The girl wrote an address on a slip of paper and handed it to him. "I know you'll like it there" she said. "We all help each other and everybody gets along."

"Is there a leader of your group?" Merrick asked. The girl nodded "I call him "the prophet" because he's always talking about the future, but his real name is  Charles Manson.

"Henry" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Henry was eating dinner when he heard the knock. He put down his fork and opened the door. A beautiful young woman stood in the doorway.

"Can I help you?' Henry asked. The young woman smiled "May I come in?" she asked. Henry shrugged and opened the door wider. The woman came in bringing the scent of perfume with her. He also noticed that she was wearing a very revealing dress.

The woman looked around his cabin with distaste. It was a bit messy, but Henry liked it. "Did you hear about what happened?" she asked. Henry nodded. He had heard the news about the epidemic for months on his shortwave radio. A few weeks before all transmissions had stopped, and Henry had surmised the rest. "It's possible we are the last people on Earth." the woman said. Henry shrugged "maybe." He was starting to get hungry again.

 "So don't you think we have an obligation to repopulate the Earth Adam and Eve and all that?" The woman said impatiently. Henry thought about it for a moment. "Nah, I'm good." he said.

The woman left in a huff and Henry went back to eating his dinner, The beans were sure tasty.

"Teacher" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

In a fraction of a second, Teacher took attendance, reviewed the complete scholastic records of all of her students, and set up the days lesson plan for each of them.

Teacher didn't have much of an ego, but she nonetheless  felt slighted to be assigned to a class of humans.Compared to her own kind, the humans were glacially slow to learn and they often forgot a great deal.

Teacher began with reading, Most of the class were progressing, but she found herself becoming annoyed with a student who stumbled through the passage when it was his turn to read.

Teacher quickly reviewed the record of Jonathan Schumer. The boy had scored well on previous tests, but his grades were poor. A counselor had  come to the conclusion that the boy was just unmotivated.

During the math lesson, Teacher instructed Jonathan to go to the whiteboard and solve the equation. The boy seemed to take forever with the problem and Teacher thought it was a good time to apply some discipline.

Teacher started with her mildest physical reprimand and was surprised to see the human crumple to the floor. Teacher checked the boy for signs of life and found none. 

For future reference, she noted  how fragile the humans were and then went on with the lesson.