There was a short click on my headset. Captain Resa didn't even twitch, eyes glued to the laser designator's sight. The radio clicked again, then buzzed with static-laden speech.

"This is Uriel 3-1, checking in. Flight of three F/A-18Es, on approach west…

Story is marked as mature

The mirror didn't hold anything back. Even when it was steamed over, my bulbous shadow watched in silent judgment.

I tried to avoid his eyes but I took up enough of the mirror that I couldn't hide my pear shaped vulnerability. The admittedly minor amount…

"The limes? I thought we were going to try this batch with oranges."

"Oh... right. Sorry."

"Focus, Mitt! We can't afford to make mistakes."

He couldn't help but flick a glance up at her, just as she did the same. A silent exchange, completely deniable …

To be or not to be?

A consciousness of stream

The weight of human ignorance

Annihilates the dream

An agony of intellect

A crisis of the soul

Wherefore art thou now

O common human goal?

To sleep, perchance to steal

As violence touches all

Our modern take…

Hey ditty ditty, the cat or the kitty

the cow jumped over the moon

But her heels didn't make it

So she hid under a blanket

And vowed to never leave her room

~

The stars twinkled harshly

The moon asked her nicely

but the cow stayed locked all away

Until th…

Sometimes broken means better

sometimes failure means experienced

means strong enough for the storm

brave enough for the waves of tears

weathered enough for the strikes of shame

hardened enough for the echoes of failure

fierce enough for the icy rejection…

A bright pink teddy bear was banished to the back of the closet

And its glassy eyes shimmer with painful memories

As vicious dirt stains its velvet heart

~

Tear-stained sheets lie crumpled upon the floorboards

While a silent bed frame dreams of past creak…

“No, I wouldn't say you're fat.” Trent said, his face pressed against my back. Despite the heat of the apartment, it was a welcome comforting warmth. “But both of us could stand to lose some weight.”

I stiffened. Now his face was too close. It was in my …

Story is marked as mature

"Hey, Mitt."

Lost in my recollections of our initial experiments, I was startled when she broke into my thoughts.

"Mitt. You there?"

"Just finishing this sentence. Is something wrong, Katy?"

I looked up when she didn't respond. She sat opposite me at …

A face cruel and beautiful appeared above us in the bright afternoon sky interrupting our picnic. James and I hadn't had a moment to ourselves for months thanks to a sleep stealing tax audit and the one day when we are nestled against each other like two …

I was surrounded. The priests stood before me, frowning. The crowd packed tightly behind the wall of guards. My family's faces had aged without grace and their hatred of me had only fermented with time.

I drew a breath and felt the sun hot on my skin.

"I …

Everyone told us that tectonic instability had created the Furrows. Volcanic activity eventually emptied the magma chambers under the crust, sealing the earth and leaving deposits of obsidian everywhere. We could recite those facts like multiplication tab…

You cruise to a gentle stop at the red light. It's the end of the work day. You're looking forward to leftover lasagna, two hours of Netflix, and if the heat sticks around, a shower before bed. Traffic has been lighter than normal for a Thursday which is …

Katy fought down the urge to blush, taking amber-coloured jar and directing a spoon to coat the pastries. Mitaran took the tray with a light-hearted bow and spun it on one finger, firing up the underside in a dance of blue flames with his other hand. Pale…

Story is marked as mature

Story is marked as mature

We climbed to the top of Memorial Hill. I didn't think too much of the flag flapping above us. My mind was totally on Nataxia. Her hand glowed inside mine, warm against the Autumn night.

Stone benches ringed the flowerbed and the block of bronze emblazon…

"I hope this is worth it."

I finished the last rune on the page and looked up at Katy. Like the other Necromancy undergrads she wore traditional-looking heavy black dress robes. Unlike the pasty-faced teenagers of her year, though, she made it look good…

It wouldn't stay on.

I tried several different sized of bandage but no matter what, after moments, it would detach on one side and I wouldn't be able to get it to stick again.

It taunted me. I couldn't help but pay attention to the nuisance either becau…

“That was a warning shot, d-bee. Try anything funny and there won't be enough left of you worth burying.”

Burning trees cast the area in a sinister play of crimson against the night's shadows. The rippling light twisted the soldiers into gross parodies o…

The trail here narrowed and dropped steeply down; one side a sheer cliff cut by the rapids and the other side a wall of rock. The base of the trail widened and flattened beside an old, sturdy pin oak tree.

From here I watched a family carefully pick thei…

I sat in front of the television. It had been a long night & a long day full of things in my head that most people probably wouldn't be able to fully understand.

That was ok though. I wouldn't want them to be able to understand what I went through every …

Three strangers crouched around a small fire, warming their hands. Despite that earlier two of them had come to the third's aid, they were keenly aware they weren't friends but momentary allies; strangers linked by their strangeness. None of them were su…