diff --git a/simpleflow/futures.py b/simpleflow/futures.py
index 39d785a00..63238da79 100644
--- a/simpleflow/futures.py
+++ b/simpleflow/futures.py
@@ -48,9 +48,6 @@ def wait(*fs):
     Raises a ``exceptions.ExecutionBlocked`` otherwise.
 
     """
-    if any(future.state == PENDING for future in fs):
-        raise exceptions.ExecutionBlocked()
-
     return [future.result for future in fs]
 
 
diff --git a/simpleflow/local_async/__init__.py b/simpleflow/local_async/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..55f9031da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/simpleflow/local_async/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from .executor import Executor
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/simpleflow/local_async/executor.py b/simpleflow/local_async/executor.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c264d6f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/simpleflow/local_async/executor.py
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+import logging
+
+import multiprocessing
+from simpleflow import (
+    executor,
+    futures
+)
+from concurrent import futures as py_futures
+
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class AdaptorFuture(futures.Future):
+    """A wrapped future object that fills (some of) the semantic gap between
+    `simpleflow.futures.Future` and `concurrent.futures.Future`
+    """
+    def __init__(self, py_future):
+        super(AdaptorFuture, self).__init__()
+        self.py_future = py_future
+
+    # TODO make this method in base class call self.state()
+    # def __repr__(self):
+    #     return '<Future at %s state=%s>' % (
+    #         hex(id(self)),
+    #         _STATE_TO_DESCRIPTION_MAP[self._state])
+
+    @property
+    def result(self):
+        # will block if the task is not completed yet
+        return self.py_future.result()
+
+    def cancel(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    @property
+    def state(self):
+        if self.py_future.running():
+            return futures.RUNNING
+        if self.py_future.done():
+            return futures.FINISHED
+
+        return futures.PENDING
+
+    @property
+    def exception(self):
+        return self.py_future.exception()
+
+    @property
+    def cancelled(self):
+        # not supported
+        return False
+
+    @property
+    def running(self):
+        return self.py_future.running()
+
+    @property
+    def finished(self):
+        # without cancellation `finish` has the same semantic as `done`
+        return self.done
+
+    @property
+    def done(self):
+        return self.py_future.done()
+
+
+def _get_actual_value(value):
+    if isinstance(value, AdaptorFuture):
+        return value.result
+    return value
+
+
+class Executor(executor.Executor):
+    def __init__(self, workflow):
+        super(Executor, self).__init__(workflow)
+        # the real executor that does all the stuff
+        # FIXME cannot use ProcessPoolExecutor, error like:
+        #   PicklingError: Can't pickle <type 'function'>:
+        #     attribute lookup __builtin__.function failed
+        self._executor = py_futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(
+            multiprocessing.cpu_count())
+
+    def submit(self, func, *args, **kwargs):
+        logger.info('executing task {}(args={}, kwargs={})'.format(
+            func, args, kwargs))
+        args = [_get_actual_value(arg) for arg in args]
+        kwargs = {key: _get_actual_value(val) for
+                  key, val in kwargs.iteritems()}
+
+        py_future = self._executor.submit(func._callable, *args, **kwargs)
+
+        # use the adaptor to wrap `concurrent.futures.Future`
+        return AdaptorFuture(py_future)
+
+    def run(self, input=None):
+        if input is None:
+            input = {}
+        args = input.get('args', ())
+        kwargs = input.get('kwargs', {})
+
+        return self.run_workflow(*args, **kwargs)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    from simpleflow import activity, Workflow
+    import time
+
+    @activity.with_attributes(task_list='quickstart')
+    def side_affect():
+        time.sleep(10)
+        print 'hey!'
+
+    @activity.with_attributes(task_list='quickstart')
+    def increment(x):
+        time.sleep(5)
+        return x + 1
+
+    @activity.with_attributes(task_list='quickstart')
+    def double(x):
+        time.sleep(5)
+        return x * 2
+
+    class SimpleComputation(Workflow):
+        def run(self, x):
+            self.submit(side_affect)
+            y = self.submit(increment, x)
+            z = self.submit(double, y)
+            return z.result
+
+    before = time.time()
+    result = Executor(SimpleComputation).run({"args": [5], "kwargs": {}})
+    after = time.time()
+
+    # Output with:
+    # >>> 12
+    # >>> used 10.0062558651 seconds ...
+    # >>> hey!
+
+    # => async execution
+
+    print result
+    print 'used {} seconds ...'.format(after - before)
+