Recent stories
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Creeping Doubt
I wonder if I'm unwanted. Am I the problem? I've always tried to make things better but I feel like I'm trying to keep the heart beating on a dying Clydesdale. Substitute any other majestic animal you want. For me the Clydesdale carries mass and dignity i…
Posted 6 years ago -
Kaiju World: Earth - The Beginning
Streaking down from the heavens, long tailed comets signaled the end of everything. Tears of blazing light marring the inscrutable face of the sky. Were we ready? It was stupid of me to think about such things now, when it was too late to matter, but I co…
Posted 6 years ago -
A Splash of Wine
Mitaran nudged the trajectory of the chestnuts with a whispered charm and caught it with one outstretched hand. Always so casual, Katy thought, taking a sip of water to hide her expression.
"Hey, uh, Mitt."
"Mhmm?"
"What are you going to do next year? …
Posted 6 years ago -
Elugelab
Newkirk and Beckton appeared in a cascading flash and swirl of short-lived white particles as if teleporting in from an immaterial snowstorm. They were surrounded by a thick fog that stirred in a somewhat turgid manner, as if just a touch heavier than the…
Posted 6 years ago -
The First War of Power, pt 2
A man placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and asked, “Where is Mhum-Ma?”
The leader of the left replied, “She has returned to the earth and we all bear her sorrow.” People on both sides reacted with surprise before dropping their heads in reverence. …
Posted 6 years ago -
The First War of Power, pt 1
The two sides met, one coming from stone huts and arbitrary rules, the other from ravaged forests, a smoky sky, and angry rivers thick with debris. Male and female stood together on both sides, shifting nervously. A meeting this size was unprecedented. Ma…
Posted 6 years ago -
Acceptance
Jennifer waited expectantly for an answer while staring at her phone. Her mum had warned her about talking to strangers on the internet but it was 2018 and the world was far more connected than ever before. Besides it wasn't like she had given her number …
Posted 6 years ago -
Chase in the Dark
I ran through the tunnels, following the sounds of your laughter as they bounced off the walls around me. The shape of the tunnels played tricks on my ears -- every time I thought I was close to catching you, I turned a corner to find you were no longer t…
Posted 6 years ago -
The Decline and Fall of the New Roman Empire
I feel like I am a single cell in some great dying beast. It thrashes and the earth bleeds thickly, feverish and broken. It's so obvious but no one pays attention. I have to wonder that if I am a cell in this thing, could the right cell save such a massiv…
Posted 6 years ago -
On Music
There are times when music reaches me. I'm open to it, vulnerable to a melody, a drum beat, or even the sound of a single note. It vibrates my exposed self and affects my emotional state. I become a mirror of the string that the guitarist plucks and the e…
Posted 6 years ago -
Waking Up
The music grew louder as the pattern repeated. Drawing Adrian across the boundary that separated sleep and wakefulness, it began the collapse of the dream behind them. It wasn't an unpleasant sound, in fact he had chosen the ring because it made him think…
Posted 6 years ago -
Great Expectations
Responder pruned, collapsing in on itself, shrinking down like bacon in a frying pan. I knew from the few weeks since he'd shown up that the intensity of his emotional distress dictated the amount of area he lost. This was the worst I'd ever seen, losing …
Posted 6 years ago -
Inside Pete's Skin
Peter's skin itched as if people were watching him. He knew that he was alone in his apartment but the feeling was so strong that he looked over one shoulder and then the other. His living room lay behind him and while it wasn't well lit any more, ever si…
Posted 6 years ago -
Dragon's Teeth
"All hands, prepare for atmospheric entry."
It was a warning, not an order. The crew had been prepared for at least an hour.
Armored Infantry Captain Danielle Freiz was thoroughly annoyed, because her entire squad was late.
In fact, she wasn't even sur…
Posted 6 years ago -
Offline Fic'ing
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Posted 6 years ago -
Canine Dis-tempo
It was a beautiful night. The power was out on our block, so I had a gorgeous view of the Milky Way. Our Husky, Demetria, decided that the middle of the yard would be a wonderful place to howl at the moon. I expected that our neighbour, ever the one to lo…
Posted 6 years ago -
Mythos
There is something not quite right with the world. It teems with chaos, madness, and sudden death. Worse than quick ones are the deaths that linger on accompanied by unbearable, untreatable pain. That which isn't it out to get us will surely let us die wi…
Posted 6 years ago -
Her Name was Nia Wilson
Story is marked as mature
Posted 6 years ago -
Knowing, Wanting, Needing
He came in with a haunted look in his eyes. A fine suit hung from his frame, slightly threadbare but still lending an air of battered elegance. His gaze caught on the shelves full of jars, clinking gently against each other despite the utter absence of an…
Posted 6 years ago -
Manufacturing Inspiration
Start with a knife, a tree, a candle, a corpse. Start with a dead bird and its dead feathers spread out about it, mites crawling across it.
Start with the spark of a match being struck; the brown honeycomb scraping, smudging phosphorous and chlorate toge…
Posted 6 years ago -
The Mask
Remember that mask?
Maybe you started wearing it for protection.
You wanted to fit in.
You were afraid that people wouldn't accept you.
You wouldn't accept you.
.
At first you only wear it when you have to,
Like armor before heading off to battle.
A short…
Posted 6 years ago -
Stray Words
“Wicked are the men who dream and do nothing!”
The voice rang out above the early morning din of the market place. The accusation wasn't directed at me but in me it found a home and dug deep.
Before I knew it, my sandals had come to a stop in front of t…
Posted 6 years ago -
Reclamation: Interlude I
Emmex kept her eyes up and her the focus of her hearing behind her. The sirens had stopped but that didn't mean that no one was following her. Some street teams used “birds and the bees,” catchall slang for any flying drone, to keep an eye from the sky ev…
Posted 6 years ago -
Special Agent, Iota
The smallest agent, I:
The jot-and-tittle spy.
At times I can't be seen,
Both placid and serene.
At other times, a glimpse
Is seen. Like elves or imps
I flutter into view;
I'll not get caught by you!
.
I hide among the blooms
In fancy dining rooms
In da…
Posted 6 years ago -
Please Do Not Set your Mark on Me
You are a plague. I am a child.
You have the populace beguiled
And spell-bound as you stride around.
Your boots assault and salt the ground.
We see your staff sweep here and yon
In fear. You set your mark upon
The old and canny; young men hale;
Infants' f…
Posted 6 years ago