𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘦

Science fiction writer David Blake sat at his laptop and stared at the screen. His editor had asked him to submit a story for the magazine’s upcoming special edition: “The Erotic in Science Fiction.” Blake had never written an erotic story before, but the pile of magazines on his desk gave evidence he was willing to do exhaustive research. Still his mind was a blank. He wondered if it would help to go out and perform some field studies.

The deadline was fast approaching. He looked down at his most recent story. Perhaps he could adapt it.

The first line read: “Five people huddled together in an underground bomb shelter.” He picked up his pencil, licked the point, and added:

“They were all nekkid.” ✦

Mark Pearce is an author/playwright whose stories have been published in national magazines and plays produced on the New York stage and around the country. He was formerly Resident Playwright of the New Ensemble Actors Theater of New York, and his play Asylum is listed in the Burns/Mantle Theater Yearbook: The Best Plays series. He resides in the Denver-metro area and has lived in Arizona, Texas, and briefly, Greenwich Village, while one of his plays was being produced Off-Broadway. He loves cross-country road trips, and his favorite activity is to sit in darkened theaters and watch characters come to life which had previously existed only in the privacy of his own mind.