"Ah that's a real nice boon there, a standout miracle of blessings that any priest-liar's tongue would envy. Many thanks for this warmth, my fiend, that you've bestowed upon me in drink-form. She is a real beauty that touches me loving-like, a whisper tha…

Jorge stretched out his legs until his joints popped. He sighed as he relieved pressure he hadn't consciously felt. It was hard not to fidget on the plastic-y surface of the reclining chair. The rest of the room was antiseptically boring, so sterile it ma…

As the finely honed edge of his opponent's weapon sliced the air where his head had been a mere fraction of a second previously, he would have sworn to the gods that the blade sang, not with anger but joy. Stinging above his left eye told him that the bla…

The mention of a hospital stabbed a spine-shaking spear of coldness through my middle. Gritting my teeth, I powered through the feeling. “No. Wait. I'm better now.”

Veronica had taken a step back from me, putting a little distance between us. Alfie, her …

Two more minutes and she would be free. It had been fifty-eight minutes since Rosa had trapped herself in the hourglass. Like much of her magic, it had been an accident. Spells were tricky like that. Intent and annoyingly detailed description had to match…

Jeremy knelt, his breath catching at the beauty. This find was proving to be an even greater treasure than he'd ever imagined. Using a tiny brush, he dusted up and down the length of the axe. Once this was polished up, it would outshine every other piece …

Light.

It was too hot.

Uncomfortable.

If I could just worm my way deeper into unconsciousness I wouldn’t have to face . . . anything.

Something nuzzled against the top of my head. My skin crawled. Not daring to open an eye too wide lest I see too clea…

The girl took a step back from me, a hand creeping to her mouth.

“Umm, is that normal?” she asked, nodding toward the blood streaks running down the spears of grass.

Normal? I tried to connect anything to that word but nothing came to mind. Trying to th…

I couldn’t help but groan. Standing up had not been a good idea. Everything hurt.

“Do you know that guy?” the girl asked.

An icy spike shot up my spine. Panic swarmed at the edge of my vision like beating wings. I hunched down and grabbed her arm. “What…

An uncomfortable tingling ran across my shoulders and up the back of my neck; the sensation of insects crawling across my grave.

“Where did he go? People don’t just disappear!” I didn’t quite shout.

The girl looked away and said softly, “People disappea…

Each spadeful of dirt opened the earth a little further. It never seemed like much but it added up bit by bit. It always felt like it took forever. Patrick had lost count in the eighties at least three times. His mind was slow now. He supposed this kind o…

We watched from inside as Bob mowed the lawn. Then one moment he saw something through the garden fence and rushed to the gate. He looked upset, and quickly took his phone out to make a call.

„Hello? Yes, I’d like to report an intrusion of cockroaches. W…

Story is marked as mature

Northern Territory, January 1933

Hot lazy arvo here in outpost 606. The Dust Cloud looming on the horizion. It hasn't moved since our arrival. It might move at any second but. That's why we're here.

The men are running out of patience and grog. I wond…

Matthews woke up, head flat against his desk, arm curled around a bottle of apricot brandy. It was the scream of the work whistle that did it.

Moving nothing but a shaking hand, as if it were the spider-hourglass emblem of his Ministry of Spies badge, he…

Everything was wrong. I didn't want to be Thomas Tinsley. He looked like a dope. It took effort not to snatch the driver's license back and toss the whole wallet into the woods.

Into the woods.

That thought brought images, feelings, and sounds. Leaves, …

Social situations were fraught with problems that invariably led to people getting hurt and so Bob went out only to get the necessities of life and was never out for long. He was also a hoarder. His residence was littered with the remnants of past meals n…

Irritation built as Anders stepped past the perimeter marker of Base Camp Aktina. No matter how loud he turned his music up, the sound of metal on metal always cut through. He was up to seven and still he could hear dozens of knives being sharpened at the…

Bombs.

.

.

.

Rain.

.

.

.

Down.

.

.

.

Trembling, we breathe.

.

.

.

Dark nights often lead to dreamlands.

<->÷<•>~<=>÷<•>~<->÷<•>~<=>÷<•>~<->

He hefted the axe, testing its balance. The razor sharp edges of the bronze blades glittered in the sunlight. Abruptly, he tossed it up, sending it spinning end over end before catching it again.

Father would have been furious with him, to risk an inju…

Tom looked around, but did not see anyone.

The voice said "Tom, enter the building in front of you and walk upstairs and to apartment 509." Tom did so.

"There is a large cardboard box sitting right before the apartment door", continued the voice. "I wa…

The glass door of the lab slid open, and Tom walked in.

The room was quiet.

He swallowed the pill the Doctor gave him, and sat on the edge of the bed. He waited patiently as the nurse applied electrodes on his chest, his forhead and his temples.

It was…

It wasn't a gate.

Those were the bars of a cage - that house, my prison.

Could I not open it? Of course I could.

Could I just leave? Any time.

Could I break free?

Could I break free?

What is freedom? Nothing but a pair of wornout boots.

There I sto…

I reread the unfamiliar name slowly. “Thomas Tinsley.” Repeating it three more times, accenting it differently, trying to find a cadence that sounded familiar. It never did. The face next to the name looked even less so if that was possible. Tan-ish skin.…