An inhuman opening

Our next submission period is right around the corner, running April 15 to May 15. We’ll once again have one un-themed and one themed opportunity.

The theme will be INHUMAN. Give us your aliens, unicorns, cats, and sentient teapots—or maybe inhuman living conditions. Be big, be bold, just don’t be human! (Note: It’s fine to have human characters in the story as long as it still fits the theme).

Message 2939

By: Miles Efron

Ten years ago—on the most distant of our moons—a deep-space antenna picked up Message 2939. A missive from some forgotten civilization on an extinct planet.

Ever since Message 2939 arrived, our scientists have worked to crack its code, to surface its hidden wisdom.

Is the message a warning? A cure? A declaration of peace, or of war?

Supercomputers churn day and night to translate it. Scholars make careers analyzing it.

Then yesterday, a university team finally decoded Message 2939.

…Good to the last drop…

Its poetry is undeniable. But what arcana Message 2939 contains, we may never know.

© 2026. Miles Efron

Miles Efron is a writer based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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