"Uh, ok."

He sat down. Normally he would have walked a bit first to avoid cramps. The blond girl served two small slices, chocolate with chocolate frosting. That was a thirsty combination. He accepted the plastic plate and fork gingerly, taking a sticky b…

Story is marked as mature

The echo of my boots attracted the silent judgment of every deluded man in the Hall. Under their disapproving gaze, I was glad to be wearing armor. Well judgment could go both ways and while the Order held temporal power, I was now a peer to a different k…

"Do you know War of the Worlds?"

I pulled my eyes off the screen parading footage of the rolling convoy and its cargo of spacecraft. Harlan sipped his coffee. Thunder rumbled in the dark beyond the windows, making the fluorescent lights flicker.

"With the…

I read until the words swam before my eyes. I found myself spinning the promise ring I kept on a chain around my neck. Dayne, where are you? I prayed. Please, be safe.

"Find anything useful?" Harlan leaned around a freestanding shelf, awakening me fr…

Story is marked as mature

I joined my papa at the top of the hill. Intertwining my fingers, I stretched again, slowly pushing the sky away, reminding my muscles that they too must wake and ready themselves for work. The pleasant ache started in my upper arms and flowed both up and…

I stretched out, hand reaching languidly for the sun. I wanted to pluck the bright golden ball from the sea of blue and cup it in my hands. Having just woken up, for a moment I was a child again. And in that in-between of dream and wakefulness, reality s…

It is a moment of pure Zen, true transcendence. It is not something I plan, or expect, but it is not something I resist, either. One moment I am sitting in my personal, mobile zen-do, sitting zazen in meditation. The next I feel myself lifting off the gro…

King Cynric looked down on the three men kneeling before him. "Arran, former head of my father's guard." Arran looked up, his expression showing open contempt for the man before him.

"You and your co-conspirators are guilty of the murder of my father, yo…

Story is marked as mature

The awkward heaviness of the sword, made his swing go wide. The flying creature closed the distance between them, diving at Ian's face. Up close all Ian could see were the violent movements of wet membranous wings and chawing mouths. He threw up his left …

As I turned right at the old adobe building, Carmen's voice piped up from the back seat. "Grandma, where are you going?"

I was surprised that she had noticed. Usually her head was bowed over her phone, oblivious to the world around her.

"The Iron Skille…

"Swift..easy," <kapow> "Dead."

The spotter located the next target and started, "Swift..easy," <kapow> "dead!"

A crisp cadet followed by an older officer called the sniper and spotter to attention," Platoon Guide Chapman and Assistant P. G. Gutierrez?"

Th…

He knew it was coming for some time, but was not expecting the email when it arrived in the inbox the previous night. Once he found out, he let the idea sink in for a day, then fully faced it in conversation with his older brother, who is cautiously hopef…

HOW FITTING TO BLEED HERE

TO COME HERE IN DRUNKEN STUPOR

ONLY THE FINEST OF INK TO

NARRATE THIS PATHETIC STORY

~

So this is my story? Fine then. It starts here.

A young man sits cross-legged with elbows on his knees, hunched over a tiny lined book…

I wonder.

I wonder if you think of me as much as I think if you.

I wonder if you even think of me at all.

I wonder if I impacted your life the same way you impacted mine.

I'll never forget you. Will you forget me? Have you already?

Once you said you …

I looked up at the sky & saw a belt of densely packed stars banded across the blackness of night. The galaxy they represented felt so far away, though deep inside i logically knew that i was a part of it.

I wondered where exactly I fit in, though & the a…

My hand was cold like a fish. Both were almost numb from the autumn wind blowing as we walked down the sidewalk that night.

It was the first time we had been alone in... well, ever, come to think of it. Every time we had been together before, we had had …

I remember that night vividly.

Do you?

I remember what you wore: a black t-shirt with a short denim skirt and a matching denim jacket that was covered with buttons of all your favorite bands. All ska and punk.

I remember how you smelled. It was exactly…

I still wince as my fingers run up and down the strings. Each night, every night, I pick this thing up and practice. It's my go-to when I need a distraction from what I'm feeling. But it doesn't really work. I can mutter the note names and strings and fre…

"You can do it." My brother's voice carried more necessity than encouragement. He rescued his daughter from a toppling stack of boxes. She screamed despite being uninjured.

"What was that?" my sister in law called from upstairs in alarm.

"Nothing to worry…

"You can do it!" Maggie screamed with feline enthusiasm. The others lined up behind me as I faced the door and the challenge ahead.

"What if I fail?" I asked, looking back. "What if I let all of you down?"

"We believe in you!" Pod cheered.

Chirell adjuste…

Heading to Starbucks for some writing, I turned on to Fernando Valley Road. It was one of those four lane roads where the city speed limit is upped to fifty. Across the median, I saw an old man on foot. Behind him a blue van sat defeated on the shoulder. …

Thinking of you.

A summer dream. Violently happy.

All the love... Absorbed in you, Oblivious.

One time, Red light means go.

Sudden death! Passenger.

Nobody’s fault but mine.

Oh, no!

Pray for me. Save me!

Roads: Relentless Reminder.

The family. The funera…